Marshfield Farm Ice Cream has added to its bulging trophy cabinet by scooping a sought-after gold star in the annual Great Taste Awards for a sixth consecutive year.
The accolade is the 15th won by the family-owned business in the Great Taste Awards, the acknowledged benchmark for speciality food and drink in the UK. 
Marshfield, based near the village of the same name, won this year for its Rum & Raisins ice cream which blends its own dairy ice cream with jumbo raisins that have been steeped in rum overnight.
Judges praised its “supremely creamy texture” and were pleased with the abundance of plump raisins.
As with all Marshfield ice creams, 60% of the ice cream is pure organic milk, produced daily by Marshfield’s herd of Friesian cows.
Rum & Raisins is available in mini tubs at tourist spots, theatres and cinemas, and in 1-litre take-home tubs at farm shops across the country.
Marshfield Farm Ice Cream owners Will and Dawn Hawking said: “Everyone on the farm, in the office and in the factory is just thrilled with the news – it has been a great boost to team morale.
“We are so pleased that the judges were as keen on this flavour as we all are. Rum and raisins is a classic flavour combination, but with our super-fresh organic milk from our own cows, plus our dedication to traditional methods of ice cream making, we believe our ice creams are of unrivalled quality. It’s extremely gratifying to be recognised in this way.”
The Great Taste Awards involve rigorous blind-tasting by teams of experts and only the very best food products receive the coveted Great Taste winners’ stamp.
This year’s judges included buyers from Harrods, Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason, Radio 4’s Food Programme presenter Sheila Dillon, MasterChef and Great British Bake Off winners, and restaurant critic Charles Campion.
Marshfield produces 25 flavours of real dairy ice cream and six flavours of sorbet. Its 11 products to have won Great Taste Awards are Rich Clotted Ice Cream, Blackcurrants in Clotted Ice Cream, Diabetic Vanilla, Fresh Lemon Sorbet, Caramel Fudge in Clotted Cream, Luscious Mango Sorbet, Very Vanilla Ice Cream, Strawberries in Clotted Ice Cream, Christmas Pudding Luxury Ice Cream, Mango Madness and Rum & Raisins.
The firm was awarded the title of Best Ice Cream in the South West by Taste of the West last year and the previous year was shortlisted for a BBC Radio 4 Food & Farming Award. Marshfield Ice Cream is sold in cafés, farm shops and delis around the country as well as prestigious tourist spots including The Tower of London, Hampton Court, London Zoo and Bristol Zoo.
