BURBUSH’S PIES JUDGED THE BEST IN ENGLAND

BURBUSH’S of Penrith can now proudly boast it bakes the best pies in England after picking up the highest accolade at this year’s Great Taste Awards.

The tiny Cumbrian firm was the only English pie-maker to be awarded the coveted Three Star Gold status at the annual event, which is referred to as the Oscars of the fine food industry.

The 12-strong team of expert judges, who included farmer and former Blur bass player Alex James, made their decision after blind tasting Burbush’s hand-made duck, honey and marmalade pie.

The 900 gram hot crust pie, which is baked at Burbush’s premises tucked away on the Gilwilly Estate in Penrith, was one of only 72 food or drink products in the UK to receive a Three Star Gold award in the 2008 awards organised by the Guild of Fine Food.



Martyn Reynolds, director of Burbush’s of Penrith, said: “We are absolutely thrilled. All our staff believe we bake the best pies in Britain but it is fantastic now to have our quality formally recognised by the experts in our field.

“We only use the finest ingredients we can get our hands on – and most of it is locally sourced in Cumbria so we know the producers personally and know exactly what is going into our pies. That is why they taste so good.”


Appleby-born Martyn, from Great Salkeld, had been a Royal Navy weapons engineer and a beat bobby with Cumbria Police before he took over Burbush’s three years ago.

The winning pie was baked by Chris Tormey, who is one of only six staff at Burbush’s. Chris, 29, from Penrith, said: “What really pleased me was that the winning pie was made by hand just as normal like I always do. It was not specially prepared for the awards. It is the same top quality as our customers always get.”

The awards, which are in their 15th year, are regarded as the benchmark for independent standards in Britain’s fine food sector. This year it beat all records with nearly 4,800 entries from more than 1,000 food producers reflecting the public’s growing interest in speciality food and drink.

Burbush’s entry was the only cold cut traditional pie to receive the Three Star Gold award. The only other pie-maker in the UK to receive the same accolade was Harvies in North Wales for its pork, prune and calvados organic cooked pie, which is for re-heating and its rhubarb and custard pie.

Bob Farrand, of the Guild of Fine Food, said: “We can assure consumers that the Great Taste Award logo, which all award winners can use, signifies genuine proven fine food. It’s not just a supermarket premium marketing slogan that bears almost no relation to the quality of the food.”

Burbush’s can expect a big boost in business as the awards over the last five years have generated more than £2.6 million worth of additional sales in total for the previous winners combined. The company supplies its products by order to delis, farm shops, quality butchers and other high-class retail outlets all over the country, delivering by van or post using frozen packs.


In all, Burbush’s makes 17 different hot crust pies, suitable for cold cutting. It also produces 12 varieties of shortcrust pies as well as fruit pies, pates, terrines and hams. All the pies have handmade pastry and fillings and most range from single portions at 150 grams to catering size 2,475 grams.

For more information, contact Burbush’s at [email protected] or go to www.burbushs.co.uk or call 01768 863841.

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Posted: Wednesday 13th August 2008
ID: 2687 - 182