Nigel Barden is a beloved British food and drink broadcaster, best known as the main food correspondent for BBC London and a familiar presence on radio alongside presenters like Simon Mayo and Chris Evans . He champions British ingredients and artisanal food producers, serving as a judge for prestigious awards such as Great Taste, World Cheese, and returns as the Chair of judges for the Farm Shop & Deli Retailer Awards . A down‑to‑earth cook rather than a chef, Nigel brings passion, wit, and authenticity to his work, whether on-air, at events, or hosting tastings and festivals .

Elaine is a Yorkshire born former chef-restaurateur turned national food and travel writer and voted one of the Top 50 Food and Drink Journalists in the UK. She writes for many leading food titles, newspapers and websites including BBC Good Food, Spruce Eats and Food 52 and is the author of four books. Elaine says her primary consideration when judging is that it is imperative to take each entrant judged on their merits and what they do, regardless of size, turnover, large or small.

Matt joined Fieldfare as MD in October 2020 and has a wealth of experience within the food industry, having spent the past twenty years working across confectionery, meals, seafood and bakery. Matt is extremely proud of the brands success in the Farm Shop & Deli Product Awards for the and he is passionate about the role unique propositions, such as Fieldfare’s loose premium frozen foods, have to play within independent stores. Matt confesses to having a bit of a sweet tooth and Fieldfare chocolate twists are a family favourite in his household. Luckily Matt loves running too!

Simon’s career in the butchery industry began more than 50 years ago, when, as a teenager, he set out in search of an apprenticeship. What started as an opportunity to learn a skilled trade soon became a lifelong career built on hard work, dedication and a genuine passion for the industry. Twenty years ago, Simon joined Aubrey Allen as Butchery Manager, bringing with him a wealth of experience and knowledge. Since then, he has played an important role in shaping the team, mentoring and teaching a number of butchery apprentices and helping to pass on the traditional skills and expertise that are so important to the future of the trade.

Over the years, Simon has navigated plenty of changes and challenges within the industry, while also celebrating many successes. From national awards and recognition to building strong relationships with customers and supporting the local community, his contribution has helped make Aubrey Allen the trusted and well-respected business it is today.

After more than five decades in the industry, and two decades as part of the Aubrey Allen family, Simon’s experience, commitment and passion for butchery continue to inspire those around him.

Alex was raised in an entrepreneurial family behind the creation of the multi-award-winning Black Farmer brand. With over a decade in the FMCG sector, he has developed expertise in commercial strategy and leadership across supply and retail. Since joining the family business in 2024, Alex has been driving its growth while championing diversity, innovation, and resilience in British food and farming. We are delighted that Alex is joining the judging panel again for the 2027 awards!

Andrew Burton, Director at Pleydell Smithyman, has spent more than 30 years working alongside independent garden centres, farm shops, and rural retailers across the UK. What drives him is a genuine passion for helping independent family-run and specialist businesses grow, adapt, and succeed while staying true to what makes them unique. Andrew is known for taking a visionary yet practical, hands-on approach, combining commercial insight with a real understanding of the day-to-day challenges that independent operators face, and his aim is to find solutions for businesses challenges. He enjoys working closely with business owners to shape long-term strategies, improve performance, and create places that customers want to return to again and again. His experience, enthusiasm for the sector, and commitment to supporting rural enterprise make him a fantastic addition to this year’s judging team.

Carla Mills is a Buying Manager for Booths, with over 20 years’ experience in food retail. With expertise in strategic sourcing and category development, Carla has extensive knowledge across fresh foods including bakery, dairy and fresh produce. She is passionate about bringing high quality products and brands to Booths customers, developing local and regional suppliers, and building strong and lasting supplier relationships.

Lovingly Artisan are our Farm Shop & Deli Retailer of the Year 2024 winners, and we are thrilled to have husband and wife team, Aidan Monks, and Catherine Connor, join our judging panel once again. Lovingly Artisan is a creative sourdough bakery dedicated to crafting exceptional sourdough bread and artisan bakes using time-honoured techniques and the finest local ingredients. At the heart of Lovingly Artisan is the stoneground mill, just a stone’s throw away from where they bake a variety of 13 different sourdoughs in their wood-fired oven. They use ancient and modern grains grown locally, then milled intuitively for flavour and their nutritional value. Lovingly Artisan is often acknowledged for its boundary-pushing and innovative baking approaches, often pioneering and sometimes reintroducing old and historical methods that preserve flavour, enhance keeping qualities whilst influencing the textures and structures of what they call the humble loaf.

Claire Mortimer is a co-founder of Fabulous Farm Shops, an extensive online directory featuring farm shops throughout England. The platform's goal is to list every farm shop in the country and has recently expanded efforts to include shops in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. We are thrilled to have Claire join us on the Farm Shop & Deli Retailer Awards judging panel.

Debbie Edge was the previous proud joint owner of Edge & Son in Birkenhead with her husband Callum and winner of the 2018 Farm Shop & Deli Retailer of the Year. She will be looking for a business that really understands their business ethics and is passionate about the environment, their local farming and‘ real food’ producers, their team and business community.

Ed is a successful business owner with over 30 years' management experience and he is passionate about connecting Artisan producers of fine food and drink within the independent retail sector. Ed has rich background in business development and sales, focused on helping to drive growth and new listings with a personalised approach, direct to known buyers specializing in linking dedicated producers of high-quality food and drink within the independent retail sector. ArtisanLink is built on meticulously curated regional networks of farm shops, leveraging a deep understanding of the market and strong relationships. The mission is to ensure that busy artisan producers and their products receive the just attention by buyers by presenting samples and making the introductions. Ed is an ambassador for Fabulous Farm Shops and regularly lends expertise as a judge for the Great Taste Awards.

Eleanor O’Brien, the Managing Director of National Craft Butchers (NCB), joined the organization in 2018, bringing a wealth of experience in operations, retail, and hospitality management. Eleanor was the winner of the Woman in Meat Awards Trade Body category in 2021 and we are thrilled to have her on our judging panel again this year.

As Head of Marketing at Cotswold Fayre since April 2024, Emma is delighted to be joining the judging panel at Farm Shop & Deli. With a career spanning over 25 years in the food industry including marketing and NPD roles with the manufacturing, retailing and wholesale sectors, across a wide variety of categories and channels, she is excited to bring her passion and enthusiasm for the speciality fine food and premium independent retail sector to the judging process.

Grahame’s vast career in hospitality and speciality food is rooted in a genuine passion for the independent food sector. He entered the speciality and fine food world 18 years ago when he and business partner Richard Fennell (now Commercial Director at The Gorgeous Food Company) opened a delicatessen in 2008, immersing himself in the daily rewards and challenges of artisan retail. This frontline experience evolved naturally into supporting producers with wholesale distribution, leading to the co-founding of The Gorgeous Food Company in 2013. Today, Grahame champions the independent sector by sourcing and supplying a curated portfolio of over 2000 premium products to farm shops, delis and independent food stores across the UK. Grahame’s extensive career spans commercial retail, wholesale logistics and artisan product selection this coupled with his warm, collaborative approach make him uniquely qualified to evaluate commercial viability, quality, and innovation in the speciality food market from a balanced, empathetic, and highly informed perspective.

James and the team behind Cunningham's won both the Best Retailer Northern Ireland (Large) and overall Retailer of the Year in the Farm Shop & Deli Retailer Awards 2023! Cunningham's butchers in Killkeel, Northern Ireland, are a family owned business extending back four generations.

Paxton & Whitfield is one of Britain's most historic cheesemongers, with roots dating back to 1797, and is renowned for sourcing and selling exceptional artisan cheeses from the UK and across Europe. 

Its Chelsea store, located at 22 Cale Street in the heart of SW3, brings the brand's centuries of cheesemaking expertise to one of London's most prestigious neighbourhoods, offering a carefully curated range of artisan cheeses, accompaniments and gourmet gifts.

Jenni lives in West London and has been a cheesemonger coming up 20 years, we are delighted to have her join our judging panel this year. 

John Gill has been involved in selecting, procuring and retailing great food and drink for 18 years with Booths. In this time John has experienced the arrival and emergence of some wonderful food and drink brands and is always keen to support and encourage new and exciting products to market. With a wealth of experience in food and drink awards judging, John can’t wait to get involved again in the Retailer Awards.

Ian Nottage is a classically trained Chef with over 40 years experience in the foodservice and hospitality industry and a Fellow of the Craft Guild of Chefs. He is Head of Food Development at Fresh Direct where he works with their extensive customer base to forge meaningful links between grower, farmer, producer, manufacturer, chefs and buyers to deliver profitable, relevant and innovative menu solutions and to help develop the understanding and appreciation in the trade about how our produce arrives from field to fork. During his time in professional kitchens Ian held positions as Executive Chef at such prestigious venues as Hampton Court Palace, Stoll Moss theatres and The London Coliseum. He is also co-founder and event director of The Universal Cookery and Food Festival.

Co-Founder & Director at Diverse Fine Food (@diversefinefood), New Zealander, Ironman, Sport Enthusiast, Food Judge, Seed Fund Mentor and always searching for amazing Artisan products! Mark has a background working for global manufacturers with well know global brands over the past 30 years. Mark is an experienced judge of several industry awards including Great Taste Awards, Nourish Awards and the Farm Shop & Deli Product Awards. He brings extensive experience from the food & beverage industry with the latest insights and eye for quality and innovation.

Matt has been involved in the food retail sector for 16 years – Initially as a cheese shop and deli owner and now as the Sales Manager at award winning distributor Cress Co, serving independent fine food retailers in the UK. Matt spends a lot of his spare time in the kitchen fuelling his passion for food and cooking from scratch. Matt will be using his specialist industry knowledge to recognise and reward innovation, quality, and exceptional service among the amazing farm shops and delis across the UK.

A seasoned industry and awards judge Nicki is the co-founder and Director of Diverse Fine Food. Nicki has spent over 15 years in the F&B industry as a food buyer and has a special interest in great branding, origin and ethics. Nicki is a has been a Dragon on the Farm, Shop & deli Show's Dragons Pantry for the past 9 years sharing her passion for new producers and insight to help new brands flourish. Nicki is an experienced judge of several industry awards including Great Taste Awards, Nourish Awards and the Farm Shop & Deli Product Awards. She brings extensive experience from the food & beverage industry with the latest insights and eye for innovation and great taste.

Rachel Holding is the Training Partner Manager and Marketing Executive for the Academy of Cheese, where she combines her passion for artisan cheese with a CIM Diploma in Marketing. She supports the Academy's global network of Training Partners while leading marketing initiatives that promote its educational programmes, events and certification pathways.

Rachel's career in food began with a qualification in Catering and Hospitality Studies at Westminster College. Her love of cheese developed while training on the renowned cheese and provisions counter at Fortnum & Mason in London, before progressing to manage a specialist delicatessen in South West London.

Following eight years working on a farm, she joined the Academy of Cheese, where she continues to champion cheese education through marketing, content creation and industry engagement. Committed to making cheese education accessible and inspiring, Rachel is always looking for opportunities to discover new cheeses and encourage others to share her enthusiasm.

Radley is one of the Directors of Award-Winning Moseley Farmers’ Market which he joined in 2019 as a passionate supporter. On weekdays, Radley is a TV Producer with the BBC and at weekends he helps to run Moseley Farmers Market. During 2025, Moseley Farmers Market celebrates 25 years of operation. Back in 2023 it picked up its 4th FRA ‘Best in UK’ Award, the only Farmers’ Market to have won four times. This monthly market has up to 60 stalls and has put Moseley Village firmly on the map, so much so that it was judged ‘Sunday Times Best Place to Live’ in 2015 and, with thousands of visitors throughout the year, the little ‘village in a city’ is now a destination of high reputation. Due to its Farmers Retail Association Accreditation, Moseley Farmers Market guarantees quality and locality of fresh produce. Radley proudly now sits on Farm Retail Association Council - bringing all his knowledge & expertise on making the Farmers Market platform better for all FMS’, including having access to the World Farmers’ Market Coalition.

He believes that the Farmers’ Market has a very crucial/key role to play in preserving and protecting British food culture. He believes that as the world changes, becoming more streamlined, ultra-processed and efficient, our Farmers’ Markets are a way to preserve slower, more sustainable methods of farming: they not only provide healthy alternative foods but also educate people in their importance.

Richard is the oldest son of the three Nicholson brothers who run the multi award winning Cannon Hall Farm visitor attraction in Yorkshire. The family farm has played host to Channel 5’s On the Farm TV shows for the past six years. He’s worked in many areas of the business including on the farm, the farm shop and butchery department. Richard is a keen home cook and online food blogger, broadcasting live on Facebook every week on the Cannon Hall Farm Shop Facebook page. He is enthusiastic about promoting the farm shop's quality beef, pork and lamb. A graduate in graphic design and photography, he now spends most of his time in the farm’s marketing department.

Simon Hurley, Managing Director, P2P Food Solutions and Co-Founder of Cock & Bull, has written pieces for Fine Food Digest and Speciality Food Magazine and consults for several food brands including Tyrrells Crisps, Australian Wagyu, Silver and Green Olives, Piltons Cider and Granny Gothards Icecream. He also works with a number of local authorities looking at healthy alternatives for their school meals offering.

Cock & Bull (formerly Jampa’s) is a bold, chef-led UK brand, dedicated to redefining plant-based eating with premium, flavour-packed pies and pastries.