The awards were presented in front of Herefordshire’s leading players in the food, drink and tourism industries at the Flavours of Herefordshire gala dinner held on Friday 21^st October.

The Flavours of Herefordshire Awards Scheme recognises the best use and promotion of local produce, and is judged on the company’s overall performance and ethos as well as the quality of it’s products.

Currently pressing their 5^th harvest, this award gives recognition to Once Upon A Tree’s commitment to producing quality produce that celebrates the heritage & culture of Herefordshire orchards and cider-making, whilst creating a sustainable future for its own 22 acres of orchard in Putley.

What an honour! We’re all absolutely over the moon with this award!" said Cider Maker Simon Day “We are incredibly proud of our Herefordshire roots, the landscape and people that make our county so special, and we try our very best to capture the essence of Herefordshire in every bottle, and every pint that we produce!”

“Jean-Christophe was very complimentary and we chatted for some time about how we make our cider and what Herefordshire means to us. He was so impressed, he asked to use our cider in his demonstrations in the Cookery Theatre at the Flavours Festival and he actively promoted them to the audience!”

This year has seen the company gain major awards at the International Cider Competition, Bath & West show, Three Counties Show, and only last week saw their own Dragon Orchard gain an RHS Silver-Gilt award in the inaugural RHS Pomona awards.

It has particular significance to us to win this award during the Herefordshire Year in the Orchard." adds Simon "We have been running Year in the Orchard events every month throughout the year, which have been so successful, we are now considering more for 2012 too!"