HEREFORDSHIRE gourmet crisp producer Tyrrells held a party to celebrate its 10th anniversary and also winning nine gold awards at the 2012 Great Taste Awards.

Considered the Oscars of the food world, the awards have each category judged by a panel of experts including retailers, chefs, restaurant critics, food writers and industry experts.

As well as exceeding last year’s award tally, Tyrrells has achieved 46 gold Great Taste Awards over the past 10 years.

The salt and vinegar furrows were the front runner this year, scooping a two-star gold award, while a further eight other Tyrrells products achieved a one-star award, including the reigning champion cider vinegar and sea salt, which has won six gold medals over 10 years. The new TorTyrrells range also attained one-star for each flavour.

Oliver Rudgard, marketing director of Tyrrells, said: “We are thrilled to win so many awards for both our core range and the new TorTyrrells.

"It is great to know that year after year our pursuit of outstanding quality is recognised and winning more golds than ever before seems to be a theme that is striking the nation at the moment!”

This year, more than 8,800 products were entered into the awards by 2,500 companies, with 30 per cent of the products winning a gold medal.