The results are in…we are DOUBLE medal winners in The Free From Food Awards ’21!
Two medals
Not one…but TWO medals!! It’s still very surreal and after a the Bank Holiday and then a whirlwind week last week being approached by National retailers, my feet still haven’t touched the ground.
The day of the Presentation Party arrived, along with the butterflies. We’re very proud of our chocolate but being medal winners would take what we are trying to achieve to another level. It would mean that someone else, in this case a panel of expert judges thinks our chocolate is great too. So much that they are willing to put their name on it.
Dressing up to stay home
The day was manic and we ran out of time – like always! (Doesn’t it for everyone, most of the time?) Getting dressed up is rare for me at the best of times but what made it very weird was to get dressed up to sit and look at a screen in our dining room! The thought of mingling with all the stars of the Free From arena was daunting. But with the encouragement of Simon, the children and friends, I tentatively logged on.
The excitement built
The next 90 minutes passed in a haze of introductions and giggles as our table all got to know each other a little. We were a fabulous muddle of Finalists, PRs, Bloggers and friends, everyone eagerly awaiting the results. Then came the 5 minute warning before the Presentation was to begin. One by one, people started to disappear off to the toilet. I on the other hand, had to disappear…to take our smallest two to bed!
Praying in the dark
We raced upstairs and swiftly read stories, then I sat in the dark waiting for the children to settle, watching my phone with the sound off and praying that they will both be asleep before our categories were announced. I’m still sitting there as our first category appears, Confectionary. This was a huge category, and we weren’t sure we had much chance against our competitors here. There must have been some time delay as the announcement hadn’t yet been made on my screen but I’m receiving a flurry of texts from Simon and friends telling me that our Dark Cherry is a Bronze Medal Winner!!!
Finally asleep
The were finally asleep and I joined Simon and our older children just in time to hear the Artisan category announced. We all sat enthralled and waited. Not in the Bronze Medal section, but there in the Silver Medals was our Dark!! Double Medal winners in our first ever awards – it was better than we could have imagined. We all struggled to mute our cheers so as not to waken the sleepers before heading to bed not really knowing what would come next. By 10am the next morning we knew. Two major retailers got in touch wanting to discuss potentially stocking Freedom Chocolate. Now our work to get our award winning Top 14 free chocolate out to more of you begins in earnest.
Tell us where you want to find Freedom Chocolate and watch this space…
Speak soon,
Sarah