Sharing the podium with a table olive producer and a gourmet salt producer, Hazelbrae owners, Christie McLeod and Mick Delphin, said they were ‘incredibly excited’ that their product had received the medal. “We are incredibly proud of what we’re growing and very proud to be recognised for growing premium quality produce,” McLeod said. “It really is fantastic recognition for the quality of Australian grown hazelnuts and the medal has already extended the network of people who know that locally grown hazelnuts are second to none when it comes to quality."

She added, “Stillwater restaurant in Launceston has been sourcing our hazelnuts for two years and we now have two more high-end restaurants interested in or just starting to source from us.

“Rob Cockerill from Bennelong at the Sydney Opera Houses just received his first delivery and Peter Gilmore from Quay is also seriously interested. Rob said to me that as soon as he got his first delivery he could tell straight away, as soon as he opened the box, that our hazelnuts were a big improvement on the ones they had been importing from Italy.”

In the wake of the award, McLeod fielded several more enquiries from various people wanting to source product. “I had one person from Brisbane seeking one tonne of kernel and 250 kg in-shell while another enquirer was after 50 kg kernel. Unfortunately, I can’t supply.”

Hazelbrae was not the only producer to be recognised; Vanessa and Clem Cox from Australian Gourmet Hazelnuts in Mudgee, NSW, also made the list of thirty finalists for the ‘From the Earth (Artisan)’ category for their cold-pressed hazelnut oil and dry roasted hazelnuts.

HGA President, Sallianne Faulkner, welcomed the news of the award and hazelnuts overall performance at the delicious.Magazine awards. “These awards are a definite ‘save the date’ in the Australian foodie calendar and it is an honour just to make the finalist list – more than 1,000 entrants are winnowed down to a final short list of 140 producers in eight categories. As an association we are incredibly proud of Christie and Mick for winning a medal and Vanessa and Clem for being finalists. Both producers are helping to build recognition for Australian hazelnuts and hazelnut growing and I cannot commend them too highly for their efforts.”