It is Angus Soft Fruits of Arbroath, whose Good Natured Fruit (GNF), grown in Scotland without the use of artificial pesticides, was judged the best in Scotland.



The company also won the 'Retail - Fruit or Vegetable Category Award' category.

The awards were presented on Thursday by Alex Salmond, First Minister, at a gala dinner at The Mansfield Traquair, Edinburgh, attended by 300 guests from the food and drink industry.

Mr Salmond told the audience: "Good Natured Fruit are deserving winners of this award. The company has paid testament to the high quality and freshness our home-grown produce is renowned for, as well as showing the natural health and environmental benefits of Scottish produce.

"Earlier this year, the Scottish Government launched Scotland's first ever national discussion on food.

"It has recently come to an end, with more than 25,000 people visiting our website, around 500 responding, with thousands more attending events on the food policy across Scotland.

"These responses will be considered as part of our work to develop a national food policy that can help support a sustainable food industry within a greener, healthier, wealthier Scotland."

Angus Soft Fruits developed the GNF Fruit method of growing soft fruits in response to increasing consumer and retailer concerns over pesticide residues on fruit.

The GNF approach uses a combination of traditional farming practices and new technology to offer a pesticide free option to all consumers at affordable prices.

Angus Soft Fruits oversee all stages of the growing process from plant selection, through harvesting to final product quality control and the products brand identity aims to set it apart from supermarket private label produce.

The Angus Soft Fruits research and development team went back to basics to gain a detailed understanding of how a plant grows and interacts with its natural environment replacing the need for pesticides in the growing process.