Three Great Taste Awards for Opito Bay Salt — a good day for a little Coromandel salt farm

‍We have some lovely news from the other side of the world.

Opito Bay Salt Company has received new three awards at the 2026 Great Taste Awards in the United Kingdom: two stars for our Kampot Black Pepper Sea Salt, and one star each for our Natural Sea Salt and Black Garlic Sea Salt.

‍We are properly chuffed. Not because awards are why we make salt, but because these products were tasted blind by experienced food judges who knew nothing about the story, the packaging or the small salt farm behind them. They simply tasted what was in front of them. All three Opito Bay entries came home with stars.

What did Opito Bay Salt win at the 2026 Great Taste Awards?

·       Two stars — Opito Bay Kampot Black Pepper Sea Salt

·       One star — Opito Bay Natural Sea Salt

·       One star — Opito Bay Black Garlic Sea Salt

Great Taste describes two stars as “outstanding” and says about 10% of entries achieve that level. One star means “simply delicious”, earned by roughly 28% of entries. In 2026, 15,038 products were entered. Only 1,596 received two stars, 4,286 received one star and 306 received three stars. Fewer than half of all entries won an award.

Three awards from three entries therefore feels rather special for a small New Zealand producer. The 2026 competition involved more than 15,000 products from nearly 4,000 companies across more than 100 countries. So, a two-star award and two one-star awards for one Kiwi salt maker are results we are quietly proud of.

Two stars for Opito Bay Kampot Black Pepper Sea Salt

Our best result was for Opito Bay Kampot Black Pepper Sea Salt, an engaging blend of our natural solar-evaporated sea salt and high-quality organic Kampot black pepper.

The judges called it “a quite brilliant blend of two high quality ingredients”. They liked that the pepper led, supported by the saline quality of the sea salt, and described the blend as balanced, aromatic and long on the finish. One panel said it had “length and purpose” and imagined it on fish. Another said they would happily keep it beside the stove, ready for cooking everyday.

The comment that meant the most to us was the description of the salt as offering “rich, complex mineral flavours”. The judges noticed floral notes in the pepper first, followed by warmth that developed over time. They noted, quite rightly that the minerality in the sea salt compliments and heightens flavour and they kept returning to taste it, which is about as useful a compliment as a food producer can receive.

That is what we hoped this product would be: not pepper with a bit of salt thrown in, and not salt overwhelmed by pepper. Just two fantastic ingredients doing their jobs properly.

One star for Opito Bay Natural Sea Salt

Natural Sea Salt is where everything starts for us. It is made from seawater gathered at Opito Bay on the Coromandel Peninsula, slowly solar-evaporated using sun, wind and time, then hand-harvested in small batches.

The Great Taste judges noticed the naturally varied crystal size, clean white appearance and deep salinity, with a delicate suggestion of sweetness. They described the taste as clean and pure, with an “ocean freshness”. Another panel found a subtle marine aroma, an elegant character and a “broad-ranging and entirely pleasant minerality”.

Minerality is a word that gets used rather loosely in food. For us, it describes the natural flavour character retained when sea salt is not heavily processed or stripped back to uniform sodium chloride. It can show itself as brininess, softness, a hint of sweetness or a longer, more complex finish.

Not every judge detected the same level of minerality, which is fair. Taste is personal, and honest blind judging should produce different opinions. What mattered was that several judges recognised the ocean freshness, varied crystal character and mineral complexity we work to preserve.

That feedback gets to the heart of what makes naturally produced sea salt different. It is not only about making food saltier. Good sea salt brings texture, flavour and another layer to the food beneath it.

One star for Opito Bay Black Garlic Sea Salt

Our Black Garlic Sea Salt also received a one-star Great Taste Award.

The most positive comments focused on its savoury aroma, balance and length. Judges found that the sharper salinity was rounded by the almost umami character of black garlic, creating what one panel called a “long, savoury, flavour journey”. Others noticed smoky, garlicky aromas and sweet garlic notes that remained on the palate.

Black garlic is softer and more rounded than raw garlic, with natural sweetness and savoury depth. Combined with our naturally minerally sea salt, it works beautifully on steak, mushrooms, eggs, roast vegetables and sweetcorn.

That everyday usefulness matters to us. An award is nice, but a salt still needs to earn its place beside the stove.

Why does a Great Taste Award matter?

Great Taste is run by the Guild of Fine Food and is described by the organisation as the world’s largest and most trusted food and drink accreditation scheme. Products are judged on their own merit rather than ranked directly against the other entries in their category.

Judges focus on what they can see, smell, taste and feel. Branding and a good backstory might help a product on a shop shelf, but they cannot carry it through blind judging. The flavour has to stand on its own.

The Great Taste mark is also widely recognised in the United Kingdom. YouGov research published by the Guild found that 58% of UK adults recognise the logo, while 73% regard it as a trustworthy recommendation.

According to the award information supplied to us, no sea salt has received three Great Taste stars in the history of the awards. That places our two-star Kampot Black Pepper Sea Salt close to the highest level yet achieved by a salt product, without us getting carried away about it.

Part of a longer Opito Bay Salt award story

These Great Taste stars do not stand alone.

Since 2022, Opito Bay Salt Company has collected close to 50 medals, finalist places and special recognitions across the New Zealand Artisan Food Awards, Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards, and World Food Innovation Awards in London.

Those results cover our Natural Coromandel Sea Salt, flavoured sea salts and gourmet seasonings. Kampot Black Pepper Sea Salt was named Champion New Product at the 2024 Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards. In 2025, three Opito Bay salts were finalists or highly commended at the World Food Innovation Awards in London. In 2026, Natural Sea Salt, Fiery Chilli Sea Salt, Furikake and B!tching BBQ Rub earned further gold medals in New Zealand.

We try to keep all of that in perspective. Awards are useful independent confirmation that the flavour is doing what we think it is doing. They also help a small New Zealand brand be noticed by chefs, retailers, distributors and food lovers who may never have heard of Opito Bay.

What comes next for Opito Bay Salt Company?

The future is not about making salt faster or turning it into a mass-produced commodity.

We want to keep making premium New Zealand sea salt slowly and naturally. We want to protect its mineral character, improve our craft, develop thoughtful flavour combinations and work with more great New Zealand ingredients.

We also want to take Opito Bay Salt further into the world while remaining recognisably ourselves: a small, hands-on business shaped by a particular stretch of Coromandel coast.

These Great Taste awards give us continued confidence that our salt can hold its own internationally. They also remind us that the fundamentals matter most: the pure clean seawater, sunshine, wind, patience, careful harvesting and flavour.

Thank you to the Great Taste judges, everyone who stocks or cooks with our salts, and the people who backed this slightly unusual idea from the start.

From a little salt farm at Opito Bay, three stars have travelled a very long way.

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