Our First Ever Ferment Just Won a Great Taste Award

Long before Wild Pantry existed, there was a single jar of sauerkraut sitting on our kitchen counter. There wasn’t a business plan. There wasn’t a logo. There wasn’t even the idea of selling it.

Alice and I were simply trying to answer one question. “If we were making sauerkraut for ourselves, what would we put in it?”

That question became PowerKraut.

And we’re incredibly proud to say that it has now been recognised with a Great Taste Award alongside only seven other sauerkrauts in 2026.

It all started with one jar

We loved the idea of sauerkraut, but not always the taste so we set out to make something we’d genuinely look forward to eating. Something with bold flavour, colourful and most importantly that added more than just cabbage to the plate, so we started experimenting.

🫜 Beetroot brought sweetness, colour and nitrates.

🧅 Red onion added that familiar pickled onion flavour we both loved.

🥕 Carrot added freshness, crunch and Vitamin A (Beta-Carotene).

🫚 Turmeric found its place to add some anti-inflammatory benefits, and black pepper came with it as a natural pairing.

After plenty of batches, tasting and small tweaks, PowerKraut was born.

Looking back, it’s funny how close those first jars were to what we still make today.

What is the Great Taste Awards?

The Great Taste Awards are organised by the Guild of Fine Food and are one of the UK’s most respected food accreditation schemes.

Products are judged completely blind, the judges don’t know the brand and they don’t see the packaging.

They don’t know the story behind the business, they simply taste what’s in front of them.

For a small producer like us, that’s exactly how we’d want it. Everything comes down to what’s inside the jar.

What the judges said

One judge described PowerKraut as:

“Bright, balanced sauerkraut. The deep fermented flavour still retains notes from the individual components, in particular carrot and beetroot, and the texture remains firm and crunchy. The aftertaste is clean with balanced acidity.

"A very nice sauerkraut indeed.” - Great Taste Judges

Another commented on its:

“Beautiful vibrant colour… The texture has a super, moreish crunch.”

Reading comments like that means a lot, texture has always mattered to us. Nobody wants soggy sauerkraut.

We want every forkful to have that satisfying crunch that tells you the vegetables have been treated with care. As it says on the jar 'Gut Loving Crunch'.

Our Mojito Water Kefir didn’t win

We also entered our Mojito Water Kefir. This time, it didn’t receive a Great Taste Award and we weren't alone, no other Water Kefir got a Great Taste award in 2026.

Again, that’s part of why we respect the judging process. The feedback was honest.

The judges loved the fresh lime and mint aroma and described it as refreshing and easy to drink.

One comment that made us smile was: “It is like a non alcoholic mojito.”

That was exactly what we set out to create, every product we make is still evolving. Winning is always nice but learning is just as valuable.

You can try PowerKraut for yourself

PowerKraut is still made in small batches here in Liverpool. Every jar is raw, unpasteurised and full of live cultures.

You can find it:

• At our growing network of stockists across Merseyside.

• At our markets, where you’re always welcome to try a sample before buying.

• Through our online shop with local delivery.

If you’ve never tried proper raw sauerkraut before, PowerKraut is still the one we’d hand you first. Not because it won an award. Because it’s the recipe that started everything.

From our kitchen to yours

When we made that first jar, we never imagined we’d be standing behind market stalls talking about fermentation every weekend. We never imagined we’d have stockists across Merseyside. And we certainly never imagined our first ever recipe would receive a Great Taste Award.

PowerKraut has come a long way, but the recipe hasn’t changed very much and our reason for making it hasn’t changed at all.

We still want to make fermented food that’s delicious enough to become part of everyday life and the award is a lovely milestone.

But what matters most is that people keep opening a jar, taking another forkful and coming back for the next one.