A LUDGERSHALL-based snack company has landed an award in the first ever staging of a competition for specialist foods.

Wilding Snacks, was announced as the joint winner of the Judges Excellence Award in the 2017 UK Paleo Awards on Tuesday, 17 October, for its Duck Crackling snack and was also announced as runner up in the Paleo Snack of the Year category.

The inaugural awards celebrate the finest specialist paelo food and drink producers, restaurants and blogs and featured 96 companies entering across 16 categories with almost 10,000 votes were cast.

Paelo generally means eating vegetables, fruits, meats, fish, certain fats, nuts, and seeds and removing grains, beans, soy, dairy, certain vegetable oils, and refined sugar from one’s diet.

Winners were selected by both a judging panel and votes from the public. Adam Wilding, founder of Wilding Snacks, said: “We are absolutely honoured that our duck crackling has been recognised twice in this year’s UK Paleo Awards.

“We develop and make all our products in-house so it is fantastic to see the paleo community enjoying the natural flavours that go into each of our recipes.

“We are always striving for uncompromising taste and an innovative range and we hope that those on a paleo diet will continue to be fans of the new products we have in development.”

The company was also featured in the One to Watch category of Toucan’s Ignite 2017 Awards, backed by Time Inc and London Business Forum, which was announced in September.

The start-up has been trading for less than three years.

Jan Minihane, Paleo Awards founder, said: “The recognition from this award shows that Wilding’s Snacks translate into the mainstream.

“In an ideal world, the best paleo snack would be some nuts, an apple or some carrots.

“Yet we live in a fast-paced world and sometimes we need convenience from something we can chuck in our bag, or if we go down the pub for a drink we need a snack that’s not loaded with sulphites, preservatives or sugar, something that actually has something of value and is dense in nutrients.”