The aim of the awards, as in previous years, is to showcase Yorkshire food and to celebrate and applaud the people who make their living from it. The awards are open to food producers from anywhere within the county who sell their foods commercially. There is no entry fee.

There are six categories:

Growers

Butchers and meat

Pies

Dairy

Handmade (jams, pickles, chocolates, etc)

Local brew

The chairman of the panel of judges for the awards will be Michael Hjort, the director of the York Festival of Food and Drink. Michael is an independent chef restaurateur of Melton's and Melton's Too in York. He believes the ideas behind the festival and the ethos of the Yorkshire Post Taste Awards will ensure that the new arrangement is a perfect fit.

Enter online via the Yorkshire Post website, www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/ taste. Alternatively, telephone 0113 238 8956 to request an entry form by post. The deadline for entries is Monday, July 21. The email address, if required, is michael. hickling@ypn.co.uk.

Postal entries should be sent to Michael Hickling, Yorkshire Post, Wellington Street, Leeds, LS1 1RF, marked Taste Yorkshire.

These will be filtered down by the judges and if yours is successful you will be asked to send in your product for one of the judges' tasting sessions during August.

A shortlist of finalists, three in each category, will be published towards the end of August and winners will be announced at the awards dinner at the Guildhall during the festival in September.

This will be followed by two pages of coverage in the Yorkshire Post's Country Week devoted to the winners and runners-up and their products.

n If you have any queries relating to the awards, please phone 0113 238 8956 to speak to Michael Hickling.

Come and taste the best that Yorkshire has to offer! Help us celebrate our Taste Awards with a special four-course dinner with wine included, in the magnificent surroundings of York's 15th Century Guildhall. At the Dinner, to be held during the York Food and Drink Festival, on September 25, the winners of each of the categories will receive their trophies and you will learn where to buy the best produce in Yorkshire. Tickets £40, ring 01904 466687 for details and booking.