Staff from Honeybuns, at Naish Farm, made it into the top eight with their Amondi biscuits.

Owner Emma Goss-Custard, aged 34, first entered the catering industry while baking in her student digs and selling cakes on her bicycle, before launching the company in 1998. She said: "I am really chuffed, as we have such a low profile for a small, slightly quirky and old-fashioned company. It is nice to be recognised."

"We remain pure in motives, and every item is hand-made and relects in the products we make. Next year, we will be concentrating on bite-size snacks and hope to use agave nectar, instead of sugar, for diabetics. We will try to push the boundaries so we will not be left behind in the new trends."

The Great Taste Awards' judging panel consists of food critics, buyers from Fortnum & Manson and Harrods, national food journalists and respected chefs. They judged more than 4,500 individual entries of all types of food.

Honeybuns is holding a food-tasting event on Thursday 25 October at The Bee Shack, as part of Dorset Food Week. For more information and tickets, call 01963 23597