TAVISTOCK?S Country Cheeses has been shortlisted for a prestigious BBC Good Food magazine award.
The speciality store is in the top three of the nation?s favourite shops, along with farm shops in Gloucester and Suffolk.
Readers of the BBC Good Food Magazine were asked to nominate their favourite shop and from the nominations a shortlist was drawn up and visits made to the contenders.
Undercover shoppers from the magazine travelled the length and breadth of the country looking for stores that really supported local and regional producers.
The winner was due to be announced at the Royal Show in Stoneleigh as the Times went to press yesterday (Wednesday.)
Elise Jungheim, who runs Country Cheeses with her husband Gary, was really excited: ?We are absolutely thrilled ? I am happy just to be in the top three because it is such an achievement for a shop that sells just cheeses.
?Our customers are marvellous and very supportive and it is down to them that we have got this far.?
Mrs Jungheim said promoting local produce was what the shop was all about.
?The cheeses in this area are fantastic and we are always singing their praises. To be featured in a leading food publication like the BBC Good Food Magazine is brilliant for us and our producers.?
Last year Country Cheeses beat 300 companies to take the title of Best Cheese Retailer of the Year, an award sponsored by dairy industry giant Dairy Crest and the Grocer magazine.
The shop stocks more than 100 hand-made cheeses from the West Country.