A gourmet butter created by a family-run business in St Margarets has been named one of the finest foods in the world by the Guild of Fine Food.

The 'Ridiculous No55 Lobster & Crab Butter' - butter flavoured with British Isles lobster, Devon crab, caviar, lemon and fennel - was created by Sublime Butter.

The accolade is expected to boost sales for the small company, which supplies premium butters through farm shops and butchers.

The butter joins a select group of mouth-watering foods, including a Chian Tangerine Spread made in Tavros Attica, Greece, and a raw stingless bee honey harvested in Singapore, on the list of the finest foods in the world.

The Guild assembled 355 food experts, including chefs, restaurateurs, retail buyers and critics, to taste foods from across the globe for the Great Taste 2021 judging process.

One judge said: "You can tell a butter is good when you want to sit there and just eat spoonfuls of it without any bread or biscuits to go alongside.

"This is such an exciting, innovative product. The butter has been whipped perfectly to give a wonderful mouth feel. The fennel comes through with sophistication as does the citrus. And generous pieces of shellfish just add to the overall luxury."

Another said: "The taste is delicious, the butter melts and fills the mouth with the flavour of lobster and crab ;the sweetness offset by a touch of lemon. This butter is a harmony of flavours of the seafood with good quality butter, and the seasoning is balanced. The fennel could very easily overbalance with its distinctive flavour, but is carefully monitored, Overall the butter is just irresistible.

Company founder, Chris Mair, said: "I created sublime in 2019 but it has been a few years in the making. I had run a steak club for the last 12 years and I picked up that despite all the great steak restaurants and the great meat, there hasn't been much condiment development.

"The popular sauces like peppercorn drown out the flavour, so I wanted to create something a bit different. I hired a chef and we created some flavours and then we made flavoured butter and had a eureka moment! We couldn't believe no one had really done it before!"

The brand Sublime draws inspiration from an 18th Century London club called The Sublime Society of Beefsteaks, which was set up by John Rich and his friend William Hogarth, the painter,

Chris said: "We have created a range of eight products that are for everyday use across different meals. The idea is that good quality ingredients can be brought together to add flavour."

On top of these it has developed a few ultra-premium butters under the brand 'Ridiculous'.

The butters are created, tasted and tested at a development kitchen in London, before being made at a farm in Glastonbury, Somerset.

Mr Mair said: 'Ridiculous butter is by its nature ridiculous, we like to push boundaries and do things that have never been done before. Last year we created a truffle, bone marrow, Madeira and Blue Stichelton cheese butter and this year we created the 'Ridiculous Number 55, the lobster, crab, caviar butter.'

All the ingredients are from British seafood suppliers and the butter will be available later this year directly from the firm's website. Which you can find here!

The winning butter, which has a premium price of £95, comes with a limited-edition and spectacular butter dish which is handmade in Italy.

Mr Mair said he hopes the success of the butter will have a halo effect for all the products offered. A 90g pack of Sublime truffle & parmesan butter, sold in farm shops and butchers, is typically a more wallet friendly £4.25.

Every Great Taste award-winning product will be able to display a distinctive black and gold logo, a stamp of excellence that is recognised by retailers and consumers alike.