The awards are especially valued by producers due to their foods being nominated by top chefs which are then sampled and judged by a panel of judging chefs to decide the best of the best.

Tasmanian Natural Garlic and Tomatoes producer Annette Reed said the state award for their heirloom tomatoes was a morale boost and acted as an affirmation that what they do on-farm is worthwhile.

"It is confirmation and recognition of something that we know is a great product," Mrs Reed said.

"A lot of our produce goes to some really high-end restaurants and cafes, and so to be recognised by those people as being something worthy of them using says a lot about the quality, the flavour and what we offer."

Mrs Reed said she could hand a box of tomatoes with a range of colours, shapes, sizes and varieties to chefs and they would experiment to create something different.

"We give them something out of the ordinary and they make something extraordinary with it ... and that is what the chefs want."

North-West artisan cheese producer Red Cow Organics farmer Andy Jackman said she first created their award-winning Persian Feta several years ago on her kitchen bench.

It was nominated by Massimo Mele of the Grain of the Silos.

"It is an opportunity to celebrate not just the product that you create but also to say 'yes, we are on the right track'," Mrs Jackman said.

"We are not just achieving our sustainability goals but our customers enjoy the product and taste of what we have created."

"I started making our hero product after I did a homesteading cheese making course, using the milk from our dairy farm in Victoria... we've kept the same recipe from that very beginning."

Other Northern produce award winners included Fork it Farm for their Pasture-Raised Berkshire Pork, Kindred Organics for their Certified Organic Wholemeal Spelt Flour and Mollusca for their St Helens produced George Bay Clams.

Delicious said it was an important time to support local producers who are resilient and "continue to fight to bring the most innovative and sustainable produce" to Australians.

State-award winners will be nationally judged, rigorously tested and tasted, with winners announced later this year.