London, March 19 (CNA) A Taiwanese jam maker won an Artisan Award for her marmalade at an annual culinary event in England last Friday, after competing against more than 3,000 jars of preserves.

Ke Ya, founder of Keya Jam, won a Double Gold award for her Orange Blossom, Kumquat & Yellow Lemon Marmalade in the artisan and small producer category, which included about 3,500 jams from over 40 countries at the 2019 World's Original Marmalade Awards.

In an interview with CNA, Ke said that even though three marmalades won Double Gold awards, the others being from the Netherlands and Syria, hers was the only one to receive a full score of 20 from the judges.

The jury was made up of journalists, business leaders and people well respected in the food industry. Submissions were evaluated from mid February with the winners announced on March 15, according to the event's website.

Winning a Double Gold award denotes a marmalade of incredibly high quality and those products will be sold at upmarket department store Fortnum & Mason in their famous Piccadilly Store, the event's website said.

Ke said that she started making preserves after failing at her first attempt to make strawberry jam which motivated her to try again and then later invest in the jam making business.

Since then, Ke has researched information related to jam, including seasonal changes in fruit, which fruit goes well with certain teas, and even different types of sugar around the world.

According to her company's website, Keya Jam was founded in 2010.

The World's Original Marmalade Awards was founded in 2005 and has been held annually in March at Dalemain country house in Penrith, England, according to the event's website.