To be eligible for the all round award, the receiver has to be a winner of one of the most important classification awards as effectively. In this case, Charlie Bigham’s also claimed the title of Chilled, New and Seafood Manufacturing Enterprise of the 12 months.
A full of 22 winners and extremely recommended entrants were being announced from the ranks of finalists across at a fun-packed black-tie meal at the London’s Hilton Bankside Lodge, followed by a DJ set and on line casino. The night was hosted by Cherry Healey, co-presenter with Greg Wallace of BBC2’s Inside the Manufacturing facility.
A licensed B-Corp enterprise, Charlie Bigham’s has scrutinised every spot of its organization for environmental enhancements, from h2o and electrical power use to packaging. In its entry, the enterprise showed robust workforce engagement in good quality opinions and a keenness to innovate and explore a array of processing techniques to prolong shelf-lifestyle, moreover financial investment in its Quarry Kitchen area NPD hub.
“This entry ticks all the boxes: client, top quality and skills, with natural environment and effectiveness initiatives and continued concentrate on creating the small business by means of financial commitment and innovation,” one choose mentioned.
Menzies director Charlotte Langdon
Delivering her speech on the night time, Menzies director Charlotte Langdon mentioned: “This is Menzies’s first year as a headline sponsor and it is a genuine privilege to be involved in these a prestigious occasion. We have been very honoured to be a component of the judging course of action. Throughout the 15 award categories we have tonight, we have obtained a document variety of entries and the excellent and calibre has been remarkable.
“By celebrating all your challenging perform and robust commitment to the marketplace this night I believe that the food manufacturing businesses in this article tonight have loads to truly feel proud about. With – hopefully – a lot of additional beneficial moments on the horizon and with so many chances for food stuff makers to consider benefit of – I’m absolutely sure that by your perseverance, innovation and talent, you and your companies will proceed to prosper.”
The judges, who collectively boast far more than 150 yrs of sector information and experience, were expertly chaired by Geoff Eaton, chairman of Butcher’s Pet Treatment.
Menzies
Awards Sponsors
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Award Winners
Food items Manufacture Firm of The Yr: Charlie Bigham’s
Judges Specific Award: Modern day Baker
Carving out a market for alone in the area of nutritious eating, Oxford-centered Modern day Baker has sent significant innovation in this spot in the form of merchandise this sort of as its Superloaf, the start of which followed five several years of comprehensive investigate and advancement. In summary, 1 choose said: “Superloaf is a great innovation supporting shoppers in the direction of healthier feeding on.” The solution could substitute much less nutritious staples without having compromising on taste, they included.
Business Leader of The Calendar year (picked out by an on the net reader poll from eight candidates chosen by the editorial workforce with input from the judges): Ash Amirahmadi, controlling director (MD), Arla Food items United kingdom.
Considering that Amirahmadi grew to become MD of Arla Foods British isles in 2018, it has saved expanding United kingdom product sales to in excess of £2bn, generating the cooperative Britain’s primary dairy organization. He is the freshly elected chair of Dairy British isles and chair of IGD’s board of trustees. He sits on the Government’s Foodstuff Resilience Forum, set up in response to the pandemic.
Key Category Awards
Ambient Producing Corporation of the Year: Nim’s Fruit Crisps
A previous winner of the smaller and medium-sized enterprise award for innovation in the 2016 Food items Manufacture Excellence Awards, Nim’s is a vintage instance of a business enterprise that has retained increasing through diversification. Dedicated to British isles-sourced fruit and greens for its dried fruit crisps, the company released its own array of edible teas and infusions in 2019.
Last year, it debuted a selection of air-dried elements for use at household and in the foodservice and hospitality sector. The Let’s Prepare dinner variety consists of vegetables such as chillis and pink onions, though its Let us Bake variety encompasses fruits which includes pears and strawberries. In addition, Nim’s has revealed solid collaboration with consumers and a crystal clear determination to high-quality assurance and lessening squander.
“Clearly a company that enjoys innovation and goes further than the contact of responsibility for customers and it offers the business figures to demonstrate it,” a person judge mentioned.
Bakery Manufacturing Company of the Year: Loaded Products and solutions
A multinational foodstuff goods corporation, Prosperous Items is headquartered in Buffalo, New York. Its Uk arm has invested seriously in its Andover bakery, which showcases the hottest technology.
Responding to lockdowns, the enterprise created espresso shop cookie luggage for c-stores, supplying shoppers accessibility to solutions usually bought in foodservice shops. The enterprise boasts an exceptional purchaser service file and has produced bespoke expertise programmes. Sustainability do the job includes the roll out of recyclable packaging and squander reduction.
“Performing extremely as a effectively-founded small business with distinct metrics and deliverables,” one particular choose concluded.
Chilled, New and Dairy Producing Enterprise of the Yr: Charlie Bigham’s
Frozen Producing Business of the 12 months: Iceland Producing
With production centered at Gorton, Manchester, Iceland Manufacturing is the committed vertically-integrated production division of Iceland Food items Group. Winner of a Judges Particular Award in the 2021 Food stuff Manufacture Excellence Awards, the business continues to clearly show expenditure in individuals, equipment and a substantial new product or service improvement pipeline.
In phrases of environmental initiatives, it aims to ditch all plastic packaging and is functioning on lessening waste and water use, although in broader corporate social duty, it’s evidently plugged into supporting the regional local community.
On competencies, it has fostered a prosperity of teaching strategies, from apprenticeships to management classes. On the complex aspect, there’s a robust stress on good quality assurance. “A pretty effective yr demonstrating terrific consumer uptake of new ranges,” just one decide commented.
Free of charge-From Production Business of the Year: Moo No cost
Moo Free of charge shown a vary of characteristics that amazed the judges, from robust ethics and training to its journey towards B Corp certification, illustrating its initiatives to mitigate its weather effect. Its solutions satisfy the needs of clients who just cannot get pleasure from classic chocolate products. The firm has also revealed excellent perform on equality, range and inclusion
Elements Producing Corporation of the Year: Kudos Blends
Operating out of its Kidderminster facility, Kudos Blends will make leavening agents for the bakery sector that can also enhance the nutritional profile of baked goods. Its comprehensive range is created to improve the taste, texture, colour, shape and shelf-existence of chemically leavened items and also help with gluten-absolutely free NPD.
Added solutions are aimed at supporting the removing of sodium, aluminium or phosphate while raising potassium concentrations. All are backed by powerful in-residence assist from a crew of food scientists and bakery specialists at its centre of specialized excellence.
The firm demonstrates a good grasp of waste management challenges and is committed to Traders in Persons. Judges had been especially amazed by its lifestyle of innovation steeped in a deep engagement with its consumers and audio scientific know-how, backed up with a wide variety of testimonials and illustrations.
Meat, Poultry & Seafood Business of the 12 months:
Really Recommended: ABP
Winner: Dunbia
Launched in 1976, headquartered in Dungannon, Northern Ireland and now underneath the umbrella of Dawn Meats, Dunbia is a red meat processor that sources and manufactures beef, lamb and pork items for retail, commercial and foodservice markets.
Judges singled out its higher requirements of good quality assurance, food stuff safety instruction and focus on personnel health and wellbeing.
It’s in sustainability that the business enterprise really shines, nevertheless, with a demanding drive to mitigate its local weather footprint. “A really solid application with excellent supporting info to show business enhancements – especially in the sustainability area,” was how a person choose put it.
Plant-primarily based Producing Company of the Yr: The Compleat Food Team
Fashioned from a merger amongst Addo Foodstuff Team and Winterbotham Darby in 2021, Compleat is a key force in the chilled foods sector. Final yr observed Winterbotham open up a next plant-based mostly factory in Milton Keynes as part of a £5m investment decision in its meat substitute model Squeaky Bean, soon after the finalisation of its 1st completely devoted plant-dependent production web site in Bicester in 2020.
Compleat states desire for plant-based mostly goods amplified in 2020, with young buyers a major driver. Distribution of the Squeaky Bean vary has greater fivefold considering that December 2019, with its items now obtainable in the big 4 shops.
Field Initiative Awards
Export Award: Taylor’s of Harrogate
The marketplace for British tea is at this time flourishing suggests Taylors of Harrogate, which has boosted overseas product sales of its Yorkshire Tea brand in regions which includes the US, Australia and Canada. It has also driven up exports of its Taylors Tea brand in Europe, the Center East and the Significantly East.
Overall, Taylors of Harrogate managed to reach its export concentrate on a few several years early by building on a strong method, potent branding and assortment and extensive trade present protection globally. One decide stated: “A really outstanding growth trajectory and a textbook instance of building sustainable exports as a result of brand name investment decision and deepening intercontinental associations.”
Provider Company Partnership Award: Foundation Earth
A not-for-income organization that aims to create entrance-of-pack labelling speaking products’ environmental impacts, Foundation Earth has by now recruited an array of meals business advisors. They range from manufacturers these kinds of as Unilever, Nestlé and PepsiCo to retailers these kinds of as Tesco and Marks & Spencer.
Applicant products must undergo a total life cycle assessment just before securing an Eco Impression score. The investigation appears to be like at each portion of the offer chain, from farm output and processing to packaging and distribution.
Foundation Earth is doing the job towards launching its method in United kingdom and EU markets after introducing a pilot programme to exam shopper responses. A single judge commented: “With a massive volume of help from substantial supermarkets and producers, this is an superb way to deal with greenwashing and to help generate buyers to make the correct options.”
Coaching Award: Müller Telford
The Effect 21 programme at Müller’s Telford creation web-site proved undeniably instrumental in improving in general gear success and, even with pandemic-connected limitations, succeeded in providing facial area-to-deal with, fingers-on teaching.
The discovering programme experienced a powerful focus on lean manufacturing, drawing on tutors from the automotive sector, and used authentic issues as a way of giving relevance and expertise.
Owning delivered concrete advantages, the firm is developing on that by evolving unique leadership modules. “It does seem to be a complete education method and would acquire significant energy,” a single decide stated.
Sustainability Award:
Hugely commended: Pilgrim’s Uk
Winner: Cranswick
With the bold intention to be the world’s most sustainable meat organization, Cranswick is fully commited to net zero carbon emissions by 2040. At the time of entry, a significant amount of senior administrators had signed up to be CPD licensed in web zero practices, demonstrating a heartening top-down method to eco-pleasant objectives.
Getting achieved 100% renewable electrical power across all its web-sites, with mixed warmth and ability boilers staying rolled out across the factories, the small business is cracking down on scope three on-farm emissions and, centered on its proof, is creating significant headway. One choose termed this ‘a thorough entry that addresses just about all the bases’.
Men and women Awards
Apprentice of The Year:
Extremely Recommended: Samah Rafiq, Coca-Cola Europacific Associates
Winner: Kathryn Rose, Mondelēz
An Apprentice meals technologist, Kathryn was hailed by Mondelez as the to start with human being in the British isles to graduate in her Level 3 Foods Technologist Apprenticeship typical. Her conclusion point evaluation project was focused on investigating pure choices to sugar and shaped component of the programme supporting the Uk launch of Cadbury 30% lowered sugar chocolate. Kathryn has acted as an ambassador for foodstuff field Apprentices, championing their cause at Residence of Commons occasions.
Potential Talent Award:
Very counseled: James Bell, Weetabix Katie Barwise, Carr’s Flour Mills
Winner: Rebecca Clancy, Iceland Producing
Acquiring absent from meals technologist to technical solutions supervisor at Iceland Producing inside of the room of a few a long time, Rebecca has concluded its inside Aspiring Leaders coaching programme, demonstrating sizeable potential assure.
Combining a difficult and supportive administration type, she is credited with introducing a selection of procedures delivering tangible effects. For illustration, she has succeeded in building specialized devices that have improved customer services and waste. A person judge mentioned: “Rebecca has evidently produced a constructive affect on manufacturing performance and appears to have significant upcoming opportunity.”
Web site Crew of the Year: Dalehead Meals
In the midst of a pandemic, the Dalehead Meals staff considerably grew output, in spite of tighter creation schedules and launching a huge amount of new products and solutions.
Exemplifying cross-functional teamwork the company’s entry confirmed obvious proof of collaborative working and a fingers-on technique to tackling COVID-19, ability outages and a flood. This was achieved at the identical time as keeping services amounts, boosting margins and improving wellness and basic safety.
“Great initiatives in the fields of sustainability, servicing of buyer provider stages, amplified output and NPD,” reported 1 judge.