Lincolnshire-based food firm Worldwide Fruit’s Amber Wild won the award in the industry’s Oscars at the Lancaster hotel, London, in a glittering award ceremony last week (Tuesday, November 3).
Wild said she felt “overwhelmed, shocked but great” to be recognised as one of the rising stars in the food industry.
In this exclusive video filmed at the awards, she encouraged young people not to overlook the industry.
‘Don’t overlook the food industry’
“Don’t overlook the food industry because there are a lot of jobs that you can have, which opened my eyes when I joined,” she said.
“It’s a very good place to work and you can get promoted really quickly if you’re doing the job right.”
Wild, who initially entered the industry at 16 by doing school holiday work, said she’d like to progress to senior management level in the food industry.
Her achievements were recognised in front of hundreds of industry guests, as she collected the trophy from award sponsor b3 jobs and the awards host and star TV presenter Mark Durden-Smith.
Choosing the winner from a shortlist of six very high calibre candidates proved an incredibly daunting task, according to the judges.
The FMEAs’ independent judging panel – led by Paul Wilkinson, chair of National Skills Academy – praised 20-year old Wild’s powerful impact on the business she first joined as a part-time student.
Significant contribution
Amber won the admiration of the judges for making a significant contribution in helping to update the firm’s labelling and printing operations.
“Mislabelling is a key area of concern,” said one judge. “Amber has already achieved measurable success in a key area, where so many companies regularly get it wrong.” Another judge enthused: “This highly talented new starter will go anywhere and everywhere.”
Also shortlisted in this category were: Michael Andrew of meat processor Tulip, Alex Barton of meat business ABP UK, Seana Boyle of Willowbrook Foods, Jack Hamilton of Mash Direct, Caitlin Johnstone of The Welsh Pantry and Robert Williatt of Freshpack.
Worldwide Fruit also won the Chilled, fresh and dairy manufacturing company of the year award.