Food Manufacturing Awards: the big night

Tonight is the night. The long wait is nearly over. This evening, 450 food and drink industry executives will gather in central London to discover which firms have triumphed in the Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards.

This time tomorrow, everyone will know which short-listed companies have won the UK food and drink industry’s most coveted awards. This year’s awards, the biggest in their 11-year history, will take place at the Riverbank Park Plaza.

Watch out for our multi-media of the awards featuring Twitter coverage tonight, online articles tomorrow, video content later this week and full coverage in our sister title Food Manufacture next month.

Meanwhile, good luck to all the short-listed candidates listed below.

Ambient Manufacturer of the Year:

AB World Foods

Premier Foods

Thorntons

Weetabix

Bakery Manufacturer of the Year:

Genesis Crafty

Puratos UK

United Biscuits

Walkers Charnwood Bakery

Beverage Manufacturer of the Year:

Fruitapeel

Kraft Foods

Chilled Foods Manufacturer of the Year:

Dairy Crest

Hitchen Foods

Mash Direct

Dairy Manufacturer of the Year:

Arla Foods UK

Dairy Crest

Rodda's

Fresh Produce Manufacturer of the Year:

IPL Normanton

Willowbrook Foods

Frozen Foods Manufacturer of the Year:

Apetito

Ardo UK

Aunt Bessie's

R&R Ice Cream

Meat & Poultry Manufacturer of the Year:

Becketts Foods

Finnebrogue

Taste Tradition

Tulip

Seafood Manufacturer of the Year:

Keltic Seafare (Scotland)

Lossie Seafoods

Young's Seafood

Small Company of the Year:

American Muffin Co

Finnebrogue

Lossie Seafoods

Moguntia Food Ingredients UK

Training Programme of the Year:

Greencore Grocery

Nom Dairy UK

Tulip

Weetabix

2011 Food Personality of the Year Candidates

Christine Bense, plant director, Kraft Foods, Banbury

Ranjit Boparan, chief executive, Boparan Holdings

Geoff Eaton, managing director, Uniq

Joe Franses, head of corporate responsibility and sustainability, Coca-Cola Enterprises

John Tague, managing director, Seabrook Crisps

Brian Young, director general, British Frozen Food Federation