Food and drink manufacturing Oscars – meet the judges

As final preparations are made for the Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards – the Oscars of the food and drink manufacturing sector – here’s your opportunity to meet the judging panel.

The awards – which will take place on the evening of Thursday November 21 at the Park Lane Hilton, London – are judged by a panel of independent experts, with wide-ranging experience in every area of the food and drink industry.

There are still places left if you want to attend on the big night to be among the first to learn who has won top honours in the world of food and drink manufacturing. To book your place, telephone Rebecca George on 01293 610422 or email: rebecca.george@wrbm.com.

Charing the FMEAs

Meanwhile, our judging panel was led by business guru Paul Wilkinson. In addition to chairing the FMEAs and Food Manufacture’s Business Leaders Forum held in London every January, Wilkinson is chairman of the National Skills Academy (NSA) and chairman of Thorntons.

Hear why Wilkinson thought 2013 had proved to be a vintage year for entries in this exclusive video interview.

This year’s judging panel included:

  • Jonathon Bayne, food technologist – ambient grocery Waitrose.
  • Simon Chattock, head of Vendor Assurance, Compass Group UK & Ireland.
  • Mark Colvin, lean manufacturing consultant, Leanpal.
  • Jean Feord, regulatory affairs consultant.
  • Dale Fiddy, sales and marketing director, NFT Distribution Operations.
  • Justine Fosh, chief executive NSA.
  • Estelle Herszenhorn, consultant,  Waste and Resources Action Programme.
  • Wayne Morley, head of Ingredients and product innovation, Leatherhead Food Research.
  • Rick Pendrous, Editor Food Manufacture.
  • Jeremy Richardson, director Suiko.
  • Mike Stones, group editor Food Manufacture.

This year’s judging panel assessed a record number of entries against seven criteria@

  • Category management.
  • Marketing and new product development.
  • Supply chain improvement.
  • Quality assurance.
  • Process innovation.
  • Health, safety and environmental management.
  • Human resources development .

The Food Manufacture group would like to wish all the short-listed candidates the best of luck for the big night on Thursday November 21 at the Park Lane Hilton, London. View the shortlist for the 2013 FMEAs here.

Don’t forget, you can still book your place by telephone Rebecca George on 01293 610422 or emailing rebecca.george@wrbm.com.