With the coveted awards dinner taking place next week, IFST chief executive Poole said the sustainability entries for the awards were “incredibly strong”. He hoped other companies would follow their example in the future, he said.
“I think for me it was the sustainability issue that stuck out. Some of the entries were incredibly strong on the sustainability side, and that’s good to see,” Poole told FoodManufacture.co.uk.
“It would be nice to think that that’s imparted into some of the smaller organisations as well over time. But there are some big lessons to be learned in terms of what organisations are doing to decrease their environmental impact.”
Good business sense
The first-time judge said the sustainability strategies made good business sense, as well as helping the environment.
After the judging process finished, Poole said it was clear the health of the food sector remained strong. The entries for this year’s FMEAs were very high quality, and had some great inspirational stories, he said.
The FMEAs – the Oscars of food and drink manufacturing – take place on Wednesday November 2 at the Venice-themed gala dinner in London. Reserve your place here.
Food Manufacture Excellence Awards: the shortlist
Ambient manufacturing company of the year
- Alara Wholefoods
- Jordans, Dorset & Ryvita Company (ABF)
- Kolak Snack Foods
- Nim's Fruit
- Tommy Tucker
- Weetabix
Bakery manufacturing company of the year
- Addo Food Group
- Ginsters
- Premier Foods
- Premier Foods – Cadbury Amaze Bites
- Rise Bakery
- Winning Blend/The Welsh Pantry
- Coca-Cola European Partners
- Solution Sciences
- Wessanen UK
Chilled and fresh produce manufacturing company of the year
- Bradgate Bakery
- Davison Canners
- Mash Direct
- Quinfresh
- Samworth Brothers
- SK Foods
Dairy and frozen foods manufacturing company of the year
- Freshasia Foods
- R&R Ice Cream
- Wyke Farms
Meat, poultry or seafood manufacturing company of the year
- ABP UK
- Cargill
- Dunbia
- Moy Park
Environmental initiative of the year
- ABP UK
- Ginsters
- Premier Foods
- Samworth Brothers
- Winning Blend/The Welsh Pantry
- Wyke Farms
Supply chain initiative of the year
- Aston Manor Cider
- Ginsters
- Moy Park
Training programme of the year
- Moy Park
- Rise Bakery
- Weetabix
Young talent of the year
- Raheem Gordon, Addo Food Group
- Wojciech Kalinowski, Bradgate Bakery
- Robert Powell, Dunbia
- Sarah Richards, Winning Blend/The Welsh Pantry
- Josh Sloan, CocaCola European Partners
- Molly Smith, Weetabix
Judges’ star performer
- ABP UK
- Davison Canners
- Premier Foods
- Rise Bakery
- SK Foods
SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) Innovation of the year
- Alara Wholefoods
- Davison Canners
- Nim’s Fruit
- Rise Bakery
Me and my factory – editor’s choice award
- Bells Food Group: Ronnie Miles
- Coca-Cola European Partners (Wakefield): Trevor Newman
- Délifrance: Frank Bird
- Glanbia Performance Nutrition: Alex Baker
- Kellogg (Manchester): Tony O’Brien
- Signature Flatbreads: William and Charles Eid
Personality of the year
- Tom Carroll, supply chain director, Graze
- Colin Dennis, immediate past president, Institute of Food Technologists
- Janette Graham, group technical learning and development manager, 2 Sisters Food Group
- Andy Morling, head of food crime at the Food Standards Agency’s National Food Crime Unit
- David Potts, chief executive, Morrisons
- Ian Wright, director general, Food and Drink Federation