Northcoast Seafoods won Best New Frozen Retail Product of the Year at the British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) Annual Awards 2017, held in London last Thursday (June 8).
The Grimsby-based company picked up the award for Fishmonger’s Favourite Two Salmon and King Prawn Stacks. It also won the Gold Award for Best New Fish-based Retail Product.
In the foodservice awards, JD Wetherspoon’s Vegetable Samosa – made by Manchester-based Authentic Food Company – won Best Foodservice Product of the year as well as Gold for Best New Meat Free/Vegetarian Product.
Annual gala dinner dance
Now in their 30th year, the awards – sponsored by the Yearsley Group – were the highlight of the BFFF’s annual gala dinner dance at the London Hilton on Park Lane hotel.
This year’s competition received entries from across the industry with the overall champions being selected from 13 category Gold Award winners announced in both the retail and foodservice categories on the night.
The winners were judged by panels of independent consumers from across the UK who marked the products for appearance, taste, innovation, packaging, preparation instructions, likelihood of purchase and value for money.
All the entries to the foodservice awards were judged by representatives of the Craft Guild of Chefs.
FMEAs now open
The Food Manufacture Excellence Awards are now open for entries. Visit foodmanawards.co.uk to find out how to win an industry Oscar.
‘Rightly proud of their achievements’
BFFF chief executive John Hyman said: “This year’s awards are a real triumph for all the Gold winners and especially for Northcoast Seafoods and the Authentic Food Company, both of whom can be rightly proud of their achievements.”
He added: “The brilliant range and variety of products entered into the awards in 2017 demonstrates that innovation is alive and well in the frozen food category with a wonderful range of inventive, mouth-watering, delicious products being offered to consumers and caterers.
“The UK frozen food market continues to evolve and take advantage of the general consumer trends of premiumisation, health, online and minimising waste.
“As inflationary pressures build and put pressure on household disposable income, frozen food’s great value for money will become even more important.”
Look out for an exclusive interview with the new BFFF chief executive in the July issue of Food Manufacture.
Global superstars show fondness for frozen
Oscar winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow and former world number one tennis star Serena Williams have invested in a fast-growing US-based frozen food delivery service.
The superstars have been named among the investors into Daily Harvest, a female-led business that delivers frozen smoothies, soups and overnight oats to customers’ homes.
Williams said: “I invest in businesses that operate with sincerity and integrity and deliver a pure and uncompromised product.
“Daily Harvest reflects this strategy through both the team of employees and investors Rachel has developed, as well as delicious, healthy and convenient food.”
Daily Harvest claimed to have delivered more than 1M smoothies to customers across the US since its launch in 2015.