Food NW Awards 2010 - Winners Announced!

Fabulous Food

A preserve maker from Manchester; a shrimp specialist in Merseyside; a spring water business in Lancashire; a cookery school in Cumbria, along with a goat meat company and two ice cream producers from Cheshire, are among the winners in the prestigious Food Northwest Awards 2010, it was announced last night (Thursday, June 24, 2010).

This year’s awards’ programme saw a record number of entries from 150 companies across the region.

Preserve maker, Clippy’s Apples in Sale won the Food Northwest Award for Outstanding SME sponsored by Business Link .  The company recently secured a contract to export its products to the US, is planning to create six new jobs in the next 18 months and aims to position ‘Clippy’s’ as a household name in the UK and abroad.

Chestnut Meats in Tarporley won the Food Northwest Award for Innovation sponsored by Enworks . A partnership approach with the local dairy industry has helped Cheshire goat farmers Tim and Marnie Dobson to deliver their fresh goat meat across the country, while helping to reduce waste and cut costs.

King Henry VI Spring Water based in Bolton-by-Bowland won a new award - the Food Northwest Best New Regional Business Award sponsored by Montpelier Chartered Accountants . After just five months of trading, King Henry VI Spring Water is now supplying its bottled water nationwide and is planning to double its workforce in the next 12 months.

Ready meal producer, The Authentic Food Company , based in Sharston won the Food Northwest Green Business Award sponsored by Foundation, a climate fund for the Northwest . The company has been manufacturing frozen ready meals and snacks for 25 years and in the last 18 months has put green credentials at the top of the agenda.

The Northern School of Asian and Oriental Cooking based in Barrow, won the Food Northwest Award for Skills sponsored by Reaseheath Enterprise Delivery Hub . The organisation was established three years ago as a not for profit business, and is run by Soodsawat or Ooy, as she is better known, and her husband and business partner, John Rigg.

The two have taken their Cultural Cooking Road Show to over 1000 schools and venues, teaching more than 100,000 children and adults about Asian and Oriental cooking.

Southport Seafoods , based in Birkdale won the Fine Food Producer of the Year Award 2010 sponsored by restaurant group, Northcote , for its ‘Genuine Potted Shrimps in Butter’. Christian Peet set up Southport Seafoods with his brother Kevin, and his father Chris, over 18 years ago, and has been shrimping since he was just five years old.

Advanced Food Safety in Wigan won the Food Northwest Award for International Trade sponsored by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI). The food hygiene and safety training and consultancy company, continues to see its business go from strength to strength, increasing its year on year sales by 16 per cent, achieving a net profit of 67 per cent and doing business with 59 countries across the globe.

Scoop! Ice Cream Café , in Warrington won the Best New Northwest Speciality Product of the Year sponsored by restaurant group Northcote . The company was established in 2007 by business partners Karl Kondal and Peta Carter.

The company took home the prestigious new product award after winning one of only ten coveted categories at the Fine Food Northwest Awards 2010, which were held earlier this month, for its ‘Rich Chocolate Indulgence Ice Cream’. Its ‘Lime Sorbet’ was also recognised in the Fine Food Northwest Awards.

Cranstons Cumbrian Food Hall in Penrith won the Food Northwest Excellence Award sponsored by solicitors, DWF.

The company works closely with local farmers and producers to offer a unique and extensive range of regional food and drink. At the end of last year the company completed a successful £1 million makeover and expansion programme, creating 20 new jobs.

Meanwhile, United Biscuits , which has sites in Carlisle (Carr’s), Liverpool (Jacob’s), and Manchester (McVitie’s), won the Food Northwest Award for Social Responsibility sponsored by Barclays Corporate .

United Biscuits has a long heritage in the Northwest, with its biscuit and snack factories dating back over 100 years, and currently employs a total of 2,500 people across the region.

Cheshire Farm Ice Cream in Tattenhall and The Manchester Rusk Company in Sharston were both Highly Commended in the Food Northwest Award for Outstanding SME sponsored by Business Link.

The Food Northwest Awards are in their fifth year and recognise companies from all areas of the industry, from farm to fork, including food retail and service, wholesale, distribution, food processing and agriculture.

Pat Foreman, chief executive of Food Northwest, said: “We are very proud of all of our winners and are delighted to be able to recognise their achievements in this way. The quality of the entries in this year’s awards has been outstanding and we have seen some real ‘star’ businesses come to the fore. Once again it is evidence of the commitment, hard work, innovation and enthusiasm of the businesses within our region’s thriving food and drink industry.”

This winners of this year’s awards which focus on the theme ‘Fabulous Food’ were announced at a Gala Awards Dinner, hosted by Lucy Meacock of ITN and Granada TV, at the Midland Hotel in Manchester. Jonathan Warburton, of Bolton-based bread company, Warburtons, was the keynote speaker at the event.