Pictured above: Hardeep Singh Kohli
Organisers of the 2009 Food and Drink iNet Innovation Awards
have revealed the shortlist of East Midlands firms and
organisations in the running to receive an accolade.
The awards celebrate the uptake and implementation of innovation
in the East Midlands food and drink industry, and are being held
for a second year.
The winners will be announced by entertaining writer, presenter
and foodie Hardeep Singh Kohli at a gala dinner at Athena,
Leicester, on November 17th.
Now organisers have announced the shortlist of firms and
organisations that are through to the finals.
• University of Lincoln National Centre for Food
Manufacturing Award for Most Innovative SME Food and Drink
Manufacturer
This award will recognise small to medium-sized food and drink
manufacturers within the East Midlands that have championed
innovation projects in order to improve their business.
Shortlist
- Cupcake Corner, Ashbourne, Derbyshire - producer of luxury,
handmade cupcakes and specialising in gluten-free products,
launched by coeliac sufferer Charlotte Marsh.
- The Pickled Village, Bulwick, Northamptonshire - producer of
quirky, spirited preserves using innovative flavours and
combinations, founded by Camille Ortega McLean.
- Thornbridge Brewery, Ashford in the Water, Derbyshire -
producer of high quality craft beers launched in 2005 in a ten
barrel brewery, which has just opened a new 30 barrel brewery and
bottling line after demand outstripped supply.
• Campden BRI Award for Most Innovative Business across the
Food and Drink Supply Chain
This award will recognise businesses working in the food and
drink supply chain within the East Midlands that have undertaken an
innovation project that has benefited the food and drink
manufacturing sector.
Shortlist
- Eistechnik, Loughborough, Leicestershire - for the development
and advancement of eutectic refrigeration units for trucks, which
are more environmentally friendly and less noisy than traditional
transport refrigeration methods.
- EnvirUP.com Limited, Nottingham - for the development and
delivery of one of the world's first environmental reviews of the
UK's top 100 consumer brands known as the EnvirUP Green Index.
- QADEX Limited , Sileby, Leicestershire - for providing
web-based solutions for food businesses to gather, assess and
manage supply chain and product specification information. Since
launching in 2006, QADEX Supply Chain Assurance has grown to manage
more than 7,000 sites on behalf of more than 100 food
businesses.
• CenFRA Award for Most Innovative Research Project
This award will recognise the most successful research projects
undertaken by universities and any other organisations conducting
research within the East Midlands that have made a significant
beneficial impact on the food and drink sector.
Shortlist
- eminate Ltd, BioCity, Nottingham - for the research project to
develop an innovative coating for the increased life of food
processing blades, which it undertook in collaboration with The
University of Nottingham. It is now being used in the manufacture
of salads.
- Nottingham Trent University, School of Science and Technology
- for adapting existing technology to create an innovative solution
to solve leaching problems in bottles, and for taking the
technology a step further by adding antimicrobial properties which
kill or lessen micro-organisms.
- University of Nottingham, Division of Food Sciences - for the
development of Cold Atmospheric Plasma or CAP, which is a plume of
gas in a beam designed to kill both pathogenic and spoilage
bacteria on surfaces and products which leaves no residue on
foodstuffs or equipment. This technology demonstrates potential not
only in reducing microbial load and inactivating spoilage microbes,
but also in extending the shelf life of foods including soft fruits
and raw meat.
• Food Processing Faraday Award for Most Innovative Large
Food and Drink Manufacturer
This award will recognise large food and drink manufacturers
within the East Midlands that have championed innovation projects
in order to improve their business.
Shortlist
- Marshalls (part of the Produce World Group), Butterwick,
Boston, Lincolnshire - for the development of a sweeter tasting
broccoli, known as bellaverde® and launched in July
2009, created in conjunction with Seminis, the largest developer,
grower and marketer of fruit and vegetable seeds.
- Marshalls (part of the Produce World Group), Butterwick,
Boston - for creating the From My Farm range of regional fresh
products with provenance, and setting up a supply chain to make it
simple for retail buyers to source products from all regions via a
single point of contact.
- QV Foods, Holbeach, Lincolnshire - for the development of its
Inspire brand, now fronted by MasterChef presenter and judge Gregg
Wallace, which offers quick and convenient fresh prepared potato
lines.
• Nottingham Trent University Award for Most Innovative
Business in the Wider Food Sector
This award will recognise innovation in a food or drink business
that is not a manufacturer. Examples of businesses eligible to
enter this award include primary producers, restaurants, caterers,
delicatessens and local food retailers.
Shortlist
- Biondi Bistro Caffe Bar, Gunthorpe, Nottinghamshire - for the
way in which the business has developed and evolved from a tea
rooms into an enterprise that's offering more to customers,
including special events.
- Gourmet Raj, Leicester - for the way in which the business
developed a high quality Indian food takeaway and created an image
and packaging to ensure they stood out from the crowd.
- Mem Saab, for the establishment of their own tandoori and
Indian cuisine skills centre to train chefs for their five tandoori
restaurants in the Midlands, including the latest addition to the
group, High Cross Restaurant in Leicester. The group has Mem Saab
restaurants in Leicester, Northampton, Leamington Spa and Banbury,
and trades under the name of City Buffet in Friar Lane,
Nottingham.
• The Food and Drink Forum Innovation Champion Award
2009
The Innovation Champion 2009 will be selected from the winners
of each of the above categories.
"We had a very good response to this year's awards, and the
standard of entries was very high, which is a measure of the
innovation that is going on across the East Midlands in the food
and drink sector," said Peter Maycock, Project Director for the
Food and Drink iNet. "The shortlisted firms and organisations can
feel justifiably proud of being selected to go through to the
finals."
David Wallace, Innovation Director of East Midlands Development
Agency (emda) which funds the Food and Drink iNet, added: "It is
great to see the Food and Drink iNet leading the development of the
innovation culture in the East Midlands' food and drink sector.
Innovation is difficult and daunting, but essential if businesses
are to adapt to the unsettling changes in both the economic and
natural environments. The Food and Drink iNet Innovation Awards are
especially welcome. Those businesses that innovate successfully
deserve to be celebrated."
Tickets are now on sale for the Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner
on November 17th, which is expected to be attended by
representatives of scores of food and drink firms from around the
region. Individual tickets are £65 plus vat, while table
sponsorship, which includes ten free tickets, and the opportunity
to feature company logos on admission tickets, table signage,
rolling presentation, event programme, and winners' directory,
costs £650 plus vat.
The Food and Drink iNet is aiming to foster innovation in the
region's food and drink sector by encouraging businesses to turn
new ideas into new business through the development of new
technologies and products. It's also hoping to stimulate new
processes, services and ways of working in the industry to help
boost the sector.
Funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda), the Food and
Drink iNet is managed by a consortium, led by the Food & Drink
Forum and including Food Processing Faraday, Nottingham Trent
University, the University of Lincoln, and the University of
Nottingham.
Contact Jo Stevenson on 0115 975 8810 or
enquiries@foodanddrinkforum.co.uk for ticket and sponsorship
information.