Thursday 14 January 2010

Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards are open for entries

The Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards are open for entries from today and the organisers are urging Scottish companies to bolster their credentials by entering these national ‘Oscars’ of the food and drink industry.

Now in their ninth year and jointly organised by Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland and Scotland Food & Drink, these prestigious awards have helped numerous businesses increase their profile, gain deserved recognition, secure valuable listings and increase profits. Clydesdale Bank has come onboard this year as Main Sponsor.

Award categories which might interest seafood businesses include a Fish & Seafood – retail category, foodservice product of the year, product innovation of the year, healthy choices/healthy eating, international business of the year and environmental sustainability. A full list of categories can be downloaded from www.scotlandfoodanddrink.org.

Paul McLaughlin, chief executive of Scotland Food & Drink, said: "We want the quality of our industry to be renowned internationally and for this we need revered products to champion our produce on a global stage.

"We urge companies to think about their success story and enter relevant award categories to help boost the reputation of the industry and of course their own business.

"Past winners have seen sales and product awareness soar, and we're confident the awards in 2010 will be a great success for all shortlisted companies, sponsors and guests."

Gareth Baird, director Food & Drink of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, said: "These awards have really gone from strength to strength and enabled a number of companies to grow as a result of winning a category. There is real value in winning an award, especially since we have much to be proud of within the industry."

A new category, Young Scottish Chef, sponsored by Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight, joins other categories which include those for retail products and those that recognise innovation, marketing, successful partnerships and efforts within food tourism.

Food and drink companies will be able to enter the Awards by downloading an entry form and emailing the completed form back to the stated email address on the forms.
The closing date for entries is 22nd February for the product categories and 6th March for all other categories.

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