The foodservice awards are widely respected throughout the catering industry as all the entries are impartially judged by representatives of the prestigious Craft Guild of Chefs, who, as executive chefs, catering managers and recipe developers, are expert in their field and uncompromising in their assessments of the entries.

Crop’s Foods Ltd secured the prestigious Retail Product of the Year Award with its new Thai Green Chicken Curry produced for Aldi. Meanwhile, Farmyard Frozen Ltd bagged the highly anticipated prize for Retail Innovation Product of the Year for their Farmyard Gold Bar which impressed judges with its technical innovation and premium quality.

Among the winners this year, Aldi and Farmyard Frozen Ltd scooped two Gold Awards each, with Heron Foods, Northcoast Seafoods Ltd and Freiberger UK Ltd also winning trophies for their products. Unconventional Taste took home the Gold Award in the Best New Meat Free Product category for their Unconventional Plant Based Burger.

In the foodservice categories, Pacific West Foods Ltd claimed the Foodservice Product of the Year Award for its Pacific West Lemongrass & Chilli Prawns whilst apetito won the Foodservice Innovation Product of the Year Award for its Chicken Tikka Specialist Nutrition Finger Food Bites.

The apetito product received special recognition for its innovative and accessible design for individuals with cognitive diseases such as dementia, allowing for high-quality nutrition in easy to manage finger food bites. D'Arta and Fleming Howden were also among the foodservice winners for their Greens Cuisin’easy Nordic Soul and Scrocchiarella Sandwich Classica respectively.

Rupert Ashby, chief executive of the BFFF, commented: “This is the first Frozen Food Awards I have experienced since starting my role as chief executive last year. I have been amazed to see how thorough the independent judging process is and I am delighted that such high-quality, innovative products have been recognised at this year’s awards.

“The innovation happening across frozen is impressive and incredibly encouraging, especially considering the important role the sector has to play as we look towards a future of increased value for the consumer, which has been illustrated recently with new market data showing that frozen food has been outperforming fresh and chilled during the cost of living crisis.

“Frozen food offers consumers excellent value for money without compromising on quality or taste and I am confident that the industry will continue to go from strength to strength driven by the range and diversity of products entered into the awards this year.”