Gressingham is also offering the chance to win Duck for a Year in a new foodservice-only prize draw. ‘Cooking With Duck - A Chef's Guide’ is available as a free PDF download from the Gressingham Foods website to any business entering the competition. The Guide includes ideas for appealing and profitable starters and mains, all using the family-owned company's Red Tractor Assured duck.

Rebecca Alderton, marketing manager at Gressingham Foods, said: "Interest in duck has grown amongst chefs and consumers over the past few years, and with supplies back to normal following the avian flu outbreak, and the festive season looming, it's the right time to add duck dishes to menus right across the foodservice sector.

"Duck is versatile and tasty. It has a healthy fat-to-meat ratio and is sustainable not only in the way it's reared on our Red Tractor farms, in airy barns with access to fresh air and light, but also in reducing food waste, as the whole bird can be used right across the menu.

 "Duck adds ‘wow factor' to menus as it's something consumers are less likely to have prepared and cooked at home, but that puts an added onus on chefs to offer dishes that are genuinely special.”