Dishes from Northcoast Seafoods and The Authentic Food Company have been crowned Best New Frozen Retail and Foodservice Products of the Year at the prestigious BFFF Annual Awards 2017.
Organized by British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF), the awards were the highlight of the trade association’s annual gala dinner dance at the London Hilton on Park Lane hotel on the evening of 8 June. Now in their thirtieth year, the awards were sponsored by the Yearsley Group, and are recognized as the frozen industry’s top accolade.
This year’s competition received entries from across the industry with the overall champions being selected from 13 category Gold Award winners announced in both the retail and foodservice categories on the night.
Northcoast Seafoods won the Retail Product of the Year for its Fishmonger’s Favourite Two Salmon and King Prawn Stacks. The Grimsby-based company’s product also won the Gold Award for Best New Fish-based Retail Product.
The retail awards are unique in that the winners are judged by panels of independent consumers from across the UK who mark the products for appearance, taste, innovation, packaging, preparation instructions, likelihood of purchase and value for money.
In the foodservice awards, JD Wetherspoon’s Vegetable Samosa, made by Manchester-based Authentic Food Company won Best Foodservice Product of the year as well as Gold for Best New Meat Free/Vegetarian Product.
The foodservice awards are well respected throughout the catering industry as all the entries are 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.
Commenting on the winners, John Hyman, BFFF chief executive, said: “This year’s awards are a real triumph for all the Gold winners and especially for, Northcoast Seafoods and the Authentic Food Company, both of whom can be rightly proud of their achievements.”
He added: “The brilliant range and variety of products entered into the awards in 2017 demonstrates that innovation is alive and well in the frozen food category with a wonderful range of inventive, mouth-watering, delicious products being offered to consumers and caterers. The UK frozen food market continues to evolve and take advantage of the general consumer trends of premiumization, health, online and minimizing waste. As inflationary pressures build and put pressure on household disposable income, frozen food’s great value for money will become even more important.”
