Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards 2022: Last set of finalists announced

The last set of finalists has been revealed for this year’s Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drinks (WNFAD) Awards.

The annual awards set out to celebrate the successes of hundreds of Northamptonshire based food and drink businesses and individuals excelling in culinary excellence.

The Food and Drink College Student of Year Award is aimed at students aged between 16 and 21 currently undertaking a full or part-time food/drink-related course at a Northamptonshire college.

It is designed to recognise students showing drive, commitment and passion for the sector, those demonstrating exceptional progress in skills development and young ambassadors for learning about food and drink.

Finalists for the Food and Drink College Student of the Year are:

- Bilal Ismail, Northampton College

- Elisabeth Knott, Moulton College

- Will McGowan, Bedford College, Corby

- Tia (Echo) Morris, Northampton College

- Luke Wolstencroft, Bedford College, Corby

The all-new ‘Healthy Food and Wellbeing’ award is making its debut at the WNFAD awards this year, which also welcomes the Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust as a fresh sponsor.

This category is designed to recognise those who create healthy food and provide health and wellbeing initiatives for their staff.

CEO of Delapre Abbey Richard Clinton said: “It was impressive to see such a breadth and quality of healthy food products being produced in Northamptonshire, showing great innovation by these producers to support people to lead healthier lifestyles.

“It was equally impressive to see the level of care and attention employers are placing in supporting their employees to achieve greater wellbeing in and outside of their workplaces.

“Once again, the awards have shown the exceptional talents that exist within the county's food and drink sector.”

Finalists for Healthy Food and Wellbeing of the Year are:

Producers:Kebab-ish, Bite me spices

Organic Wheatgrass Juice, Britt’s Superfoods

Tomato and Red Pepper Relish, Friars Farm

Cucumber & Dill Sauerkraut, Millie Pickles

Chocolate flavour Super Shake, Nasty Vegan

Businesses and Organisations:

Mercedes-AMG HPP

Northampton General Hospital

Silverstone Circuits Ltd

Sol Havens CIC

The ‘Local Food Hero of the Year’ category, sponsored by Moulton College, invited the public to nominate a person, business or organisation which they believed did the most to promote local food.

Awards organisers told this newspaper that the number of nominations they received for this category was their biggest yet.

Finalists for Local Food Hero of the Year are:

Community Health Works UK CIC

Elliott’s Rectory Farm, Moulton

Foodkind CIC, Northampton

Jamie’s Quality Butchers, Kettering

The Green Patch, Kettering

Towcester Community Larder, Towcester

All finalists will discover their fate on Wednesday, October 12 when the winners and runners-up are announced in all 15 categories at the awards dinner taking place at the Royal & Derngate theatre in Northampton.

For more details on all the categories in the Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards 2022/23, visit www.northamptonshirefoodanddrink.co.uk.

You can also follow the Awards on Facebook at @foodawards or Twitter and Instagram at @foodawardsHQ or on LinkedIn at @weetabixnfadawards.