First winners to be announced tonight in the Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards

The remaining finalists in the first course of the Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drinks Awards will be finding out tonight (November 12) who will be walking away with one of two new prestigious culinary titles.

The celebration will be taking place at 7pm in the form of a virtual event that can be streamed on YouTube by searching #WNFAD20.The ‘Weetabix Sustainability Award’ was introduced earlier this year to reflect the competition’s new headline sponsor’s ‘Change for Better’ commitment to sustainability. Its purpose is to recognise and celebrate an individual, business or organisation for a product, process or project which has made the most positive impact across Weetabix’s four-pillar framework: sustainable ingredients, reduction of packaging waste, efficient operations and health and wellbeing.

The five finalists vying for that glory are:

Blue Skies, Pitsford

Farrington Oils, Hargrave

Ganders Goat, Cottingham

The Good Loaf, Northampton

Waterloo Cottage Farm, Great Oxendon

The other new category introduced to the annual awards, this year, is ‘Food and Drink College Student of the Year’, which is sponsored by Moulton College. The results for this category will be revealed at the second course of the awards celebration, which will take place at a later date.

This category was introduced to shine a spotlight on both full and part-time students showing drive and commitment to the food and drinks sector, demonstrating an eagerness to learn, making exceptional progress in skills development and who are young ambassadors for food and drink education.

The five shortlisted finalists for this category are as follows:

Bryan Dimalaluan, Tresham College

Austin Howsam, Northampton College

Joseph Kent, Tresham College

Patryk Kosmala, Tresham College

Mia Patterson, Moulton College

COVID-19 meant that the awards had to be delayed from its usual springtime launch but awards director, Rachel Mallows MBE DL, says that she is thrilled that these new titles have been able to go ahead.

She said: “Food and drink in Northamptonshire has gone from strength to strength over the last ten years or so and while of course 2020 is still proving to be tough for so many, you only have to look at the incredible efforts shown by these two sets of finalists to know that hard work, responsible practice and dedication to excellence are key factors in ensuring that that prosperity continues for decades to come.

“So, with just a few hours to go until we reveal some of the categories’ results, I want to thank our sponsors for their continuing support and of course wish all of our finalists the best of luck and hope that they will dress up and raise a glass tonight as we gather online to toast the entire sector for its remarkable resilience!”

The results of those categories whose finalists are able to remain trading during lockdown – the product, drink and related business categories, including the Weetabix Sustainability Award - will be announced at the first course of the virtual online Awards celebration, taking place tonight at 7pm.

The results of the remaining categories celebrating the hospitality sector - such as Booker Dining Venue, World Cuisine Restaurant and Chef of the Year - will be announced at the second course of the virtual online awards celebration at a later date.

For more information on the Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards 2020/21, please visit www.northamptonshirefoodanddrink.co.uk or call Rachel Mallows on 01933 664437 or email [email protected]

Meanwhile for the results from tonight’s virtual event and further details on how you can join the second course of the virtual Awards celebration when they are announced, you can follow the Awards on Facebook at @foodawards or Twitter and Instagram at @foodawardsHQ or on LinkedIn at @weetabixnfadawards.