The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has announced the nominees for the FDF Awards 2022, which celebrate exceptional talent, excellence and innovation in the food and drink industry.

Hosted by celebrity restaurant critic Jay Rayner, the winners will be announced on Tuesday 29 November 2022 at The Royal Lancaster Hotel in London.

FDF Awards 2022 finalists

Apprentice of the Year - sponsored by Tork

  • Caitlin Jones - Co-op Food
  • Daisy Abson - Coca-Cola Europacific Partners
  • Finley Pryde - Unilever UK & Ireland
  • Lorena Martin Olivera – apetito
  • Richard Laursen - Unilever UK & Ireland
  • Sophie Clifford - Mondelēz International

Brand Launch of the Year - sponsored by IFE, International Food & Drink Event

  • Bemuse - Sparkling low-alcohol mead
  • Calbee Group UK Limited - Harvest Snaps plant-based snacks
  • Mars Food - Ben’s Original™ Evolution
  • Mindful Mixology
  • Princes - Plot9
  • Walkers - Walkers MAX x KFC

Business Resilience 

  • 92 Degrees
  • British Corner Shop
  • Fresh Pastures & SMUK
  • Fudge Kitchen
  • Simply Doughnuts Limited
  • Teesdale Cheesemakers Limited

Campaign of the Year

  • Birds Eye - Proud to Power Team GB
  • KP Snacks - Everyone In (KP Snacks & The Hundred Partnership)
  • Nestlé Confectionery – KITKAT X HEADSPACE: Augmented Reality Break Experience
  • Walkers - #crispIN or #crispOUT
  • Walkers - Walkers MAX x KFC – “It Makes Perfect Sense”
  • Weetabix Food Company - Any Which Way A Bix

Community Partner – sponsored by The British Standards Institution (BSI)

  • Clearly Drinks – Giving support and opportunities to those with additional needs in the local community
  • Community Shop - Building Stronger Individuals and More Confident Communities
  • Find me the Leads Ltd - To my front door UK/Newark: Championing Independent Food & Drink in Newark on Trent
  • FoodCycle - the return to Community Meals
  • NEMI Teas
  • The Bread and Butter Thing (TBBT)

Diet and Health

  • Brusco Food Group - Effective Sodium Reduction: Smart Salt®
  • Calbee Group UK Limited - Harvest Snaps plant-based snacks
  • Goodfella’s Pizza - Non-HFSS Pizza Portfolio
  • innocent drinks - Launch of innocent’s super smoothies for kids with added vitamin D and iron
  • Nestlé UK & Ireland - Garden Gourmet UK. Health focussed plant-based range
  • The Basic Ingredients Ltd - Emma Basic Japanese Style Curry

Digital Transformation 

  • Compass Group UK&I
  • Foods Connected and Hilton Food Group
  • National Skills Academy for Food & Drink
  • Odhealth
  • Physical2Digital
  • VeriPro

Education Initiative

  • Britvic plc - Britvic’s supported internships
  • Food Matters Live - The Career Conversations series, part of the Food Matters Live podcast channel
  • National Skills Academy for Food & Drink - Tasty Careers
  • Nestlé UK & Ireland - Virtual School Trip
  • The Nutrition Society - The Nutrition Society Training Academy (NSTA)
  • Wiltshire Farm Foods - Dysphagia Awareness Training with HCPs of the future

Emerging Business

  • Blackthorn Salt
  • Cornish Flapjack Shack
  • Heura Foods
  • Odhealth
  • Sessions
  • Tasty Mates

Environmental Leadership - sponsored by Powerstar

  • ABP UK – Gamechanger
  • apetito Ltd - Leading the Way with Net Zero Carbon Strategy
  • DELI LITES Ireland Ltd. - To Net Zero and Beyond!
  • Eurest - Combatting and Leading Change on Food Waste
  • FareShare - FareShare’s Surplus with Purpose scheme
  • Molson Coors Beverage Company - Molson Coors’ Carbon Reduction project

Exporter of the Year - sponsored by 4C

  • Belvoir Farm Drinks Ltd
  • British Corner Shop
  • Nairn's
  • Nasco UK Ltd
  • Ramsden International
  • Symington's Ltd

Food and Drink Engineer of the Year - sponsored by Sheffield Hallam University

  • Dean Foots - Britvic Soft Drinks
  • Graeme Strike - Premier Foods
  • Ian Marsh - Musk Process Services
  • James Warby - British Sugar
  • Laetitia Rynhoud - Jordans Dorset Ryvita
  • Yianni Alissandratos - Britvic plc

Food and Drink Technologist  / Scientist of the Year - sponsored by Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST)

  • Beth Highfield - Britvic plc
  • Charlotte Vodden - Birds Eye
  • David Lloyd – Huel
  • Holly Cuthill - Britvic plc
  • Ruth Kelly - Goodfella's (Nomad Foods)
  • Yogini Lad – Princes

HR Initiative 

  • Britvic plc - Working Well: Britvic’s global hybrid working programme
  • Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) - ‘JustBe’ from Coca-Cola Europacific Partners GB
  • Mars Food - Food Switch off For Dinner
  • Moy Park Ltd - Moy Park’s Development Academies
  • PepsiCo UK - Frontline Home Grown Accelerated Development Programme
  • Proper Cornish Ltd - Health and Wellbeing Initiative

Manufacturing Initiative - sponsored by Redzone

  • British Sugar - Factory of the Future
  • Clearly Drinks Ltd - New canning line
  • EBS Food Systems - Pigs in Blankets Pick & Place Robot Cell
  • Koolmill - NextGEN Rice Milling
  • Radnor Hills Mineral Water Company Ltd. - Pressure Less Pack Conveyer System
  • Weetabix - Compliance Improvement Initiative

Product Innovation - sponsored by Clarke Energy

  • apetito & Wiltshire Farm Foods - Finger Foods Bites: the future of Dementia-friendly dining
  • Meatless Farm - Plant-Based Chicken Breast
  • Premier Foods - Saxa Salt Sprays: changing the way we use and think about salt
  • Simply Doughnuts Limited - Development of fresh, long shelf-life doughnuts for retailers and wholesalers
  • Sutherlands of Portsoy - Coffee Smoked
  • THIS™ - Fat 2.0

Registered Dietitian / Nutritionist of the Year

  • Eretia O'Kennedy Coleske - Starbucks Coffee Company (UK)
  • Kelly Fortune - apetito & Wiltshire Farm Foods
  • Rebecca Deeley -Tillery Valley Foods
  • Rebecca Williams – Huel
  • Rees Bramwell – Eurest

Rising Star - sponsored by PepsiCo UK

  • Amy Day - Premier Foods
  • Declan Henderson – apetito
  • Oliver Havers - Pilgrim's UK
  • Rhian Smith – Princes
  • Sharlene Harrison - Müller UK & Ireland
  • Sophie Edwards - Mondelēz International

Sustainable Packaging Initiative - sponsored by Water Plus

  • apetito Ltd - Boomerang: a first for large-scale closed loop recycling
  • Ellers Farm Distillery - Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka - Amber Bottle Project
  • Kingsmill - Bread bags recycled content trial
  • Laithwaites Wine - Organic w/o Frappato in 100% post-consumer recycled ‘wild’ glass bottle
  • Nestlé UK & Ireland - SMARTIES transition from plastic to paper packaging
  • PepsiCo UK&I - Multi-pack Crisps Direct to carton
  • Sutherlands of Portsoy - QuadFresH

“This year’s awards bring together over 200 nominees across 19 categories, showcasing the very best of our industry. The judges had an invidious task in choosing winners from an extremely strong field – from companies driving new sustainability initiatives to championing employee wellbeing, as well as embracing new technologies and supporting cutting-edge skills development in their teams. 

The food and drink sector is based within communities right across the UK’s nations and regions, and these awards really demonstrate how our great companies continue to bring great products to consumers in challenging times. Good luck to all the brilliant nominees!”

Karen Betts OBE, Chief Executive 

Food and Drink Federation

Winners will be announced our awards ceremony on 29 November 2022, taking place at the Royal Lancaster, London.

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