Event: Award Winners Announced

As Gary Williamson, chairman of the judging panel, said, “We were delighted with the entries for this year’s Awards and found it extremely difficult to come to conclusions about which should be shortlisted in each category. The quality of entries exceeded last year’s strong field and is a clear demonstration of the strength of the food and drink sector in developing new products, creating new businesses and applying innovation to grow the sector.”

Shona MacLennan, Highlands & Islands Food & Drinks Forum co-ordinator commented, “As we can see from the shortlist, there’s development right across the board - from smoked mussels to rhubarb vodka, from large international companies to small one-person businesses and from Bute to Shetland and all places in between. This reflects the diversity of the area
and the local food and drink economy.  But what I’m particularly looking forward to is seeing all the folk at the Awards Ceremony, receiving recognition for their continued hard work and being an inspiration to others to succeed in the same way.”

The judging panel for this year¹s awards comprises Wendy Barrie, food writer, director of Scottishfoodguide.com, trainer and consultant; Alan Craigie, chef, The Creel Restaurant, Orkney; Grant MacNicol, chef, Dornoch Castle Hotel, winner of the Scottish Chef Young Chef of the Year Award 2007; Alan Topping, food and drink buyer for Brodie Countryfare and Mark
Georgeson, senior food and drink manager, Highlands & Islands Enterprise. The judging panel is chaired by Gary Williamson, managing director of Williamson Foodservice and major sponsor of the awards.

The winners of this year’s Highlands & Islands Food and Drink Awards will be announced at the Awards Dinner in the Drumossie Hotel, Inverness on 14th September.