Food Matters Live Launches Food Innovation Awards

Open to exhibitors and registered visitors, the awards reflect the themes at the heart of Food Matters Live. They make the important connections across all elements of the food and drink supply chain – from innovative product development, ground-breaking science and technology through to packaging design and consumer marketing strategies.

Food Matters Live is the only three-day event that brings together a cross-sector community of passionate, industry experts – those at the cutting-edge of innovation - at London’s ExCeL on 21st-23rd November.

By launching its new awards, Food Matters Live aims to shine a spotlight on the innovation behind the growth of ever healthier, natural and organic, sustainable and ‘better for you’ food products defining the future food and drink landscape.

The categories for the new awards are:

• Innovative ‘Better for you’ product of the year
• Most innovative natural and organic product
• Most innovative food to go product
• Best natural ingredient for health and wellbeing
• Best functional ingredient for health and wellbeing
• Sustainability initiative of the year
• Best food and drink process or technology
• Most innovative packaging design of the year
• Marketing campaign of the year
• New food and drink product of the year

Each entry requires a summary showcasing why it fits the category, what is particularly distinctive, innovative or creative about it and the commercial success achieved so far, along with images or video clips to illustrate.

Entries close on 15th September and then will be judged by an expert panel of industry professionals with the winners revealed at Food Matters Live on 22nd November.

Shortlisted entries will be featured on the Food Matters Live Awards Showcase attraction in a central location within the exhibition. They will also be featured on the Food Matters Live website and receive additional promotion and press coverage via the Food Matters Live marketing campaign. All shortlisted entries will receive marketing collateral to share via their channels announcing that they have been shortlisted. They will also feature in a dedicated press release sent to all relevant industry
media. 

Winners will have the chance to receive the prestigious Food Matters Live Award Trophy, as well as be invited to give a live interview to camera after the award. This will be featured in Table Talk, the weekly newsletter which reaches over 100,000 relevant people. Winners will be promoted in the Food Matters Live Awards Showcase within the exhibition, as well as via Food Matters Live social media channels and on the Food Matters Live website post event. They will also be provided with marketing collateral to use via their own channels to demonstrate that they have won one of the inaugural Awards from Food Matters Live. 

Briony Mansell-Lewis, director of Food Matters Live said, “We are delighted to launch these awards to celebrate inspirational innovation across the food and drink supply chain and provide a valuable platform for the industry to come together and recognise outstanding achievements. We’d like to thank the expert panel of judges for being part of these inaugural awards – they will be looking for entries that have excelled in meeting the category criteria.

“We are particularly excited about unveiling the prestigious winner’s trophy which has been designed in the form of taste bud with each of the five senses represented in a different colour, combined into a unique shape to celebrate good taste. The trophy is exceptionally unique and owning one will feel special. We are looking forward to presenting it to the first winners on 22 November at Food Matters Live.”