Arla Foods grabs three gongs at Food Manufacturing Awards

Arla Foods won three prizes at the Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards, organised by The Grocer’s sister title Food Manufacture, at a London celebration attended by hundreds of food and drink manufacturing industry leaders last night.

Arla was announced overall food manufacturing company of the year, as well as ESG excellence winner and employer of the year, with judges describing the business as “outstanding” in these fields.

Fourteen awards were up for grabs at the ceremony, including the future talent prize, which was awarded to Mollie Harvey of Lincoln & York.

Business leader of the year went to Andrew Hewston of egg supplier Bumble Hole Foods, who judges said had created a “caring and empowering company culture”. The company is responsible for supplying eggs and egg products to many major UK food manufacturers.

Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards winners

Food Manufacture editor Bethan Grylls, who chaired the judging panel, said the judging process had been revamped this year, with the introduction of new awards that focused more on people and personalities within the industry.

“The calibre of both the paper entries and interviews were exceptional, and it goes to show how incredible our food and drink sector is as the world continues to grapple with numerous challenges,” she said.

“It was an honour to judge alongside such an illustrious panel of industry experts, which included both FMEA veterans and fresh faces alike,” Grylls continued. “Of course, it’s never easy picking the winners for the awards and every finalist should be giving themselves a well-deserved pat on the back.”