November 1 is the date for the industry’s big night out – the annual Food & Drink Awards, sponsored by Weetabix. WhitCo is once again proud supporters of the event, as sponsors of the Chef of the Year Award.
As Autumn starts to show its face it means the Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drinks Awards are on the final countdown to the Awards Dinner and revealing more category finalists. This time it’s the turn of Healthy Food and Wellbeing, One to Watch, F&B Achiever, and Food & Drink College Student of the Year!
The Food & Drink College Student of the Year Award is aimed at students aged between 16 and 21 currently undertaking a full or part-time food/drink-related course at a Northamptonshire college (Moulton, Northampton or Bedford). It is designed to recognise students showing drive, commitment and passion for the sector, those demonstrating exceptional progress in skills development who are keen to learn and who are a young ambassador for learning about food and drink. We are delighted to have the University of Northampton as a new sponsor for this category and who will kindly offer our Gold Award winner 1:1 careers coaching.
Head of Events, Tourism & Hospitality at the University of Northampton, Inva Reic, commented after the judging: “This year’s Food and Drink College Student of the Year category was brimming with exceptional talent. Each and every candidate had a unique story and their passion for the food and drink industry really shone through. This made the judging panel’s decision really challenging! We are very grateful for the interest shown by the students this year. All of this makes us very hopeful for the future of Northamptonshire’s food and drink sector and we are also very excited to see what all of this year’s finalists do next in their careers.”
Back for its second year, the Healthy Food & Wellbeing Award is sponsored by Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust. This category is in two parts and is designed to recognise producers in Northamptonshire who manufacture healthy food, and also those businesses and organisations who provide healthy food and wellbeing initiatives for their staff (defining ‘healthy food’ as those lower in fat, salt and sugars which can be used as part of a balanced diet).
One to Watch, a category aimed at food and drink manufacturers or hospitality businesses who are less than 5 years old, and is designed to recognise their potential for major growth. Their future significant impact on the market is also taken into consideration as well as how this will raise the profile of Northamptonshire at a regional or national level.
The category of F&B Achiever is designed to recognise a person who has made and/or continues to make a significant contribution to the sector. This may be awarded early in someone’s career, as recognition of original or creative ideas, or later, when someone has established a consistently outstanding record.
“It’s all about the Chef.”
WhitCo is proud once again to sponsor the Chef of the Year category in the upcoming Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards. The category reflects the company’s dedication to the “Chef” the hospitality sector and its commitment to designing and building kitchens and restaurants that support the ever-increasing demands placed upon chefs, their kitchen brigade, and their businesses today.
Advancements in technology and innovation are changing the way kitchen’s function and are staffed. WhitCo are experts in this field and can help you make informed decisions when both selecting the correct appliance/s to designing in ideas to suit the individual customer’s operational needs.
WhitCo will help you reduce costs, compensate for the impact that the shortage of skilled labour is having and by minimising all forms of waste, retain profit. Embracing technology, outlawing the most labour-intensive chores will free up more time for the soft skills taught and practiced and are what makes the customer dining experience positive and memorable.
From Care, Education, MoD, MoJ to fine dining, restaurants, pubs, cafés and more, Whitco’s team, it’s products and services help our Chef’s serve restaurant quality food, consistently in any environment.
Says Vita Whitaker, CEO at WhitCo: “Le Sante du Chef! To those talented chefs, dedicated and passionate about cooking wonderful food for us all”.