The rationale for this long running and highly prestigious Awards Scheme is to reward and recognise the advancement of quality and product development in frozen foods and ice cream which has taken place during the last year.  Over the last 20 years, the Awards have become the ultimate accolades - the 'Oscars' of the frozen food industry.

The winners in the retail sector are decided by panels of consumers throughout regions of the UK, who mark the products for appearance, taste, packaging utility, clarity and accuracy of preparation instructions, buying intention, frequency of purchase and value for money. Judged by panels of consumers throughout the UK, the BFFF retail awards represent “the people’s choice” and whilst the consumer is certainly looking for top quality at value for money prices, they are willing to pay extra for very high quality. It is no coincidence that all of the major retailers have been winners in this year’s awards but more importantly every retailers premium brand has picked up an award. There is no doubt that consumers continue to be aspirational in their needs and that frozen food is increasingly able to meet those aspirations.

The frozen food market has come out of the doldrums and is now showing good growth and in most of its sectors quite remarkable growth. We have known for some time that the growth has been across all product sectors and across all retailers and that it’s been driven by the growth of quality and premium products. One only has to have a look at the list of winners in these awards to understand how and why that growth has been achieved.

The catering products are judged by representatives of the Craft Guild of Chefs who, as executive chefs, catering managers and recipe developers, are expert in their field and uncompromising in their assessments of the entries.  They are always impressed by products which take the labour out of prestigious dishes which normally require intensive preparation in the kitchen. 

In the foodservice sector, frozen foods, with their established logistical benefits, have gained still higher acceptance through clever innovative ideas in both recipe formulation and preparation functionality as well as product sector insight.  Backed by a deeper understanding of the catering market, frozen foods continue to make significant progress in the foodservice sector as the end-users demand enhanced quality, recipe authenticity and significant labour savings in the kitchen.

Information received from Horizon shows that the foodservice market continues to grow and is now worth some £2 billion. It is the clear understanding of operators, suppliers, wholesalers and all those involved in this dynamic market that continues to launch new and innovative products to meet the ever demanding consumers’ needs.

The freezing process is the perfect medium to preserve quality and the “locked-in” goodness of the products means that ‘You Can Be Sure It’s Fresh – It’s Frozen’.

(Contact: BFFF Tel: 01476 515300, Fax: 01476 515309)