THE search has begun for Hampshire’s most modern and galvanizing food and drinks entrepreneurs as a nationwide awards programme has opened for entries.
Meals and Drink Heroes, which was based in 2021 to recognise main enterprise house owners in meals and beverage, has now opened for its 2023 purposes.
This yr the awards, for Hampshire food and drinks companies, might be shining a lightweight of constructive resilience tales with the trade being closely hit by the cost-of-living disaster.
The organisers of the Nice British Entrepreneur Awards launched the programme in response to the excessive quantity and commonplace of entries to its Meals & Drink Entrepreneur of the 12 months class, with the goal of highlighting a broader choice of venues.
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Awards founder, Francesca James, mentioned: “After ten years of working the Nice British Entrepreneur Awards and receiving so many excellent purposes from entrepreneurs, it’s clear that is an trade that’s so essential and immensely numerous – that’s why it felt solely proper to launch Meals & Drink Heroes.
“Foods and drinks is a superb space to rejoice as a result of it’s common. Particularly because the trade scene turns into ever-more modern and inclusive. There’s a enterprise or subsector on the market that caters for the person tastes and preferences of us all.
“I hope that, by celebrating a few of these wonderful corporations by way of the awards, extra folks will uncover the up-and-coming manufacturers that would turn into a staple on their procuring listing, an ideal birthday reward or a brand new common vacation spot for a meal out.
“We’d encourage anybody working a meals or beverage enterprise in Hampshire to return ahead and inform us their story.”
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The judging panel, made up of trade consultants from corporations reminiscent of Coca-Cola, Costa Espresso and Sainsbury’s, might be honoring candidates which have proven resilience and adaptableness in troublesome occasions, as a substitute of merely highlighting these with the most important turnover or development.
This follows knowledge from March 2022 which revealed 60 per cent of meals and beverage enterprises had been impacted by rising power prices, in comparison with 38 per cent throughout all sectors.
The Meals & Drink Heroes remaining will kind a part of the second annual Concepts Fest, a two-day enterprise pageant bringing collectively entrepreneurs and key audio system from throughout the UK.
Purposes for Meals & Drink Heroes are open till Friday, April 21. For extra info or to use go to freshbusinessthinking.com/food-and-drink-heroes/.
The outcomes might be introduced at Concepts Fest, in Wickham, in August.
