Last Friday night at a gala event held on a water-borne platform at Sydney’s iconic Darling Harbour known as the Dockside Pavilion, the 2015 Food Magazine Awards not only showcased the very best in Australian food manufacturing products, they also exhibited the vibrancy of a sector is that is moving ahead in leaps and bounds in terms of innovation and exports.
With 300 guests representing a number of food making sectors, companies and regions and organised by the publisher of Food magazine, Cirrus Media, the awards actually surprised many of the guests with the innovation that was on show.
The MCs for the night, the Chaser Boys entertained well into the night and by all accounts, the sponsors and guests were thrilled at the nights’ winners.
In fact, according to many in the audience, the night was an experience well worth remembering.
Anni Brownjohn – President – The Right Food Group and Chair – National Organic Standards Board of Australia, said: “Thank you for once again taking the lead by providing the platform for the Australian food industry to recognise and congratulate the best in the business.”
Anna Meiler Mintel’s Account Director – ANZ- said: “I just wanted to drop a quick note to day that the Food Magazine Awards last Friday were fantastic! It was so well organized, everything was just perfect, from the location, drinks, food, the Chaser (please book them every year) and the band.”
“I loved the fact that the exhibitors were all fairly start-up and not too established (interesting new ingredients and concepts) and the same for the awards.”
However, the most important part of the night was the announcement of the winners of the various categories, which were:
1. Inside Out Nutritious Goods for their Unsweetened Almond Milk (Beverages)
2. five:am for their Organic Cacao Yoghurt (Dairy)
3. Baked Goods award is La Tortilleria for their Corn Tortillas (Baked Goods)
4. Della Rosa Fresh Foods Group for their Santino Ultra Premium Stone baked Pizza Range (Ready Meals)
5. Morlife for their Dark Chocolate 5 Berry Mix (Labels)
6. Kez's Kitchen for their Kez's Free & Naked Choc Mud Bars (Health and Wellness)
7. Coolsan Australia for ChillSafe (Food Safety and Innovation in non-food Award)
8. Bake Mixes for their Chewy Cacao-Chip Muesli Bars Mix (Organics Award is)
9. Woolworths for their Created with Jamie Beef Meatballs & Wagyu Chorizo (Meat and Smallgoods Award)
10. NOSHU Foods for their NOSHU Guilt Free Donuts (Snack Foods Award)
11. B.-d. Farm Paris Creek (Sustainable Manufacturer Award is)
12. Passage Foods for their Street Kitchen – Rogan Josh – Scratch Kit (Prepared Foods Award)
13. Kelly Cube for their Kelly Cube Wholefood Meal Kit (Packaging Design Award)
14. Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices for their Revolutionary System of Herbs & Spices (Ingredient Innovation Award)
15. “Heilala Vanilla (Community Engagement Award)
16. Thank You Group (Employer of the Year Award)
The Best of the Best Award went to Kelly Cube, whose entry was described as “a scrumptious and nutritious ready to cook restaurant quality meal with a simple and fun recipe in a box, totally sustainable packaging and a concept that supports local farmers and growers. All they needed to add was free tickets to the footy finals and 12 months’ worth of video games in the back of a Ute and the world’s 3+ billion men would be instant customers. This is forward thinking combined with healthy eating with a dash of positive community engagement all rolled into one economically fat stroke of genius. This is what Australia’s food industry should be all about. “
So another year has passed and another Food Awards has rewarded a number of Australian companies for their skill and expertise in the field of food making.
Well done to all the winners, sponsors, guests and everyone else involved and we hope see you all next year!