As the 2020 Farm Shop & Deli Awards entries closed for another year at the end of September, with 90 entries received from all over the UK and Northern Ireland, the online consumer voting stage of the Awards has now commenced and will finish on 31st October.
Retailers who entered have received a voting pack with all the tools they need to raise awareness of their entries and drive their consumer votes before the October deadline.
The Awards, which has already received over 3,000 votes for submitted entries across the 11 award categories, invites consumers to visit their website and vote to support their local retailer(s): https://www.farmshopanddelishow.co.uk/awards-directory-2020.
Why consumer votes count
Customer comments are important to the judging process and a chance to show support for local retailers. The consumer votes help decide the category, regional and overall Farm Shop & Deli Retailer of the Year Award winners.
During the judging day in mid November, the Award’s judges will come together to review all category entries as well as the online consumer votes they have received. Based on quality of comments, rather than the quantity of votes, these consumer votes really do contribute towards deciding the shortlist for the Awards finalists.
What’s more, as part of the judging process, comments from the judges and consumer voting are collated, evaluated and supplied to all entrants once the Award’s finals have taken place in April, providing invaluable and constructive feedback.
Getting involved
Voting is a quick and easy process. Consumers can visit the ‘2020 Entrants’ web page at farmshopanddelishow.co.uk/awards, select the retailer(s) you wish to vote for and submit your entry online. Online voting closes on 31 October 2019 and all voters will be entered into a prize draw to win a delicious Fortnum & Mason food hamper from the Farm Shop & Deli Awards team.
About the Awards
Free to enter, the Farm Shop & Deli Awards, in partnership with The Grocer, are highly respected in the industry for playing an important role in supporting, and celebrating, the UK’s independent, specialist retail market.
Category awards are up for grabs across 11 different specialisms with nine regional awards also available - plus the coveted ‘Farm Shop & Deli Retailer of the Year’. There is also a chance for young companies, who opened since April 2017, to also compete for the ‘Newcomer of the Year’ Award won by Minskip Farm Shop in Boroughbridge in 2019.
When asked to describe the Awards process, Emma and Ben Mosey from Minskip Farm Shop said “Thorough, reliable, just really the best.”
The judging process
The Awards celebrate the highest levels of service, product knowledge, initiative, innovation and community involvement, offered by our heroes of the high-street and are judged by a panel that includes experts from the world of speciality retail, fine food and food media.
Joining Chair of Judges Nigel Barden and Co-chair of Judges Elaine Lemm for the 2020 judges line-up are:
• Amy North, Deputy Editor at British Baker
• Holly Shackleton, Editor at Speciality Food
• Anthony and Sue Johns, Owners, Johns of Appledore and Instow
• Iain Hemming, Owner, Thyme and Tides
• Arthur Howell, Owner, Arthur Howells Butchers
• Jamie Hall from Neal’s Yard Dairy
• Caroline Glover, Farm Shop Manager at Cannon Hall Farm Shop
• John Gill, Managing Director, Fabulous Food & Drink
• Chris McNeill, Editor at The Delicatessen Magazine
• Martin Hesp, Editor-at-large at Western Morning News
• Debbie and Callum Edge, Owners, Edge & Son butchers
• Neil Nugent, Head of Product Development, Iceland Foods
• Georgina Wald, Communications Manager, Fuller, Smith & Turner
• Richard Nicholson, Owner, Cannon Hall Farm Shop & 2019 Retailer of the Year
• Giles Shaw, President of the National Federation of Fishmongers
• Simon Hurley, Managing Director, P2P Food Solutions
• Henry Sandercock, Fresh Foods Reporter at The Grocer
• Victoria Robertshaw, Co-owner, Keelham Farm Shop
New for 2020 the entrants were provided with an opportunity to upload an optional video to support their entry and showcase their business.
The online entries, videos and consumer votes will be evaluated by the judging panel before being whittled down to a shortlist of finalists, some of whom may receive a ‘secret’ visit later this year to see the retailers in action. The successful finalists will be announced in March 2020, with the winners revealed live at Farm Shop & Deli Show on Monday 30th March at the NEC Birmingham.
Nigel Barden, Chair of judges and Food and Drink journalist, says: "It’s such a privilege to see the joy on the faces of the Farm Shop & Deli Award winners as their names are read out. All the hard work and long hours are pushed to the back of their minds, with the realisation that they are the finest in their sector.”
Find out more, or vote online, at farmshopanddelishow.co.uk/awards