Winners of 2009 Food Manufacture Excellence Awards  announced

Food Manufacture's Excellence Awards were presented at a ceremony in London on 11 November to recognise innovation, improvement and excellence in food manufacture and processing.

Samworth Brothers scooped the Chilled Ready Meals and Prepared Foods Award, sponsored by S A Partners.  Judges said that they had been wowed by their dynamism across the board, from new product development and category management to environmental initiatives and people development. They hailed it as "a company with a truly admirable ethos".

Photo: Professor Peter Hines, chairman of the Lean Enterprise Research Centre and of S A Partners, (left) presents Brian Stein, group chief executive of Samworth Brothers, with the coveted prize.

The other finalists in this category were Greencore Food to Go and NOM Dairy UK.  For details of all the finalists, and winners, visit the event website.