The winners of the prestigious 2009 IGD Food Industry Awards were announced on Tuesday 13th October at a ceremony at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London. The awards recognise achievements in a wide range of areas from sustainability, health and wellness, supply chain excellence, and outstanding performance of small businesses.

Joanne Denney-Finch, Chief Executive, IGD comments: “This year's finalists have shown that, even in challenging times, innovation and best practice are at the forefront of the industry. These awards recognise the best-in-class, and demonstrate some of the most exciting new thinking in food and grocery."

Highlights of the evening included:
 

Tate & Lyle Business Challenge for up and coming talent, an opportunity for young managers to win £2,500 by demonstrating their sound business acumen and presenting their thoughts on an industry issue, was won by Cornelia Raportaru, from Cadbury.

Cornelia's presentation highlighted five characteristics for grocery businesses to be successful at the end of a recession: ethics; entrepreneurship; foresight; agility; and flexibility. She argued these characteristics will help set the direction for corporate strategy, ensure post-recession success and implicitly drive growth.
 

Danone Leading Edge Leading Light Award, which recognises individual contributions to initiatives that have stretched, challenged and developed candidates into an industry leader of the future, was won by Tom Benton, Little Dish

Tom developed a new data analysis system which positioned Little Dish - a small independent food company - as 'Category Captain' in the kids chilled meals category in under a year.
 

John Sainsbury Award for Learning and Development, recognising commitment to people development, was won by Musgrave Group.

The Musgrave Leadership Programme is designed to build leadership capabilities within middle management across the company. It incorporates all development opportunities around the values, guiding principles and brands that underpin all aspects of the business.
 

Unilever Award For Social Innovation, presented to the company which can demonstrate that it is doing well by doing good, was won by Warner's Budgens for its Sustainable Community Plan.

Warner's Budgens is a group of independently owned supermarkets and forecourts across Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. The Warner's Budgens plan works with several local groups such as schools, children's clubs, local suppliers and restaurants, and has introduced a series of initiatives to enable these groups to work together and create a sense of community.
 

General Mills Award for Consumer Understanding, presented to the company that has demonstrated how it has truly understood its customers and used new insight to deliver an innovative business solution, was won by Birds Eye for its 'Simply Bake to Perfection' range.

Developed as a result of customer feedback, the range consists of individually sealed and seasoned fish fillets in a 'Bake Perfect Bag' that are placed in the oven to guarantee 'perfectly cooked, tasty fish meals with minimal fuss'.
 

Nestlé Wellness Award, for the company that has made a real impact in terms of presenting healthier eating and drinking choices for consumers, was won by United Biscuits (Holdings) Ltd.

United Biscuits has re-developed six of its biscuit lines including McVitie's Digestives, McVitie’s Rich Tea, and McVitie’s Hob Nobs to contain 50% less saturated fat - without changing the taste. This groundbreaking initiative demonstrates United Biscuits' commitment to responding to consumer desires to eat healthier.
 

Morrisons Award for Outstanding Small Business, recognising the important contribution small businesses make to the food industry, was won by Ella's Kitchen.

Ella's Kitchen is a fast-growing company providing innovative food for children aged six months to six years. Focusing on two trends, healthy living and convenience, the company's mission is to improve the health of the nation's children by getting one million children eating their products twice a week by summer 2012.
 

Tetra Pak Environmental Sustainability Award, which recognises positive initiatives developed by food or non-food companies with regard to their impact on environmental sustainability, was won by Sainsbury's.

By using a new innovative carbon footprinting tool, 325 farmers in the Sainsbury's Dairy Development Group have significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions from their farms over the past two years. Find out more in our case study.
 

ECR UK Award for sustainable distribution, presented to the company that has made a step change in the supply chain, resulting in the running of fewer road miles, was won by Heart of England Fine Foods.

The Heart of England Fine Foods delivery service is a collaborative distribution initiative for regional food and drink producers, that has resulted in savings in overall miles travelled.
 

New for 2009: Boxwood Award for Business transformation, presented to the company that has transformed their business to achieve top-line growth, operational excellence or sustainable improvements in profit, was awarded to Cadbury.

Project Heartbeat was set up by Cadbury to deliver best practice service performance and challenge the thinking within the business through a systematic review and alignment of processes, systems, structures and capabilities.
 

Ian MacLaurin Award for Supply Chain Excellence, awarded to the company that has made a quantifiable impact on the supply chain, was won by Booker Group plc.

Booker delivered a 'retail services' initiative to supply grocery and non-foods to English and Welsh prisons for prisoners to purchase. This collaboration implemented an innovative end-to-end supply chain solution while meeting several inherent challenges within the prison environment.
 

IGD President’s Cup, awarded to the organisation that has played a significant role in helping IGD achieve its aims and objectives over the past year, was won by Heinz.
 

The Grocer Cup for Outstanding Business Achievement is awarded to the individual who has inspired their team to achieve exceptional results in the preceding year and has made the biggest contribution to the grocery industry, as nominated by readers of The Grocer. This year’s winner is Peter Marks, Chief Executive, The co-operative.

To register your interest in entering the 2010 awards or to book your place at next year's event please email awards@igd.com