Inside the Free From Food Awards

The Free From Meals Awards (FFFA) are devoted to free-from food and drinks merchandise and innovation. Now in its fifteenth 12 months, the distinctive yellow brand is coveted by producers of free-from merchandise and seen by retailers and allergy-aware shoppers alike. The awards delight themselves on supporting, selling and inspiring new allergen-free product improvement. In a current Meals Founders Interview, we delved into the origins and progress of those awards, gaining beneficial insights from the founders, Cressida Langlands and Nicki Clowes.

How the awards began

The Free From Meals Awards originated from a tasting grid in Meals Matter journal. This developed into the awards as demand for free-from merchandise grew. As increasingly free-from merchandise have change into out there, it’s change into a extra intensive and devoted platform to boost consciousness and acknowledge excellence within the sector.

The founders’ journey

The founders, Cressida and Nicki, have performed pivotal roles within the awards’ progress over the previous 15 years. Initially managing subscriptions for Meals Matter, Cressida swiftly transitioned to administering the awards as a consequence of their rising reputation. Nicki, with over 15 years of retail expertise at Tesco, introduced a wealth of {industry} perception, having managed the free-from class for the grocery store. She beforehand collaborated with Cressida as an entrant and award sponsor, giving her a 360-degree view of the retail aspect and awards course of.

How the awards grew

In its early years, the FFFAs collaborated with the famend restaurateur Anthony Worrall Thompson, identified on the time as one of many few cooks incorporating free-from choices into his menus. The primary presentation celebration for the awards was held at his Notting Hill restaurant. Regardless of challenges like Brexit and the pandemic, the awards have steadily grown. The founders attribute this success to the awards’ distinctive function in celebrating innovation and inclusivity.

Free From Meals Awards standards

The Free From Meals Awards is centred on a dedication to shoppers, acknowledging that it exists purely due to the distinctive wants of individuals with allergic reactions and intolerances. Whereas primarily industry-focused, the awards keep a consumer-facing strategy, guaranteeing they handle their wants. Merchandise eligible for entry have to be free from a minimum of one of many high 14 main allergens, function clear labelling, and be nationally out there (in most classes).

The awards are additionally blind judged, which actually ranges the enjoying discipline, giving smaller, rising manufacturers the identical alternatives as extra established companies and grocery store own-label choices. The awards are fully impartial, supported by sponsorship and entry charges solely. Entry charges scale with firm turnover, making them accessible to start-ups and scale-ups.

Celebrating the perfect in free-from

In the present day, the Free From Meals Awards are a extremely anticipated occasion within the meals calendar. The crew is small however devoted, and so they present entrants with suggestions and can be found with recommendation for free-from manufacturers, actively encouraging innovation and new product improvement. Since 2008, 1000’s of free-from merchandise have been blind tasted by the FFF Awards’ specialist judging panels, that includes cooks, builders, producers, nutritionists and allergy reactors – many well-known within the meals and allergy worlds.

In our newest podcast, Cressida and Nicki share extra about what they search for, how the free from house is altering, what supermarkets are on the lookout for, and the way the attitudes and expectations of outlets, distributors and foodservice proceed to evolve.