Here are all the finalists of the Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards 2022/23

Chronicle & Echo has been following the announcements of the finalists of each category in this year’s Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards – and the time has now come for them all to gather for the awards ceremony and dinner.

Tonight (October 12), they will join forces at Royal & Derngate for the prestigious awards to be handed out.

The winners in the artisan categories – local vegan/vegetarian product, local product, and local drink of the year – were announced back in August at a ceremony at Daily Bread hosted by TV personality Reverend Kate Bottley.

Now, it is the turn of the remaining 11 categories to be announced.

Booker Dining Venue of the Year:

Electric Pavilion, Ember, Hibiscus, The Folly, Tap & Kitchen, The Plough, The Rose & Crown, The Snooty Fox, The Tollemache Arms, The Butchers Arms

Community Café of the Year:

Aspen Cafe, Cafe 1850, Cafe Track, Johnnys Happy Place, Saints Coffee, The Place to Bee

This category is supported by The Good Loaf.

World Cuisine Restaurant of the Year:

Alacati Grill, Cafe Bangla, June Plum, Mewar Haveli, Pjayz Kitchen

This award is sponsored by British Pepper & Spice.

F&B Achiever of the Year:

Andrew Collins of Whittlebury Bakery, Suzy Keeping of KDR Events Ltd, Aldo Gallone of E. Gallone Ltd, Joe Buckley of Tollemache Arms

This award is sponsored by Howes Percival.

One to Watch:

Nakasero Foods, Nasty Vegan Ltd, Northampton Cheese Company, The Flavour Trailer, Jute Coffee Limited

This category is sponsored by Whitworth Bros Ltd.

Weetabix Sustainability Award:

Foodkind CIC, Ganders Goat, Jute Coffee, The Roastery, West Lodge Farm

This award is sponsored by the event’s main sponsor, Weetabix.

Farming Environment Award:

Ben Atkinson of J.E Atkinson & Son. Ed Dale of Stetchworth Estate Farms, Fay Johnson of Rectory Farm, Keith Thompson of Bridge House Farm Ltd, Matt Knight of J.A Knight & Sons, Timothy Breitmeyer of Bartlow Estate

This award is also sponsored by Weetabix.

Food and Drink College Student of the Year:

Bilal Ismail of Northampton College, Elizabeth Knott of Moulton College, Will McGowan of Bedford College, Tia (Echo) Morris of Northampton College, Luke Wolstencroft of Bedford College

Healthy Food and Wellbeing of the Year (Producers):

Kebab-ish from Bite Me Spices, Organic Wheatgrass Juice from Britt’s Superfoods, Tomato and Red Pepper Relish from Friars Farm, Cucumber & Dill Sauerkraut from Millie Pickles, Chocolate Super Shake from Nasty Vegan

Healthy Food and Wellbeing of the Year (Businesses and Organisations):

Mercedes-AMG HPP, Northampton General Hospital, Silverstone Circuits Ltd, Sol Havens CIC

Both of the healthy food awards are sponsored by the Delapre Abbey Preservation Trust.

Local Food Hero of the Year:

Community Health Works UK CIC, Elliott’s Rectory Farm. Foodkind CIC, Jamie’s Quality Butchers, The Green Patch, Towcester Community Larder

This award is sponsored by Moulton College.

If you are a finalist in one of the award categories and would like to share your business’ story following the award ceremony, you can email [email protected].