IN PICTURES: Culinary awards return for 17th year to champion Northamptonshire food and drink stars

The Weetabix Northamptonshire Food & Drink Awards 2025/26 will give a platform to the finest food, drink, people and places making this county a destination of choice for foodies.

As our support for local and independent businesses becomes more vital, these annual awards proudly celebrate those keeping our culinary scene thriving.

Headline sponsor Weetabix has proudly returned for its sixth year and is joined by an outstanding line-up of other sponsors across the 18 categories.

Awards director Rachel Mallows MBE was joined by around 80 champions of the event at the launch on Tuesday (March 25) at Northampton College.

Reflecting on the impact of celebrating the sector’s innovations and achievements, Rachel said: “We are once again proudly on the search for Northamptonshire’s food and drink stars, and look forward to seeing a brilliant, broad range of nominations and entries.

“Feedback from finalists and winners reinforces the power of having the awards logo on your website, in your window and on your menus or receipts, to help build reputation, encourage and celebrate staff, and generate more sales.

“It is about building businesses, creating jobs and supporting the economy of our county. It is also about the sense of community we have, and our ambition to make food and drink a key attraction, not only for us, but for visitors to the county.”

Chloe Smith from Althorp Coaching Inn, which won gold in the ‘gastro pub of the year’ category last year, spoke to the Chronicle & Echo about the positive impact this has had.

“Business has shown an increase and there’s more recognition,” said Chloe. “We are early birds, people are still noticing who we are and what we’re about. We support over 40 different Northamptonshire businesses. We’d rather go small and local rather than big and mass production.

“You get more of a personality when you come to us. We care about everything we do. Our ethos is community, communication and connection. We like to help and support each other.”

Rafi Rahman from Tamarind, which won gold in the ‘world cuisine restaurant of the year’ category, described scooping the top spot as “amazing” for his family-run business.

He believes it has brought a lot of new custom to the Indian restaurant as having the stamp of approval allows wider markets to put trust in them.

Rafi reminisced about having to leave last year’s awards ceremony early as the team was rushed off their feet at the restaurant, but made sure to celebrate with their customers that evening.

The results of this year’s free-to-enter competition, which will again see finalists awarded gold, silver or bronze, will be announced at a ceremony at the Royal & Derngate on October 16.

For more information on the categories in the Weetabix Northamptonshire Food & Drink Awards 2025/26, including entry and nomination forms, visit the website here.

Take a look at these 17 photos from the launch of the Weetabix Northamptonshire Food & Drink Awards 2025/26…