FreeFrom Awards Welcome Short List From Wider Market
From sheep’s milk ice cream, gluten-free syrup sponge and free-from fusilli with amaranth to gluten-free fish fingers washed down with a gluten-free glass of beer, nearly 200 freefrom products have made it onto a very long ‘shortlist’ for the FreeFrom Food Awards 2010 – some indication of the spectacular growth seen in this sector of the food industry in recent years.
The freefrom food market has positively exploded over the last few years with predicted sales in the UK reaching £360 million by 2012 (Mintel), and $2.6 billion worldwide (Packaged Facts).
The FreeFrom Food Awards are the only industry awards that celebrate excellence in this field. Now in their third extremely successful year, the 2010 awards have attracted over 1,000 freefrom entries from every type of supplier from one man/woman bakers to multinational food manufacturers.
The awards were started by www.foodsmatter.com, a massive website and information source which logs over half a million hits on its 3,000 plus pages every month and includes the only dedicated site covering all aspects of freefrom food (http://www.foodsmatter.com/freefrom_foods/index.html).
Says Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, editor of www.foodsmatter.com: "The response to the launch of the awards has just been fantastic and mirrors the expansion in the whole market.
"We are particularly excited about this year’s shortlist as it includes such an excellent spread of products really illustrating how the freefrom market has grown and how suppliers and manufacturers are rising to the challenge to cover all areas of 'freefrom need'.
"Important though a tasty cake is to those with allergies, cakes and biscuits alone do not really make up balanced diet, so it great that the freefrom offer now also includes ready meals, soups, ready-to-cook pastry, freefrom ingredients – and even gluten-free beer!"
The final judging to choose the winners of the 2010 awards will take place at the end of March. Judges will include Simon Wright, chair of judges for the Q Awards, the Food and Drink Innovation Network‘s Jeffrey Hyman, Jane Suthering, president of the Guild of Food Writers, Not Just Food‘s Jane Milton of and Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, editor of foodsmatter.com
Convenience foods on the short list include: * Innovation Award: Hares’ Moor Curry kits; Sainsbury’s Bombay potatoes; Sainsbury’s carmelised onion rolls; Sainsbury’s chilli con carne; Sainsbury’s Korma sauce. * Animal (not cow)'s milk, butter, yogurt and ice cream: Styles strawberry sheep’s milk dessert; Styles vanilla bean sheeps’ milk dessert. * Plant (soya, rice,oat, nut, potato) 'milk', spread, yogurt, cheese and ice cream: B’Nice non dairy rice cream – strawberry; BoojaBooja Stuff in a tub – hunky punky chocolate; BoojaBooja Stuff in a tub – smiling vanilla m’gorilla; BoojaBooja Stuff in a tub – maple and pecan; Sojasun raspberry passion soya alternative to yogurt; Swedish Glace Neopolitan; Tofutti Creamy smooth original; Tofutti Mozzarella style; Tofutti non dairy frozen dessert – chocolate; Worthenshaw’s coconice strawberry frozen desert. * Gluten-free savoury pies, flans and ready meals: Brumby’s chicken and mushroom pie; Clive’s Pies – Aloo gobi; Clive’s Pies – Lentil and olive; Dietary Specials tagliatelle with bacon and mushrooms ; Dietary Specials thin and crispy pepperoni pizza; Dietary Specials deep pan mozzarella and tomato; Intolerable Food Company green Thai vegetable curry; It’s a Free World fragrant Thai chicken curry; Sainsbury’s chicken Kiev; Sainsbury’s beef lasagne; Young’s Gluten free fish fingers. * Gluten-free puddings, sweet pies, desserts, cheesecakes: Christine’s Puddings chocolate pudding; Christine’s Puddings sticky toffee puddings; Gluten Free Goodies syrup sponge; Hunter’s sticky toffee puddings; Hunter’s chocolate fudge pudding; Intolerable Foods blueberry and almond tart; Intolerable Foods pecan and toffee tart; Lifestyle pecan tart; Mama Cucina strawberry cheesecake; Mama Cucina mango and passion fruit cheesecake; Morrison’s treacle tart; OK Foods treacle tart; Provamel vanilla dessert. * Dairy/gluten-free Christmas foods: Asda gf,wf Xmas pudding; Barkat gf,wf Xmas pudding; Coop nf, gf, wf Xmas pudding; Droppa & Droppa mince pies; Droppa & Droppa Xmas cake; Especially Delicious Xmas cupcakes; Gluten Free Goodies mince pies; Healthy Cake Company Xmas cake; M & S gf Xmas pudding; The Right Ingredient Xmas cake; The Right Ingredient boozy choc brownies; Trubitz mince pies; Trubitz Xmas pie;
From sheep’s milk ice cream, gluten-free syrup sponge and free-from fusilli with amaranth to gluten-free fish fingers washed down with a gluten-free glass of beer, nearly 200 freefrom products have made it onto a very long ‘shortlist’ for the FreeFrom Food Awards 2010 – some indication of the spectacular growth seen in this sector of the food industry in recent years.