Wholesale rejoices as FWD Gold Medals returns
After two years away, FWD’s Gold Medals returned with a bang as the wholesale industry celebrated success across the channel.
More than 750 attendees took to Old Billingsgate in London for the night, making up for the enforced one-year break because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
There was a bumper number of entries for the Gold Medals this year, with a good spread of winners among the wholesaler awards.
AF Blakemore were the pick of the bunch, picking up three awards – including Kelly Burrows in the Emerging Talent category, Ian Cawley for Customer Development and Telesales Star for Alan Mayor.
Sugro’s Head of Business Development Tabitha Hunter-Smale picked up one of the big awards of the night, as she beat some stern competition to take the Wholesale Star Gold Medal.
Elsewhere, there were wins for several big names as Bidfood, Parfett’s and Booker picked up an award each, while there was also success for the smaller independents, such as Harvest Fine Foods, Creed Foodservice and Time Wholesale Services.
FWD was also recognised for its efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the five-person team winning a special award for what they have achieved since March 2020. John Baines was also recognised for his achievements in the sector with the Outstanding Contribution Gold Medal.
There were victories for several of the sector’s biggest suppliers too, with Kellogg’s, Britvic and Red Bull among the brands celebrating.
The most notable supplier award was won by KP Snacks Business Development Manager Frankie James-Howes, who was crowned as this year’s Emerging Talent.
Wholesaler Awards
Retail Wholesaler – Parfett’s
Foodservice Wholesaler – Creed Foodservice
Smaller Wholesaler – Harvest Fine Foods
Digital Innovation – JJ Foodservice
Use of Data and Insight – Time Wholesale Services
Green Wholesaler – Booker
Telesales Star – Alan Mayor, AF Blakemore
Star Driver – Ryan Hunt, Bidfood
Wholesale Manager – Mazhar Akram, United Wholesale Grocers
Customer Development – Ian Cawley, AF Blakemore
Wholesale Star – Tabitha Hunter-Smale, Sugro
Emerging Talent – Kelly Burrows, AF Blakemore
Supplier Gold Medals
Emerging Talent – Frankie James-Howes, KP Snacks
Retail Brand – Pepsi Max
Licensed Brand – Peroni
Foodservice Brand – Hellman’s
Data and Insight – Britvic
Service to Wholesale – Kellogg’s
New Retail Product – Cadbury’s Twirl Orange
New Foodservice Product – Hellman’s Vegan Mayo
Digital Innovation – Red Bull
Process Innovation – PepsiCo
Green Supplier – Molson Coors
Check out the next issue of Wholesale News for more on the night and the winners. Not a subscriber? Then register for free.
AF Blakemore Bidfood Booker Creed Foodservice FWD Gold Medals Gold Medals 2021 Harvest Fine Foods JJ Foodservice Parfetts Sugro Time Wholesale Services United Wholesale Grocers
