FWD Gold Medals celebrate talent, dedication and success

More than 900 people from across the industry attended the FWD Gold Medal Awards at Old Billingsgate, London, last night (28 November).

Comedian Tom Allen hosted the event, where a total of 25 awards were presented to wholesale and supplier businesses, including seven awards for individuals.

Parfetts took home the Retail Wholesaler award for the second year in a row, and Henderson Foodservice secured the Foodservice Wholesaler title.

In terms of the sheer number of awards, Creed Foodservice was the main wholesale winner, picking up three trophies, while Britvic was the dominant supplier winner, collecting four awards.

FWD chairman Dawood Pervez remarked: “This has been another year with its fair share of challenges and they seem to keep coming – a new Government, new business policies, new paths to navigate – but we have been making sure that wholesale remains front and centre to our new leaders.

“Tonight is all about honouring our industry. It’s where we celebrate remarkable talent, dedication and success from wholesalers and our partners in supply. I’m told our judges had their hands full with so many high-calibre nominations and I’m proud to see just how high the bar has been raised.

“Let’s celebrate each other’s achievements and look forward to even stronger success in the year ahead.”

A raffle during the evening raised more than £12,000 for FareShare.

The winners:

Wholesaler awards:

Retail Wholesaler: Parfetts

Foodservice Wholesaler: Henderson Foodservice

On-Trade Wholesaler: Freemans Event Partners

Wholesaler with turnover up to £50m: Dunns Food and Drinks

Diversity in Wholesale: Creed Foodservice

Best Use of Data & Insight: Bestway Wholesale

Sustainable Wholesaler: Bidfood

Wholesale Star: Gemma Grierson, Forrest Fresh Foods

Wholesale Manager: Sabrina Carvalho, Costco Wholesale

Customer Development: Julie Stamm, Henderson Foodservice

Star Driver: Adam Briscoe, Bidfood

Emerging Talent: Joe Oliver, Creed Foodservice

Telesales Star: Bronwyn Horwood, Creed Foodservice

Supplier awards:

Best Use of Data & Insight: Coca-Cola Europacific Partners

Best Service Provider: TWC

Service to Wholesale: Coca-Cola Europacific Partners

Best New Retail Product: Tango Sugar Free Mango, Britvic

Best New Foodservice Product: McVitie’s Gold Billions Wafer, pladis

Best Marketing/Promotional Activation: Mars Wrigley

Sustainable Supplier: Britvic

Emerging Talent: Isabelle Stedman, Budweiser Brewing Group

Licensed Brand: Asahi, Asahi UK

Foodservice Brand: Pepsi, Britvic

Grocery Brand: Monster, CCEP

Diversity in Wholesale (Supplier): Britvic