Shortlisted names of East Midlands companies and universities in the running for the 2011 Food and Drink iNet Innovation Awards have been revealed this week.
The winners are to be announced at an awards ceremony in the Nottingham Conference Centre on November 17 with food critic Jay Rayner as guest speaker.
More than 100 guests are expected to attend, which has become a regular date in the calendar of food and drink manufacturers across Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland.
Food and Drink iNet director, Richard Worrall, said: “This is the fourth year we have held the Food and Drink iNet Innovation Awards and once again we had an exciting batch of entries, which demonstrates that innovation in the sector is thriving in the East Midlands.”
This year’s Innovation Awards are designed to recognise and reward the most exciting developments in the region’s food and drink sector. They feature three different categories – Most Innovative Food and Drink Business, Most Innovative Business Supplying into the Food and Drink Sector and Most Innovative Research Project.
The shortlisted companies and universities are: Gourmet Spice Company, Butt Foods Ltd, The Country Victualler in the category of Most Innovative Food and Drink Business. Libaeration Ltd, MCE Engineering Ltd, Sherwood Press for Most Innovative Business Supplying into the Food and Drink Sector. The University of Leicester Space Research Centre, Nottingham Trent University School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University School of Science and Technology for Most Innovative Research Project.
Mr. Worrall added that he was pleased to see “such an interesting range of projects in the shortlist,” because he felt it demonstrated the many different forms innovation can take.
