Heart of England Fine Foods (HEFF), the regional food group for the West Midlands, has beaten four of the country’s biggest brands to take home a prestigious food industry award.
Despite being up against multinationals Tesco, Boots, United Biscuits and Kimberly Clark, Shropshire-based HEFF won the ECR UK award for Sustainable Distribution at the prestigious IGD Food Industry Awards, for its HEFF Delivery Service.
The HEFF Delivery Service is a partnership with logistics providers Heart Distribution. It provides a more effective route to market for small- to medium-sized regional food producers across the West Midlands, which in turn has had a big impact on reducing food miles in the supply chain.
HEFF was able to show judges that, following a survey on just two of its accounts over a six-month period, 60,600 miles had been saved by transferring these accounts to the HEFF Delivery Service.
Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive of IGD, said: “This year's finalists have shown that, even in challenging times, innovation and best practice are at the forefront of the industry. These awards recognise the best-in-class, and demonstrate some of the most exciting new thinking in food and grocery."
The judges said: “HEFF demonstrated commendable levels of personal investment in sustainability. They removed lots of complexities from both ends of the supply chain, benefiting both the retail customer and supplier alike, and providing a route to market for small and local producers. Without them, many would have struggled to efficiently distribute their products.”
Karen Davies, chief executive of HEFF, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled we have won this award. It was such an honour to have been shortlisted but as a smaller, regional business, to have come out on top against such strong competition is just incredible.
“It’s a great achievement for everyone involved in the HEFF Delivery Service; our food and drink producers, our logistics partners Heart Distribution and the team at HEFF; it really demonstrates what can be achieved through collaboration and that the size of the business is not a limiting factor.”
Currently there are 97 producers and 300 customers using the HEFF Delivery Service, including Mid-Counties Cooperative, Morrisons and The National Trust, along with many independent traders.
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