Supermarket Morrisons and foodservice company Pauleys were among the gongs as leading players in the Bramley apple sector met to celebrate the culinary apple’s success.

The annual Brammy awards celebrate the use of the fruit in retail and wholesale guises, in different methods of use and in the media.

Morrisons scooped the Best Bramley Retailer award while Pauleys Fresh Produce, a division of Brakes Group, was named the Best Bramley Foodservice Company at the 16th annual awards at Scot's restaurant in London on Thursday.

Pauleys decided to mark the Bramley bicentenary by having a particular focus on Bramleys. The foodservice firm used its Seasons Magazine and website to showcase the Bramley apple by introducing the grower, adding Bramley recipes and putting a webcast interview with the grower onto its homepage.

Morrisons scooped the award for Best Bramley Retailer, based on substantial in-store support and promotion of fresh Bramley apples. Morrisons was the clear winner after successfully attracting and maintaining new customers through targeted tray pack promotions.

Elsewhere, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall scooped the Best Bramley Media Chef; Cottage Delight won the Best Manufacturer of a Bramley Condiment; HJ Heinz Frozen & Chilled Foods Ltd won the Best Manufacturer of a Sweet Bramley Product; and Fourayes Farm won the newly created Chairman’s awards.

The awards come as the Bramley apple celebrates its bicentenary. There has already been a window erected in Southwell Minster to commemorate the fact the fruit originates from the town.

Adrian Barlow, chairman of the Bramley Apple Campaign, said: “Being the bicentenary, this is a very special year for the Bramley and I am delighted that the calibre of the Brammy Award winners reflects this. All have recognised the Bramley’s exceptional qualities as our premier cooking apple and demonstrate excellence in their particular fields.

“If Mary-Ann Brailsford, who planted the original Bramley apple tree, could see the size and the scope of the Bramley industry now I think she would be astonished.”

Jonathan Hooper, the Morrisons fruit buyer who collected the award, said: “We have worked very hard this year to promote the Bramley in its bicentenary year and are very pleased with the sales growth, particularly in new customers. Bramleys are a great British product and we hope that, having had the opportunity to try them, our new customers will now be adding them to their shopping lists on a regular basis. We are really pleased that our support for the Bramley has been recognised in this way.”

Rachel Sewter, marketing manager for Brakes, the parent company of Pauleys, said: “Celebrating provenance and supporting British farming are an integral part of our business. Bramley apples are quintessentially British and we are very keen to increase their presence on our customers’ menus. We are very pleased that our work in this bicentenary year has been recognised with this prestigious award and we will continue to champion Bramleys.”