Bristol Fruit Sales were celebrating last night after doing a double at the second annual Re:fresh Awards in London.
The south west-based business took the title of Capespan Wholesaler of the Year and then went on to claim the Tesco Overall Producer Trader of the Year award.
David Matthews, managing director of BFS, collected the awards and paid tribute to the hard work of his staff.
Around 500 people from across the fresh produce industry attended the gala dinner and awards, organised jointly by the FPJ and Highbury Nexus in association with the Fresh Produce Consortium, which took place at the Marriot in Grosvenor Square.
The Florette Lifetime Achievement award was handed to Douglas Kemp in recognition of a spectacular career which saw him help create Kentish Garden, establish 12 month supply through imports and generally reveal the full potential of soft fruit to the industry and retailers.
JP Fruit took the title for the Department of Health’s 5 A DAY Supporter of the Year, having impressed the judges with its Love Fruit campaign.
The Chilean Fresh Fruit Association’s Innovation of the Year award was given to Worldwide Fruit for its intelligent use of RFID tagging within its business.
Somerfield took the title of Foods from Spain Multiple Retailer of the Year, while the Foods from Spain Independent Retailer of the Year award went to EH Booths.
The Carmel Foodservice Supplier of the Year award was taken by Fresh Direct in reflection of its impressive growth rate and high level of investment.
Redbridge Produce and Flowers took the title of Floral Business of the Year, sponsored by the Flower Council of Holland, in recognition of its efforts to serve the highly competitive independent sector.
The Packer of the Year award, sponsored by the Grower, was taken by Stubbins for its investment and innovation in the business of packing.
The final award, the FPJ Marketing Campaign of the Year, was handed to Gomez for its development of the non-supermarket-aimed Gomez Reserv range and its imaginative supportive advertising campaign.
Earlier on, at the Re:fresh Conference, the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association also presented an award to John Foley, former head of buying for fruit and veg at Waitrose, for his efforts and services in the fresh produce sector.
For more information on the awards night and the winners, see next week’s Journal.
