Entries are once again open for the Farm Shop & Deli Awards, in partnership with The Grocer, and close on Friday 21 September. Free to enter, the Awards are highly respected in the industry for playing an important role in supporting the UK’s independent, specialist retail market.
This year the online entry process has been refined slightly to reduce the number of questions, and to provide tips and advice on how best to approach the answers. In addition the organisers appreciate that, in this specialist sector, ‘one size does not fit all’, so encourage entrants to use the opportunity provided to really showcase their business, it’s attributes, successes and most importantly what sets them apart.
Victoria Robertshaw, Keelham Farm Shop, 2017 Retailer of the Year and member of 2018 judging panel, said, 'At Keelham we have won over 50 awards and you always know how an awards scheme is recognised in the industry by the comments you receive from your suppliers when you win. We had so many suppliers congratulate us when we won Farm Shop & Deli Awards Retailer of the Year in 2017, which is how I know these awards are highly respected within the industry.”
The Awards organiser, William Reed, has been helping businesses succeed since the launch of The Grocer in 1862 and the drive to inform and serve their sectors flows through everything they do today. The Farm Shop & Deli Awards are no exception and, for the past six years, they have celebrated, and supported, the speciality retail market by utilising their reputation and reach in the sector.
Through a comprehensive marketing and PR campaign, entrants can benefit from exposure across industry and regional publications, plus to over 14,000 viewers to the Awards website, Twitter and Facebook pages - which increases through the finalist and then the winners stages.
The consumer voting element, which takes place in September and October, encourages entrants to drive online votes from their customers via the awards entrants web page. In addition, the Awards offer a fantastic opportunity for entrants to promote their businesses to industry experts from the world of speciality retail, fine food and food media who form the judging panel.
And it doesn’t stop with the win – the Retailer of the Year winners are invited to join the judging panel, bringing a more cohesive approach to the judging process and an even better understanding of the challenges the entrants face.
As part of the judging process, comments from the judges and consumer voting are collated and evaluated. These are then supplied to all entrants once the Award’s finals have taken place, providing invaluable and constructive feedback.
Over the past 5 years the ‘Retailer of the Year’ award has been won by butchers, delicatessens and farm shops who have demonstrated the highest levels of service, product knowledge, initiative, innovation and community involvement as chosen by our distinguished judging panel.
With twelve categories available to enter across nine regions, the 2019 title is set to be a hotly contested competition reaching a crescendo on Monday 8th April, when the category and regional winners, plus Retailer of the Year, will be revealed live at Farm Shop & Deli Show at the NEC Birmingham.
Pictured, the Denstone Hall Farm Shop and Café was crowned the nation's Best Large Farm Shop at the 2018 awards.