Today’s Group’s Stoneleigh 2013
With foodservice predicted to achieve a £50 billion turnover by 2017, the Today’s Group dedicated its annual two day exhibition and awards bash, held at Stoneleigh 2013 Park, Warwickshire, to those working in the industry.
In bringing its group members together with over 250 product and service suppliers, Today’s Group’s Finance Director John Schofield opened the ‘Customers First’ event by telling members it was their opportunity to ensure their offering in terms of product range, value and support matched the needs of their catering clients.
Showcase Exhibition
Exhibitors laid out their stalls to showcase new products and novel services to help group members form better relationships with their foodservice customers. Among those there were familiar names such as Heinz, Nestle, Coca-Cola and Unilever. Some brands brought along celebrity endorsement for their goodies – among the stars was the darts player Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor – while others relied on popular product characters such as the Sugar Puff Honey Monster to capture attention.
The big bash
The awards ceremony, held the night before the exhibition, was hosted by Yorkshire-born actress and comedienne Debra Stephenson,
famed for her work alongside Jon Culshaw in The Impressions Show and roles in Bad Girls and Coronation Street. The award winners included:
BEST GROCERY SUPPLIER
Highly Commended
In alphabetical order, were HJ Heinz and Nestle Grocery
Winner
Tate and Lyle Sugars Limited
BEST IMPULSE
Highly Commended
Mars Confectionery and PepsiCo Walkers
Winner
Mondelez
BEST NON FOOD
Highly Commended
Procter and Gamble and Unilever Household
Winner
Kimberly Clark
BEST FOODSERVICE
Highly Commended
Westler’s and Wrap Film Systems
Winner
HJ Heinz Foodservice for the Best Foodservice Supplier award 2013
BEST LICENSED
Highly Commended
Diageo and Heineken
Winner
AB Inbev
BEST SUPPORT SERVICES SUPPLIER
Highly Commended
DCS and STL a distributor and IT supplier
Winner
Regal Wholesale
MEMBER OF THE YEAR
Winner
Regal Wholesale Ltd
RISING STAR
Winner
Intamarque Ltd
Highly Commended
Sert-MST Plc
FOODSERVICE WHOLESALER OF THE YEAR
Winner
Lynas Foodservice Ltd
Highly Commended
W. Wing Yip & Brothers Trading Group Ltd.
FOODSERVICE SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR
H.J. Heinz
Take Stock at Stoneleigh 2013
Your favourite catering publication, Take Stock, attended Stoneleigh to hand out the latest issue of the magazine and bring you live hourly tweets from the event. On your behalf, the team taste tested many new products. A firm favourite were the refreshing fruity slushes from Snow Shock, which supplies machines and concentrates to cafes and snack outlets throughout the country. Chocolates from Lindt, the Swiss confectioner keen to move into foodservice, went down a treat. Also much sought after were samples of the two new varieties from Burt’s Crisps – Guinness flavour crisps and Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae spiced crisps!
