Lashings of superheroes!
‘Not all superheroes wear capes’ - so the saying goes - and you certainly need look no further than the county’s food and drink sector to see a wealth of community champions helping in the fi ght against COVID-19 who would give any Marvel comic strip character a run for their money.
So, with the outbreak preventing the annual April launch of the competition, the Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards have spent the last three months operating as a business support hub and celebrating those responding to the ongoing challenges by becoming vital, if impromptu, local food heroes. Among those demonstrating just such strength of character are Richard Gordon and Sonya Harvey of The Red Lion in Cranford, reigning co-winner of the ‘Booker Food Pub of the Year’ category (sponsored by Booker), which was forced to close its doors when the lockdown was put in place.
As well as offering regular takeaway nights and instigating a BBQ meat pack delivery service, the couple also lead a team of volunteers in supplying a thrice-weekly, non-profi t-making shopping service for four local villages and act as drop-off point for donations to their local foodbank.
Similarly, Mark Afford of Northampton gourmet popcorn company What’s Poppin’, which was named runner-up in the ‘One To Watch’ category (sponsored by Whitworth Bros Ltd) last year, has set up the Facebook platform @NNFoodMarket, bringing local food and drink producers together as a new opportunity to reach out to customers, promoting everything from chutney to beer, coffee to spices.
For more examples of such resilience being shown across the sector, you can follow the Awards on Facebook at @foodawardsHQ, on twitter and Instagram at @foodawards and on LinkedIn at @weetabixnfadawards while details of the 2020/21 competition will be unveiled on its website www.northamptonshirefoodanddrink.co.uk later this month.
Meanwhile, for more information about the free webinars available to countywide food and drink businesses, offering expert advice on topics such as PR, social media and legal matters, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 01933 664437.
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