The category introduced to showcase the all year round support that pubs, restaurants and other foodservice establishments provide to the British turkey industry, saw M&B praised for its long term support and year round commitment, seven days a week, for including turkey on its pub menus in four different areas – Toby Pie of the Day, New Toby Tasters, Roast Carvery and Toby House Salad. Runners up were Greene King and Subway.
The Best Catering Product category was split in two for the first time into profit and cost sector. In the cost sector category, a ready-to-roast British turkey breast from The UK Foodhall won the title on the merit of its “pleasant soft texture and great flexibility for local authority caterers”. Winner of the profit sector was Grove Smith English Rose turkey hen crown.
Winners of the 12 retail and catering categories were announced from 83 entries, which ranged from pulled BBQ turkey thigh with a lime and chilli BBQ Sauce and Kentucky spiced turkey breast to turkey meatballs and Christmas turkeys.
The awards also encompassed the British Turkey Student Chef of the Year competition, which took place in May at University College Birmingham. Sean Nolan, from Hertford Regional College and Daniel Draper from Westminster Kingsway College won the title after a cook-off involving eight different catering colleges.
Both students showed off their talent by cooking their winning dishes for more than 260 guests at the awards banquet alongside The Savoy’s banqueting chef Budiono Bin Sukim.
Nicola Compton, chair of the British Turkey publicity and marketing committee, said: “A lot of hard work and thought has clearly been put in by the students and we hope they go on to develop more creative ways of using turkey on menus when they go off into their catering careers. Turkey is a great value, all year round ingredient for pubs and restaurants as its unique texture and ability to absorb flavours lends itself to countless recipes.”