The Awards for Excellence aim to celebrate individuals and teams who continue to make a ‘real difference’ to education catering and school food. The Chair’s Award for 2023 was given to Anne-Marie Sowden from CATERed for her continued support of Brad Pearce.
Elsewhere Quorn Foods were named Outstanding Supplier of the Year, while the Yorkshire &Humberside region was selected as the Region of the Year. The inaugural LACA & Natasha Allergy Research Foundation Allergy Management Award went to the Chartwells Medical Diets Team.
Carryduff Primary School in Belfast and the catering team collected their trophy as the winners of the 2023 Caterers’ Challenge, which is part of the ‘Eat Them To Defeat Them’ campaign run in partnership with ITV. On the night a charity raffle was held for Prostate Cancer UK, which raised over £4,000.
Brad Pearce, chair of LACA, said: "Wow! What a fantastic evening at the LACA Awards for Excellence last night where we celebrated the very best of the best during the LACA Gala Dinner.
“The standard of entry was as high, if not higher than ever, and everyone whether shortlisted or a winner should be extremely proud of the achievement in reaching this stage. Once again, school caterers and suppliers have demonstrated just how amazing they are! Thank you everyone for what you do.”
The full list of winners include:
- LACA & Natasha Allergy Research Foundation Allergy Management Award: Chartwells Medical Diets Team
- LACA Apprentice/Trainee Award, sponsored by Unilever Food Solutions: Helena Brown- HCL
- LACA Catering Business of the Year Award, sponsored by Rational: The Pantry Catering
- LACA Primary School Catering Team of the Year Award, sponsored by Middleton Foods: Mellers Primary – Nottingham City Council
- LACA Secondary School Catering Team of the Year Award, sponsored by Bidfood: St Francis of Assisi Catering Team – Caterlink
- LACA Marketing Award, sponsored by Wafflemeister: HC3S Business Development Team
- The Nan Berger Memorial Award, sponsored by Cereal Partners: Torfaen Schools Catering Team
- The Roger Davies Outstanding Achievement Award, sponsored by Green Cuisine: Caroline Morgan – Local Food Links
- LACA Unsung Hero Award, sponsored by Civica: Joint winners Vicky Clair – Stockton Borough Council and Peter Sawula – Juniper Ventures
- LACA Outstanding Supplier Award: Quorn Foods
- LACA Region of the Year: Yorkshire & Humberside
- Partner with LACA Innovation Award: Premier Foods
- Chair’s Award: Anne-Marie Sowden - CATERed