The prize ceremony was held during Veg Fest, a week long e-conference bringing together people and organisations to discuss what place vegetables will have in food policy, diets and the post Covid-19 food environment.
The Peas Please Individual Champion award recognises an ‘outstanding contribution’ made by an individual working within one of the Peas Please pledger organisations.
The runner-up was Linda Cregan from school food caterer ISS and the winner was Edward Morgan from independent wholesaler Castell Howell. Morgan distributed 47,000 ‘Eat Them to Defeat Them’ packs to schools across Wales in 2019.
Rebecca Tobi, Peas Please project manager said: “We're thrilled to see so many organisations from across the food system achieving their Peas Please commitments when it comes to growing, serving, and selling more veg.
“This year is our inaugural Peas Please Prize ceremony, and we hope the first of many, as our community of pledgers continue to support us in our mission to make it easier for everyone in the UK to eat more veg.
“Yet with most of us in the UK still some way off meeting the government's recommended intake of veg, and with Covid-19 increasing levels of food poverty, there's still lots of work left to do.”
The Veg-O-Meter Prize is given to the organisation that achieves the biggest percentage increase in vegetable portions sold or served by Peas Please pledgers.
Autograph Education, part of Interserve catering were the winners after they increased the number of vegetables served in schools during 2018-19 by 244% compared to the previous year.
The rest of the winners at the Peas Please prize ceremony included:
- The Peas Please Innovation Prize: Sainsbury’s (runner-up was Cardiff and Vale University)
- The Peas Please Pledger Champion prize: Birds Eye
- The Peas Please Rising Star: Hendersons Group (SPAR NI)
- The Peas Please Good Society Prize: Lidl
- The Veg City Prize: Brighton and Hove