Nominations have opened for the Marketing Derby Food and Drink Awards.
The awards have been designed to shine a light on Derby's busy food and drink sector, and nominations are welcome from members of the public, business leaders and food and drink establishment owners.
The nomination period is open for four weeks, after which a shortlist of finalists will be drawn up prior to the eventual winners being announced at a ceremony at The Chocolate Factory, which is home to Bustler Market, on Monday, October 18.
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John Forkin, managing director of Marketing Derby, said “The impact of the pandemic on hospitality makes these awards more important than ever.
“We are really looking forward to seeing who is nominated in this key sector for the city.”
The awards are made up of 12 categories – many of them new.
Out of the 12 categories, 10 will be open for nominations.
The winners of the overall Marketing Derby Food and Drink Awards Winner for 2021 and the award for Outstanding Achievement will be revealed on the night.
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Entrants for all categories, except for the Country Pub/Restaurant award, should be based in the 'Greater Derby' area.
Nominations can be made via the Marketing Derby website.
Once the nomination period is over, the entries will be used to select three finalists in each category, apart from the Excellence in Customer Service category, which will have a shortlist of six.
The winner of this category will be voted for by the public.
In terms of the other categories, representatives from each sponsor will judge their own category, which involves ‘mystery shopping’ at all three finalists and scoring against defined criteria.
Situated in Castleward, on the junction of John Street and Siddals Road, The Chocolate Factory offers around 30,000 sq ft of space to host events including beer festivals, weddings, corporate events, away days and craft fairs.
Featuring an on-site bar, giant TV screens and enough seating to accommodate 1,500 people, The Chocolate Factory is operated by the team behind Bustler Market, a regular street food market.
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Managing director Liv Pritchard said: “We are really excited to be hosting the Food and Drink Awards this year.
“We’ve long believed it should be an important date for the hospitality industry in and around Derby and we look forward to turning it into a huge celebration at the end of what has been an incredibly challenging time for our sector.
“We are proud to be working with Marketing Derby on this and can’t wait to celebrate with everyone in October.”
Marketing Derby is a public-private partnership created to raise the city and county’s profiles and attract investment.