Brammy Award Winners 2010

Brammy Awards

Waitrose scoops top Brammy prize

Heston and Delia may be the new faces of Waitrose but it was Antony Worrall-Thompson who joined ‘the nation’s favourite supermarket’ in scooping a prestigious Brammy Award this week.

Waitrose, Greencore and Cottage Delight are among the winners of the 17th annual Brammy Awards, with Colman’s wining the first ever consumer choice prize for its Bramley Apple Sauce.

Each year the Brammys recognise and reward excellence by retailers, manufacturers and foodservice companies in using and promoting Bramley apples.

Waitrose scooped the award for Best Bramley Retailer, based on its exceptional year-on-year sales figures. Waitrose was the clear winner after successfully attracting and maintaining new customers through launching a new polybag Bramley product in September, which encouraged consumers to buy more Bramleys per shopping trip. In addition to the instore activity, the Waitrose website provides inspiration and easy-to-follow instructions for customers on how to cook with Bramley apples, with 280 sweet and savoury Bramley apple recipes for customers to enjoy.

David Mitchell, Waitrose Fruit Buyer, said: “We have worked hard this year to champion the Bramley and we are delighted to have been able to introduce more of our customers to this iconic variety. Since releasing a new bag of Bramleys onto our shelves last autumn, we have aimed to inspire and educate customers with a host of different recipe ideas to try on the pages of our website. We also have more exciting plans already in place for the coming Autumn. As a retailer, we are proud to sell such a great British product and we are really pleased that our support for the Bramley has been recognised in this way."

Antony Worrall-Thompson said: “I have to say how delighted I am to receive the award for this year's Best Bramley Media Chef. I'm gathering quite an orchard of Bramley awards, and this is greatly appreciated. The Bramley apple is one of my best-loved ingredients and deserves to be part of our recipes, and part of our heritage. Long live the Bramley!"

The Brammy Award winners in the manufacturer categories were chosen for their high quality and innovative Bramley apple products. The Best Manufacturer of a Sweet Bramley Product is Greencore Cakes & Desserts, for its Sainsbury’s Bramley Apple Pie.

The Best Manufacturer of a Savoury Bramley Product is Waitrose for its English Pork & Bramley Apple Sausages, with the Brammy for Best Manufacturer of a Bramley Sauce being awarded for the second year running to Cottage Delight.

The Chairman’s Award was awarded to Reynolds Catering for the company’s record year with Bramleys. Reynolds Catering put significant marketing and sales effort behind Bramleys, including featuring a “Meet the Grower” article that was mailed out to 4,000 customers as well as developing recipes and training customers on how to cook with Bramleys. The company’s extensive promotional and sales activity saw year-on-year sales of Bramley double in volume.

Compass was named the winner of both the Best Bramley Foodservice Company and the Best Bramley Foodservice Product for its excellent and consistent use of Bramley apples within a number of dishes, in particular in the Toffee Apple Crumble.

Jane Wakeling, Regional Sourcing Manager, Compass Group UK & Ireland, said: “Compass has a commitment to providing great tasting seasonal British produce and promoting such produce when at its best. Our sourcing of Bramley apples is an important part of this commitment, used and promoted throughout our business. We are delighted that our work has been recognised with this prestigious award and we will continue to champion Bramleys.”

Adrian Barlow, Chairman, The Bramley Apple Campaign, said:

"Compass has shown outstanding support for Bramley in the past year through the quality and breadth of products included in their menus, by promoting Bramley to their customers and by encouraging their chefs to use Bramley and to develop new Bramley dishes."

Adrian Barlow, Chairman of the Bramley Apple Campaign, said: “The standard of entrants this year was the best ever and it made the final judging very interesting indeed. This has been an exceptional year for the Bramley and we have seen a significant increase in sales of fresh product. All the winners have recognised the Bramley’s exceptional qualities as our premier cooking apple and demonstrate excellence in their particular fields.”

The full list of Brammy Award winners for 2010 is:

Best Bramley Retailer

Waitrose

Best Manufacturer of a Bramley Product – Sweet

Greencore Cakes & Desserts - Sainsbury’s Bramley Apple Pie

Best Manufacturer of a Bramley Product – Savoury

Waitrose – English Pork & Bramley Apple Sausages

Best Manufacturer of a Bramley Sauce

Cottage Delight Ltd

Best Bramley Foodservice Company

Compass Group UK & Ireland

Best Bramley Foodservice Product