The Food and Drink Federation has announced the winners of its 2026 Industry Awards, celebrating the companies and individuals that best exemplify the ambition, innovation, and dynamism found within the UK’s largest manufacturing sector—ranging from export achievements to programs promoting healthier diets.
Rewarding ambition across the sector
Across 16 distinct categories, a panel of expert judges selected winners for their exceptional talent, creativity, and ambition in UK food and drink manufacturing. The awards highlighted a wide range of accomplishments, from community-focused projects and rising stars to excellence in technological advancement and packaging.
Winners included Felix, which was honored for its FLEX initiative. This program has successfully provided one million meals to local communities while simultaneously reducing food waste by converting short-dated ingredients into long-life products. Additionally, pladis was recognized for a project that has successfully doubled the number of women within its engineering workforce.
A night at The Troxy
The results were unveiled to 600 industry stakeholders during a gala ceremony held at The Troxy, a landmark cultural venue in East London. The event was sponsored by KPMG and hosted by Ravneet Gill, known for her roles on Channel 4’s Junior Bake Off and Netflix’s 5 Star Kitchen.
The FDF’s chief executive welcomed the guests, highlighting the significant effort required to maintain the food system daily while fostering strong communities throughout the nation.
Industry leaders react
Nick Pink, chief operating officer at the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), said: “The FDF Industry Awards are a brilliant opportunity to get together and celebrate the people and businesses working every day to feed the nation, put British innovation on the map, and power communities up and down the country.
“It was a spectacular, celebratory and inspiring evening, shining a light on new talent, new products, experience, ingenuity and success across the sector. A huge congratulations to all our winners and runners up.”
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