Applications are now open for the BBC Good Food Shows Producers Bursary Award. Now in its seventh year, the awards aim to pick out the very best new producers the nation has to offer. The BBC Good Food Shows, in conjunction with BBC Good Food Magazine will be scouring the country over the next month looking for the most exceptional artisan food and drink producers in Britain.
In order to apply, businesses must fulfil the criteria of producing an outstanding regional, speciality or artisan item, have a low annual turnover and be less than three years old. Once nominations have been reviewed and shortlisted, applicants will have their produce judged and tasted by a team of expert judges including, BBC Good Food Magazine editor Gillian Carter andFood editor at large Barney Desmazery, taking place in the BBC Good Food Testing Kitchen.
Winners will be awarded a free stand at one of the shows in Birmingham, London, Glasgow or Harrogate, inclusion on Show websites and in the Showguide as well as PR coverage leading up to and at the Show as they are distinguished as the Show’s Producers Bursary Award winners.
New for this year, producers can submit a short video pitch to help support their Bursary application. The very best videos will be shown to the judging panel at the BBC Good Food Testing Kitchen and shared on the BBC Good Food Show social media sites. Producers can simply upload their video straight to social media using #GFSBursaryPitch or YouTube and include the link within their application.
Once again, fans, customers and suppliers can nominate their favourite local producers via Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Write the name and/or social media tag of the producer and then tag us @BBCGOODFOODSHOW with the following #GFSBursaryNominations. The producer with the highest number of social media nominations will automatically be selected for testing.
BBC Good Food editor at large Barney Desmazery comments: “The scheme is an excellent way of rewarding the very best independent food and drink producers by giving them a platform in which to put their business in front of tens of thousands of consumers. This is such a great way to discover passionate, young, smaller brands and I am excited to find new and unique producers and see the fantastic array of producers that the competition has to offer!”
One of the previous winners, Mandy Bailey, founder of Plant-n-Grow said, “Last year we were delighted to win a BBC Good Food Show Bursary Award. Plant-n-Grow specialises in Urban Growing Kits for Edible Flowers, Micro-greens, Veg, Herbs and a Kids range. The support and advice we received in the run up to our first big consumer show in Glasgow, SECC was fantastic and we took the opportunity to launch our new product Ginalicious. Exhibiting at the BBC Good Food Show provided a fantastic opportunity to speak directly to our customers, promote our brand and get valuable feedback from customers and other vendors. We had such great support from the BBC Good Food Team and had no hesitation booking a second Show at NEC in Birmingham. We will exhibiting again this year and would highly recommend all start-up producers to apply. The BBC Good Food Show Bursary Award is a fantastic & supportive platform to grow from.”