The finalists for 2022’s Food and Drinks Heroes have been announced!

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The finalists for 2022’s Food and Drinks Heroes have been announced! With a whopping 700 entries this year alone, it was hardly slim pickings amongst the variety of inspirational and talented entrepreneurs who submitted their applications. Despite the tough task, an especially talented selection of entrepreneurs have been chosen as finalists for this year’s awards in each individual category.

To address the ever-growing interest in the awards, even more categories, such as Street Food Entrepreneur of the Year and Producer of the Year were created to give a larger number of talented entrepreneurs a vehicle to communicate their brands and astonishing personal experiences.

The selected finalists have told touching tales that are sure to impress and inspire. Despite coming from an assortment of categories in the food and drink industry, finalists all seem to have two things in common, an admirable entrepreneurial spirit and an astonishing set of achievements, by not only themselves, but also their brands.

Francesca James, founder of Food and Drink Heroes, said: “The line-up of finalists is nothing short of impressive. I’m more than pleased to see even more entrepreneurs being given the chance to share their story. It’ll be a tough task for the judges to select the winners from such an impressive list of talent, but I have no doubt that this year’s finalists are some of the best businesses we’ve seen yet and will be recognised as such.”

Here are our 2022 finalists:

Alcoholic Drink Entrepreneur Of the Year

Liam Manton, Alderman’s Drinks

Morgan Arnell & Elaine Arnell, Crumbs Brewing

Philip Everett-Lyons, Hattiers Rum

Jacob Liddle, Jiddler’s Tipple

Jesse Wilson, Jubel Beer

Richard Sager & Luca Quaglianio, NIO Cocktails UK

Jay Bradley, The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. & Whiskey & Wealth Club

George Blurton, Long Shot Drinks

 

Animal Food Entrepreneur of the Year

Mark Scott & Tony Ottley, Bella & Duke

James Lacy & Nathan Perry, Denzel’s

Mathew Cockroft & Daniel Valdur Eha, Pure Pet Food

Pankaj Hurria, Tiana Halal Cat Food

 

Baked Goods Entrepreneur of the Year

Lisa Smith, Ginger Bakers

Alice Williams, Luminary Bakery

Rachel Hanretty, Mademoiselle Macaron

Paul Clark & Laura Clark, Phat Pasty Co

Max Poynton, Jacob Watts & Matthew Bond, Project D

Andy Welch, Seriously Low Carb by Keeto Life

Paul Rostand, The Artful Baker

Meenesh Mistry & Parul Mistry, Wholey Moley

 

Confectionary Entrepreneur of the Year

Kane Dowell, Ask Mummy & Daddy

James Cadbury, Love Cocoa & H!P Chocolate

Manav Thapar, LoveRaw

Andy Valentine & Louise Webb, Popcorn Kitchen

Sally Newall, Simply Ice Cream

Maria Romero & Emanuel Ferrandez, Sur Chocolates Ltd

Christina Bull, Sweet Tree by Browns

Mike Grant & Jason Grant, The Copper Fudge Company

 

Export Entrepreneur of the Year

Edmund Wood, Belgrove Rum

Giuseppe Gallo, Italicus LTD

Sean Ramsden, Ramsden International

Sherwin Acebuche & Tim Driver, Tarsier Spirit

 

Health Entrepreneur of the Year

Andrew Gibb, Coldpress Juices

Nick Pullin & Maxine Brown, Healthipops

Bethan Thomas & Kate Achilles, HotTea Mama

Amy Moring & Jeff Webster, Hunter & Gather Food

John Woods, Linwoods Health Foods

Wayne Starkey & James Whiting, Skinny Food Co

Suzie Walker, The Keto Collective

Rahi Daneshmand, Virtue Drinks

 

Hospitality Entrepreneur of the Year

Liv Pritchard, Bustler Market

Phil Harrison & Mel Harrison, Escapism Bar Group

Arnaud Kaziewicz, Loaf & Coal

Teddy Lee, Maki & Ramen

Sophie Pottle & James Hallworth, Perch & Co Ltd

Louise Palmer-Masterton, Stem & Glory

Rachel Wisson-Brooks & Holly Wisson-Brooks, The Chocolate Cocktail Club

Jessica Manley, William Manley, Sally Keighley & David Keighley, The Yan at Broadrayne

 

Innovation Entrepreneur of the Year

Bay Burdett, Bay’s Kitchen

Andy Haddon, Big River Bakery

Paul Brown, BOL Foods

Tom Walker & Gaz Booth, Holy Moly Dips

Sanjay Aggarwal, Spice Kitchen

Charlie Gilpin & Sam Moss, Stocked

Jagir Mankodi & Nirali Mankodi, Superfoodio Limited

Olivia Ferdi & Daniel Khoury, TRIP Drinks

 

Non-Alcoholic Entrepreneur of the Year

Rob Fink & James Kindred, Big Drop Brewing Co.

Ellie Webb, Caleño

Raissa De Haas & Joyce De Haas, Double Dutch Drinks

Joelle Drummond & Sarah McNena, Drop Bear Beer Co.

Lawrence Mallinson, James White Drinks Ltd

Kerstin Robinson & Julia Kessler, Nix and Kix

Kate Towers & Becky Coletto, Small & Wild

Phil Pinder & Ben Fry, The Potions Cauldron Ltd

 

Food Service Entrepreneur of the Year

Marco Rosa, Delicario

Assean Sheikh & Ryan O’Rorke, Flavourly

Antoine Melon & Nicolas Payet, HOMETAINMENT

Peter Moore, It’s Lolly

Joey Barnett & Dovi David, Leslie

Richard Canterbury, Love Struck

Harry Slagel & Lewis Slagel, Plateaway

Sahil Verma & Nidhi Verma, The Cookaway

 

(NEW)

Producer of the Year

Adrian Louden & Ron Young, Contract Bottlers Glasgow Ltd

Maria, Mark & Izzy Whitehead, Hawkshead Relish

Mary Monkman, Lakeland Artisan

Fionagh Harding & Richard Harding, Norton Barton Artisan Food Village

Pam Digva & James Digva, Sauce Shop

Roger Saul, Sharpham Park

David Thompson & Tom Mellor, Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery

Jayne Mugridge & David Mugridge, Yarty Cordials Ltd

 

Start-up Entrepreneur of the Year

Amelia Christie-Miller, Bold Bean Co

Rachel Kettlewell, Fearne & Rosie

Sarah Brading & Rich Baker, Flat Earth Pizzas

Andrew Daly, Good Its Gluten Free

Martin Holden-White, Grubby

Laura Riches & Laura Rosenberger, Laylo

Aiden Ryan, Loaf Mcr

Tom Whittle, Mission Health and Wellness Ltd

Tomas Mesa & David Ventura, Mister Free’d

Taeya Abdel-Majeed & Maya Harunna, No Guilt Bakes

 

(NEW)

Street Food Entrepreneur of the Year

Puneet Wadhwani, Patri Artisan Street Food  and Drinks

Sanjeev Sanghera & Laura Bruce, Haus Holdings

Hope Bainbridge, Hoba Ltd

Georgia Hussey, LOKI POKÉ

Daniel Webber-Quick, The Little Pasta Company LTD

James Eagle, The Pished Fish

 

Sustainability Entrepreneur of the Year

Hannah McCollum, ChicP

Safia Qureshi, CLUBZERØ

Karina Sudenyte, Flawsome! Drinks

Carrie Vallance, Food Troops CIC

Phill Lewis & Deb Lewis, Kindle

Sameer Vaswani, Prodigy Snacks Ltd

Lee Congdon & Richard Elmer, Sipple Hydration Stations

Jamie Crummie, Too Good To Go