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The Quality Food Awards recognise and celebrate the best in retail food products available in the UK.
Each category has been specifically tailored to represent the key drivers in today’s ever-changing marketplace. Category definitions have been provided to help you select the right place for your product to be entered. Please note that categories have been grouped by relevance and not A-Z, your category may appear further down the page.
To enter, click on the category below and you will be taken to the online entry form. You can enter multiple categories within one entry form.
Small producer entry fee (fewer than 10 staff and annual sales under £2 million): £125 + VAT. Click here to request your Small Producer discount promo code.
Breakfast Products
Products marketed as a breakfast item. This includes cereal, cereal bars and breakfast products, granola, porridge etc.
Bread
Inclusive of all bread products whether they are ambient, chilled or frozen.
Cakes
Inclusive of all cakes whether they are ambient, chilled or frozen.
Biscuits
Categories include sweet and savoury biscuits
Chocolate and Confectionery
All chocolate bars, boxes, sharing bags, novelty, seasonal (excludes Christmas) and sweets
Desserts and Puddings
Any sweet pudding or dessert, including ice cream, whether they be ambient, chilled or frozen.
Snacks
Food designed for snacking includes crisps, nuts, popcorn, jerky, bars
Cheese
Includes all cheese products: British; Continental; hard and soft; goats, sheep etc
Dairy
Includes butters and spreads, milk, cream, yoghurt, kefir. Excludes Cheese.
Eggs
Inclusive of all unprepared eggs e.g. chicken, duck, quail, and varieties e.g. blue, brown.
Cold Beverages
Includes all juices, smoothies, cold pressed, carbonates, waters, cordials, milkshakes, whether fizzy, still or flavoured
Hot Beverages
Includes coffee ground, instant and pots (excludes beans); tea and herbal tea; hot chocolate etc
Condiments
Anything you add to your meal after preparation to enhance the flavour, ie. mayonnaise, ketchup, balsamic glaze etc.
Cooking Sauces
Anything you add to your meal during the cooking stage, ie. stir-in pasta sauce or pesto etc.
Pickled and Fermented
Any food which has been pickled or fermented i.e kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha etc
Relishes and Chutneys
Any relish or chutney including savoury jams or marmalades suitable for cheese.
Preserves and Sweet Spreads
Including jams, sweet spreads, syrups, honey, nut butters
Store Cupboard
Includes home baking kits, herbs and spices, salts, oils and vinegars, all canned goods
Deli
Products that are sold on the delicatessen shelves or counter
Frozen Fruit and Vegetables
Plain, unseasoned fruit and vegetables in the frozen aisle for convenience e.g. broccoli florets, mixed berries
Fruit
Fresh fruit Including prepared or unprepared e.g. whole fruits, pre-cut fruit pots
Vegetables
Fresh vegetables including prepared or unprepared e.g. whole vegetables, vegetable roasting trays, stir fry kits
Salad
Fresh vegetables including prepared or unprepared e.g. whole vegetables, vegetable roasting trays, stir fry kits
Fish
Including fresh fillets; prepared fish e.g. breaded fish, fishcakes; shellfish and smoked fish
Food to Go
Including pre-prepared, ready to eat sandwiches, wraps and salads, ready to heat/eat hot food products, sushi
Meat
Includes both chilled and frozen, and roast-in-the-bag. Products can include sauces, garnish, crumb, and can be plain or stuffed. If specifically reduced fat, enter the ‘REDUCED/LOW’ category.
Meal Accompaniments
Any prepared or unprepared accompaniments to a main meal whether ambient, chilled or frozen
Pasta, Rice, Grains and Pulses
Pasta can be fresh or dried, with or without filling; rice; grains and pulses of any variety e.g. couscous, pearl barley
Pizzas
Including chilled and frozen
Quiches, Pies and Savoury Pastries
Includes ambient, chilled or frozen. Also includes sausage rolls and savoury tarts
Ready to Cook
Any meal ready to cook at home that needs a raw protein element cooking out e.g. mini roast dinner, hunter's chicken
Ready Meals
Products with the protein already cooked that just require heating up at home e.g. lasagne, meatballs, gnocchi in sauce
Soup
Including ambient and chilled soups
Subscription Boxes
Subscription items delivered to the home e.g. nut boxes, coffee, fresh produce (does not include alcohol)
Fresh Recipe Boxes
A box delivered to the home that contains all ingredients required to create a meal. With a recipe card
Meal Kits
Kits that include all the flavouring and accompaniments to a meal that needs additional ingredients e.g. fajita kits, curry kits
Free From
Any product marketed at the allergen free market incorporating one or more of the 14 major allergens* and is specifically created to be free from those
*celery; crustaceans; eggs; gluten; fish; lupin; milk; mustard; molluscs; nuts; peanuts; sesame; soya; sulphites
Reduced/Low
Products specifically created with reduced sugars, salts, fats in comparison to their standard counterparts e.g. reduced fat salad dressings, reduced salt condiments, sugar-free drinks etc. Does not include reduced fat meat products, see MEAT
Vegan
Products specifically created to cater to the vegan market