Our Judges

Northern Ireland is a rich source of the greatest variety of delicious, wholesome, original and safe food and drink from an ambitious, progressive and responsive industry. Invest NI’s Food and Drink Business Development team works closely with buyers to identify opportunities in Northern Ireland through a successful programme of networking events, factory visits and ‘meet the buyer’ activities. Increasingly many of these activities are being delivered on digital platforms.

We’re a united team of trend spotters and innovators. A team of chefs, psychologists, marketeers, product developers, academics, nutritionists, flavourists, historians and anthropologists. But more than that, thefoodpeople are champions of change.

Our essential food and drink foresight is powered by our inherent experience, an obsession for food and drink, intuition, tenacity and natural curiosity.
We Stimulate industry & people by bringing to life trends & future foresight
We Incubate to flip trends & foresight into ideas and opportunities with clients that deliver the future
We Activate trends by building belief in foresight driven opportunities, collaborating with clients to break change in the food and drink industry.

Our vision is simple ‘to shift the future of food and drink by harnessing the power of trends’. Why? ‘To shape a better future across society.’

We are thefoodpeople.

Est. 2014, City Harvest rescues nutritious surplus food from manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers, delivering for free to 340 London charities. The charity’s 3 core pillars are: Rescuing food, people and planet.
City Harvest enables food companies to have an immediate positive social impact by aligning with a sustainable solution to commercial surplus food.
Recipient groups include Homeless shelters, hostels, soup kitchens, mental health groups, the elderly, community kitchens, schools, family centres, children’s programmes, and domestic abuse refuges.
City Harvest tripled in size in 2020 to meet the demand of people facing food poverty, now distributing free food for more than 1 million meals a month. In 2021 over 800 meals were donated by the Quality Food Awards.
For more information, to donate or volunteer visit www.cityharvest.org.uk @cityharvestlondon @cityharvest_LDN Charity No. 1163055

For more than 40 years, IFE, International Food & Drink Event, has sat at the heart of the food and drink community, welcoming 30,000 retailers, wholesalers, and foodservice professionals to taste, test and source products from a global list of suppliers.

IFE provides food & drink professionals with the perfect opportunity to discover what’s new, build face-to-face relationships and source innovative products from 1,500 suppliers from across the world. Plus, stay up to date with the latest consumer trends and gain market insights on food and drink innovations from an incredible line-up of speakers.

Join us on 20-22 March 2023 at ExCeL London to reconnect with the industry and leave with the tools you need to reinvigorate your product lines and enhance your business.
Find out more here: https://www.ife.co.uk/

Stephen A Minall - Stephen is one of the owners of Moving Food Ltd, (www.movingfood.com) which has a successful track record in launching new products into the major Retail Multiples within the UK and Europe. Moving Food works within innovation in food technology (long shelf life FMCG brands to chill chain expertise) helping SME’s and foodies the “idea creators” get to market.

Moving Food has launched www.wowbutter.com a no nut peanut butter, to FMCG branded products for Ocado to Aldi to Holland & Barrett.

Moving Food is unique in that it can ‘speak’ both Retail and Catering, as the owners / directors have worked on food brands and continue to work in both sectors. Moving Food Ltd advises or consults in areas in food production from new start up innovation in products or packaging and advices in the opportunities in sectors such as grab n go, ambient longer shelf life FMCG ranges.

Moving Food takes the strain out of finding sources for production to packaging to access to buyers Moving Food’s experiences in food production offers a unique insight into the overall farm to fork issues facing manufacturers, brands and consumers.

Stephen writes for trade journeys, presents at Retail Consortiums in UK and Europe and has been seen on BBC Business News as the leading expert in food related stories. Stephen judges both the Food Service Awards ‘The Cateys’ and The Quality Food Awards. Stephen is an entrepreneur who has extensive experience within retail and food service operations on a global scale.

Restaurant & Takeaway Innovation Expo makes its much-anticipated return to London's ExCeL on 19th & 20th October 2022, forming THE ultimate event to help you boost your profits, build your brand and grow your business.

The event will give 15,000 industry-defining leaders access to 1,000 exhibitors and their plethora of innovative products, ideas and strategies, 500 inspirational seminars, panel debates, innovation awards, networking opportunities and much more!

More info coming soon: https://www.takeawayexpo.co.uk/