The 2012 Pig & Poultry Marketing Awards took place at the stylish London Haymarket Hotel on the 3rd May, winners photos have now been released.

The Awards are designed to reward production excellence, marketing communications and knowledge transfer. They also provide a great opportunity to celebrate innovation in this industry, a sector that is possibly more innovative than other parts of the agricultural sector.

The pig and poultry industry has, without subsidies, created some fantastic businesses, and today Pig & Poultry Marketing magazine awarded some of them for their innovation, their forward thinking attitude, and for their constant striving for the best looking, and best tasting, product, as well as the veterinary practices and marketing companies who support them. These businesses are integral in showing others the way – that innovation and ideas, can make the difference.

The Awards were presented by Andy Black, Managing Director of Springetts Brand Design Consultants.  Andy has been a key part of Springetts for over 20 years. His incisive strategic approach, instinctive creativity and commitment to his clients’ business is noted by them for making a real and positive contribution to their businesses. Clients he has worked with over the years include Bernard Matthews, Nobel Foods, Young’s, Ocean Spray, Johnson & Johnson, Manchester United and The Rugby Football Union to name but a few. Andy offers a wealth of experience on how to market a product to the consumer.

The event was also attended by The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, James Paice MP, who welcomed the opportunity to hear the views of such inspirational businesses in the industry.

Full winners list

Pig Producer of the Year: Sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim
Winner – small scale business – Ian Broumpton, TG Broumpton & Son
Ian Broumpton and his family are deservedly proud of their family business. Starting off 35 years with his dad, Ian has developed the business into the well run indoor unit it is today. Ian and his son have invested in improving the overall health of the herd and this is reaping rewards. By selling directly to the consumers and restaurants, he has given his products added value as well, getting that bit more out of the business whilst enjoying the job as well!

Winner – large scale business – Oliver Whiteley, Yorkshire Spring
Oliver Whiteley and his team have embraced the idea of standing out from the crowd and are solely using the Gloucester Old Spot to achieve this. They have brought back the breed from the brink of extinction and are determined to make it a valuable production animal once again. They have also invested time and money looking into the synergy between genetics and management, and how these affect the carcass qualities that they, and their customers, are looking for.
The fully free range production system they use is developed to suit the pigs so that the highest level of welfare is ensured as well as allowing the animal to develop naturally at its own pace. A tremendous achievement of bringing back a rare breed into production and making such a success of it.

Poultry Producer of the Year: Sponsored by Pfizer Animal Health
Winner - small scale business – St Ewe Free Range Eggs, RC & CM Tonks
The judges selected St Ewe for their high quality product which offers the customer a home grown quality egg with the economies of a larger enterprise. They were particularly impressed by their marketing and packaging of their product and also spotting opportunities with selenium rich eggs.

Winner – large scale business – H Irwin Ltd
The judges were impressed by Harry Irwin’s ability to adapt to the changing market requirements and not only spot a unique opportunity but one that is in demand and profitable. They were particularly impressed by his foresight and market knowledge to opt for a much slower growing bird supplied in to a specialist market, and the supportive comments from both 2 sisters food group and Gressingham Foods.

Health & Welfare Award: Sponsored by Genesis QA
Winner – Brydock Pig Farming
Judges were highly impressed at the hands on approach which has clearly led to high welfare standards and the overall success of the enterprise, the judges said. It is clear that the attitude has come into the business from the top and has percolated through the business. Whilst some of the methods employed to improve the well being and the life of the pigs have a direct cost in terms of time and money, it is demonstrable that they get this back in over all performance.

Highly Commended – Kelly Turkey Farms
The judges were very impressed with the standard of health and welfare set out by Kelly Turkeys. The staggering success of the brand is not only a testament to the management and marketing of the organisation but the fact that it is driven by such a keen welfare and sustainability policy which underpins the whole salability and excellent image portrayed by the business.

The judges would also like to mention Packington Pork, Oaklands and Plasticnestboxes whose entries they were very impressed with.

Food Chain Marketing Award: Sponsored by ACMC
Winner – Love British Food
The judges thought this campaign provided an excellent way of promoting the value of British food to the widest possible audience. They liked its interactive element, with informative e-broadcasts highlighting their own campaigns, such as British Food Fortnight and The Queen in Buckingham Palace, and those of interest, as well as their excellent website. They were impressed with the calibre of partners they had managed to secure. 

Award for Innovation: Sponsored by Pfizer Animal Health
Winner – Industry innovation – Farm Energy & Control Services Ltd
The judges were impressed by the projected 30% improvement in productivity from this commercial collaboration. Part-ownership by producers and career opportunities also impressed the judges. Use of innovated data analysis, ICT systems and the cloud data storage will hopefully encourage producers to adopt and exploit the technology.

Winner – Food business innovation – Lakes Free Range Egg Company Ltd
The judges were impressed with the advanced and efficient new packing station, efficient insulation, the use of photo-voltaic cells, ground source and waste product heating, and rainwater harvesting. These innovations claim a 30-fold energy efficiency compared to competitors across all the EU. Welfare standards and charity support also impressed the judges.

Taste of Excellence Award: Sponsored by Morrisons Supermarkets
Winner – Anna’s Happy Trotters – pork belly
The judges taste testing gave Anna’s pork belly a real thumbs up for flavour, texture, and over all visual appeal before cooking and after, the kind of dish you just can’t put down, they felt that Anna’s over all husbandry will have contributed to the resulting win making it stand out to our tasting panel.

Highly Commended – Voakes pies – black pudding and red onion pie
The judges test drove a whole range of bacons, joints, poultry, pies, it must have been a chore . . . they picked out Voakes Pies pork and black pudding red onion pie for its stunning combination of flavours, pie texture, and rich ingredients

Processor of the Year: Sponsored by Elanco Animal Health
Winner – Gressingham Foods
Control from ‘egg to fork’ and ‘right ducks for right customers’ ensures Gressingham’s emphasis is on customer quality and customer satisfaction. They have a clear environmental concern and quality actions in place to drive this through, benefitting the company, the environment and their customers. They take stock of customer views, and adapt their business to suit.

Highly Commended – Taste Tradition Ltd
A clear strategy to focus on niche areas of the food chain, whilst combining great product diversity to suit their customers needs and expanding their customer base throughout the UK impressed the judges. A clear focus on their staff training and development, which must produce pride in their employees, was noted.

Brand Identity Award: Sponsored by BOCM PAULS
Winner - Gressingham Foods
The distinctive “g” is a very strong part of the brand identity and is widely used in Gressingham’s marketing. The new identity was created after extensive market research which highlighted some customer confusion.  The company acted upon this in a highly positive and assertive manner.  A new identity was created reflecting the qualities and attributes of the brand.  This work was instrumental in underpinning the success of the new brand identity.  Brands and brand identity operate at the most powerful level when they connect and are aligned to customers.  Gressingham excel in this area.

Highly Commended – Curetons Fine Food
This is a very strong candidate with a clear and distinctive brand identity. The offer is carefully targeted and the brand range carries Cureton’s consistent brand identity. The Cureton’s name and crest create a powerful image and the fine food strap line supports the brand in a positive manner.

Highly Commended – Moss Valley Fine Meats
The quality of Moss Valley products is built on a strong ethos of husbandry, care for the animals and by using special breeds. The product range is supported by a distinctive logo with the emphasis on “Fine meats” which the company are justifiably proud of. There is considerable potential for Moss Valley to move to the next level with their brand identity providing a platform for future growth.

Commended – Eggs for Soldiers, Noble Foods, agency Springetts
This excellent brand combines creative design with a very strong emotional statement.  Brands are more about emotions than anything else said the judges and Eggs for Soldiers is a very powerful message. The strong corporate and social responsibility (CSR) element to the brand is supported by clever use of colour in the packaging.

Commended – Packington Poultry
Packington is a strong and growing brand and is supported by a distinctive, classy brand identity together with a strap line “Free Range” which is easy for customers and prospects to identify with. Packington’s principal core values are clear and concise.  It is this care for the environment and future generations that provides a key message and point of difference.

Knowledge Transfer Award – veterinary: Sponsored by Pig & Poultry and Farm Business magazines
Winning practice – The George Veterinary Group
The George Veterinary Group are very much in tune with industry thinking with a sound knowledge transfer policy, commented the judges. They show exceptional coverage of both professional and small-scale markets quoted Martin Barker, which demonstrates their commitment to reducing risk of disease and to educating the widest possible audience.

Winning vet – Ben Strugnell AHVLA
The judges said Ben’s outstanding work in pig disease identification and higher end knowledge transfer made him the clear winner. Representing the industry at a very high level, is crucial work should be recognised in disease identification. “Ben is a super pathologist” Pete Bown quoted, “and it provides much deserved recognition to Ben and the AHVLA staff if he was given an award.”

Winning innovation – The Chicken Vet
St David’s Poultry Team has been inundated with calls from chicken owners and other vets asking for advice on the care and treatment of chickens kept as pets. To help both hobby farmers and larger scale producers alike St David’s set up two initiatives, The Chicken Vet website, for small scale poultry keepers  and Datapoul, for larger producers. The Chicken Vet has been an overwhelming success, having been rewarded in our 2011 awards, and the depth of information as well as The Chicken Vet CPD courses, continue to make the website a valuable resource.

Winning innovation - Datapoul
Datapoul seeks to work in partnership with growers to educate producers on best practice and stimulate them into making any necessary changes to improve bird health and ultimately improve farm returns and performance. The judges were impressed by Datapoul’s focus on clear and effective communication to often isolated producers, such as highlighting the cost benefit ratio to show where improvements could be made to the running of the business.  

Commitment to Training Award: Sponsored by Vetoquinol
Winner – pig industry – Fresh Start Pig Academy
This was a project set up by BQP, part of Dalehead Foods, in conjunction with Harper Adams University College. The judges commented that this training course provided an excellent incentive to encourage entrepreneurial entrants from both agricultural and non agricultural backgrounds. The programme facilitates the training of final year students and local people external to the college.

Winner – poultry industry – Poultec Training
The judges said the initiative was clearly committed to delivering quality training to the poultry sector from multi-national integrators to small family farms. Poultec delivers an exceptional level of training via the e-portfolio system to ensure that students have a large selection of support material available.

Congratulations to all of the well-deserved winners, we look forward to hearing from them in the magazine.

 For further information about these awards, or to discuss next years event, please contact Caroline Whibley, Pig & Poultry Marketing magazine Tel: 01892 861664. 

The Pig & Poultry Marketing Awards are organised by Grove House Publishing Ltd, publishers of Pig & Poultry Marketing and Farm Business magazines.