This year’s Meat Management Industry Awards will change its ceremony and award presentation arrangements to an online event to take account of the ongoing impact of Covid-19. CEO of the Institute of Meat, Keith Fisher, headed up the judging for this year's Awards.Publisher of Meat Management, Graham Yandell commented: “For some time we have been monitoring the ongoing situation in relation to the Covid-19 problem and its potential impact on the Meat Awards Ceremony this year.“The judging of nearly one thousand products took place over a full week at the end of March utilising an experienced team of home economists and judges with our head judge Keith Fisher of the IoM heading up proceedings. All the major supermarkets and most of the major manufacturers participated, supplying products across 10 categories in the hope of becoming a winner, a finalist, or receiving highly commended status. Reader voting for all other categories was also completed.“We originally scheduled our MM Awards 2020 presentations for July 2nd however, as the pandemic evolved we then agreed with our new venue, The Vox, to put back the ceremony to September 2nd. This seemed like a safe bet, however, the passage of time has proved that expectation to be optimistic and we all know what has happened since.”
“To ensure we can still recognise the best products, people and services this year without further delay we will be investing very substantially to create an innovative, online awards ceremony that will still be credible, interesting and that will involve all our stakeholders in a positive way."Yandell added that the organisers are also mindful of the restrictions most supermarkets and food manufacturers still have in place when it comes to its employees and others attending ‘outside’ meetings or events. “We know that large social gatherings are a concern for everyone at this time,” he added, “and of course anything that is organised has to conform to social distancing requirements and advice on public assembly at indoor venues.“To ensure we can still recognise the best products, people and services this year without further delay we will be investing very substantially to create an innovative, online awards ceremony that will still be credible, interesting and that will involve all our stakeholders in a positive way. It will include excellent branding for our partners and provide everyone with the prestige and benefits of participation involving a very wide industry audience. We do expect the physical ceremony to return next year for the 2021 Awards.”Uniquely this year the full ceremony will also be available on-demand after it has first been broadcast in September, further widening its appeal and its reach to the marketplace. All winners will still be sent their coveted MM awards trophy and certificates to display with pride. The glossy Awards Brochure announcing winners, finalists and highly commended, with background information and comments will, as usual, be published in September together with Meat Management magazine, and will also feature as an online e-magazine version.Because of ongoing restrictions and logistical problems organisers confirm that the Young Manager of the Year category and Britain’s Best Butchers Shop category will take a gap year, with normal service resumed in 2021. Otherwise, all usual categories will be recognised including the Excellence Award, which is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the UK meat industry.Yandell concluded: “We will keep everyone informed about developments, including the actual event broadcast date in September. The Awards ceremony may be different this year but in the circumstances, we believe everyone would prefer a different approach and we are very excited about the format and film/stage set being used. As always we strive for excellence and quality.”
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