When it comes to enjoying the finer things in live it’s difficult to think of an experience more indulgent than treating yourself to your favourite meal or snack, and for those working in the Food and Drink sector, ensuring that individuals have access to the best food products and services available is at the forefront of their efforts as they strive to make this possible.
The Food & Drink Awards is returning to commend those who go above and beyond for their customers and/or consumers to ensure that their appetites are catered for, especially in light of the recent COVID-19 outbreak which has seen many businesses in the food and drink industry face unprecedented challenges over the past few months.
Over the past few years, the Food and Drink industry has seen the emergence of many food trends and developments as consumer demand becomes much more refined. Consequently, the need for new food products and services that can meet this demand is at an all-time high. The Food & Drink Awards will therefore also commend businesses who prove themselves to be innovators in one of the world’s most competitive industries by bringing fresh, exciting ideas forward, and celebrate the outstanding achievements made by those looking to solidify their reputation as industry leaders.
As always, participation in the Food & Drink Awards is open to all businesses operating within the sector including manufacturers, producers, retailers and suppliers as we strive to recognise those whose hard work extends beyond the kitchen!
Regardless of how large or small a business may be, all participants in the Food & Drink Awards are judged purely on merit; this approach enables us to ensure that only the most deserving are acknowledged.
The LUXlife team gather information independently from a variety of publicly accessible sources which are assessed alongside any material supplied by a nominating party or the nominee themselves. Final judgement is cast based on various criteria such as: business performance, longevity, business growth (either sustained or rapid) and any significant innovations or feedback.
Should you wish to take part in the Food & Drink Awards 2020 or know of a company or individual deserving of a place on the shortlist this year, please use our voting form to submit a nomination.
Katherine Benton
Katherine joined the publishers AI Global Media in 2016 and soon rose to become a most valued and conscientious team member. Katherine is creative and diligent throughout ensuring that each nominee and winner receives the upmost support throughout. Katherine is able to work with all winners in selecting the best promotional package to suit specific marketing needs and works with each client to ensure maximum exposure for their win.
We operate an open-vote policy, whereby any organisation can put themselves forward or be nominated by a third party. Votes are cast anonymously via our secure online portal. Voting is promoted digitally to LUX magazine’s extensive circulation, across our social media platforms and where appropriate, across our partner network. We, the publisher, also nominate candidates whom we feel are appropriate and deserving of recognition. The number of votes is not directly influential to the ultimate category winners.
All nominees will be contacted and given the opportunity to accept, or decline, their nomination. Only those who accept, will go on to form our shortlist.
Our specialist researchers scrutinise the shortlisted candidates, putting them through a period of extensive investigation prior to judging where we will make the ultimate decision. We review supporting evidence submitted by the nominees in addition to conducting our own independent research. The probe is typically centred around the evaluation of skills and services on offer; we will consider client and customer feedback and testimonials whilst recognising the nominee’s wider market reputation.
To move successfully, from nominee to winner; there must be evidence of extensive expertise within a given field or discipline, dedication to customer service and client satisfaction with an ongoing commitment to excellence and innovation.
After notification of their success, our winners are given a time-frame to discuss the celebratory items on offer. We are proudly not a pay-to-play enterprise with all winners encouraged to select a promotional package, be it commercial or free of charge.
When we make the formal announcement, we again reach out to LUX magazine’s extensive circulation, as well as our social media followers and, where appropriate, across our partner networks to promote the news.
FAQ
When did LUX launch?
Today, LUX is one of AI Global Media’s most popular standalone publications but it launched as a bi-product of the luxury lifestyle sections from two of our flagship brands, Acquisition International & Wealth & Finance. In this respect, we’ve been active in the Lifestyle Sector since 2010; however, as demand for this type of coverage increased, we made the decision, in 2015, to separate the content and launch LUX, as an independent brand.
Who nominated me? A large part of the nomination process is driven by LUX, we spend a great deal of time identifying potentially suitable candidates within their appropriate markets. A publisher-cast nomination doesn’t hold any more weight than a self, or third-party nomination, they all filter through to the research stage in the same manner.
If you didn’t self-nominate the nomination will have come from either a third-party vote via our online voting form or, by us the publisher. We run the nomination process via our website entirely anonymously, prohibiting us to provide specific details. Tried and tested over the years, response rates are always higher this way. As we operate in this manner, we run a very rigorous filtering system and do not directly link the number of votes received with success. We store encrypted versions of the IP address associated with the nomination, allowing us to track unusual behaviour.
I’ve accepted the nomination, what happens next?
Once a nomination is accepted, the organisation will be moved on to our shortlist. Shortlisted parties are encouraged to submit supporting materials via our optional questionnaire. This is the perfect opportunity to put forward any specifics you’d like our judging panel to take into consideration before they undertake extensive research for up to 8 weeks.
Who makes the final decision?
We have an entirely unbiased internal panel. It consists of an international, collective of individuals, with backgrounds from a myriad of fields, such as business, economy, politics, media, journalism, history and education. The panel is led by a veteran academic leader with international pedagogic and coaching experience who is well versed in research, fact-checking and mediation; allowing the panel to operate with efficacy and dependability.
When’s the ceremony?
We do not gather our winners together to present the news. We’re a little bit too new-media for that! All announcements are made digitally, online and across our network. Hosting events and celebration dinners is an expense we’d rather our clients not entertain. We’d much rather keep the cost of our services and products low, so our winners can choose to spend money on marketing that generates real-world value.
So, what happens if I do win?
You get to select the level of coverage that suits you and we set to work to prepare all the relevant elements in time for our public announcement. Our main coverage takes the form of a digital winner’s magazine, but we also offer physical trophies, window stickers, certificates and varied online packages offering social media exposure.
We have a highly experienced editorial and production department who will guide you through this process and give you full control over your eventual coverage.
What are the costs?
There are no obligatory costs in accepting a nomination or winning a LUX award. In fact, to demonstrate our commitment to this, all our winners are offered a free of charge promotional package. Our company policy will always remain, regardless of budget, our clients should always be able to leverage the value of the award and our seal of approval.
We offer a variety of promotional opportunities to our winners. as we have an extensive network and we know, more than anyone, the wider business benefits from promoting industry awards.
It’s important to highlight, all conversations pertaining commercial add-ons are conducted after winners are announced, so there is no possibility an organisation can influence any internal decisions, based on their appetite to spend on marketing; this remains our utmost concern.
