HEART of ENGLAND fine foods (HEFF), the regional food group for the West Midlands, has beaten four of the country’s biggest brands to take home a prestigious food industry award.



Despite being up against multinationals Tesco, Boots, United Biscuits and Kimberly Clark, Shropshire-based HEFF won the ECR UK Award for Sustainable Distribution at the prestigious IGD Food Industry Awards for its HEFF Delivery Service.

The awards ceremony took place last night at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London, where HEFF was announced as the winner in front of hundreds of top food industry representatives. Other winners on the night included big names such as Heinz, Booker Group plc, Musgrave Group, and Sainsbury’s.

The HEFF Delivery Service is a partnership with logistics providers Heart Distribution, it provides a more effective route to market for small to medium sized regional food producers across the West Midlands which in turn has had a big impact on reducing food miles in the supply chain.

Joanne Denney-Finch, Chief Executive, IGD said: “This year's finalists have shown that, even in challenging times, innovation and best practice are at the forefront of the industry. These awards recognise the best-in-class, and demonstrate some of the most exciting new thinking in food and grocery."

As the result was read out on stage the audience heard that: “HEFF has made a step change in the supply chain and stood out for its commitment to reducing food miles.”

The judging of the Sustainable Distribution Award was conducted by industry experts Neal Austin, Logistics Director for Morrisons, Jason Bunce, Customer Service and Logistics Director for Colgate Palmolive, Heather Simpson, Head of Logistics and Customer Service at Mars and Karen Chalmers, Senior Business Analyst at IGD.

Chief Executive of HEFF, Karen Davies, MBE said: “I’m absolutely thrilled we have won this award. It was such an honour to have been shortlisted but as a smaller, regional business, to have come out on top against such strong competition is just incredible!
“It’s a great achievement for everyone involved in the HEFF Delivery Service; our food and drink producers, our logistics partners – Heart Distribution and the team at HEFF; it really demonstrates what can be achieved through collaboration and that the size of the business is not a limiting factor.”

Karen Wright, Advantage West Midlands’ Food and Drink Cluster Manager, added: “The success of this innovative scheme highlights how food producers across the West Midlands are dedicated to introducing new, low carbon alternatives to the traditional retail supply chain. By reducing food miles and improving the sustainability of the logistics involved, the HEFF Delivery Service sets an example that should be followed around the UK.”

HEFF was able to show judges that following a survey on just two of its accounts over a six month period, 60,600 miles had been saved by transferring these accounts to the HEFF Delivery Service. The total savings across all customers will be more far reaching. Currently there are 97 producers and 300 customers using the HEFF Delivery Service including Mid-Counties Cooperative, Morrisons and The National Trust along with many independent traders.

For more information about the IGD Food Industry Awards 2009 visit www.igd.com

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