Caterer Awards: WINNERS REVEALED!
After a long process of whittling down the hundreds of nominations submitted by outlets around the region, a panel of industry experts has selected the winners for the inaugural Caterer Middle East Awards.
The shortlists across 20 hotly-contested categories have been announced online over the past three weeks — and now the winners are set to be revealed this week.
A trophy presentation ceremony and photo shoot with the winners will feature in the December issue of Caterer Middle East.
The first winners to be revealed from the Caterer Middle East Awards 2009, sponsored by The Hotel Show, are in our Chefs’ Choice Awards sector — recognising the F&B suppliers who go above and beyond the call of duty to help their clients.
Read on to find out who has won…
BEST CLIENT SUPPORT OF THE YEAR
The Best Client Support of the Year title aims to reward a representative of either a supplier or distributor company in the Middle East that offers comprehensive and ongoing training to outlet staff in using the product, along with complete support relating to usage and maintenance.
The shortlist for this category included:
• James Mather, key account manager, MMI
• Martin Mathew, assistant sales manager, Fanar Al Khaleej Tr
• Nathalie Haddad, managing director, Right Bite Nutrition and Catering Services
The winner of this title is someone who has formed strong relationships with their clients through constant support and by offering extra support or initiatives outside the expected requirements.
The winner was also praised for efforts in implementing product training amongst clients, as well as showing great support during events and even for last-minute requests.
This supplier also proved more than willing to take the initiative, suggesting new ideas for events, complementary products for clients’ menu deals and consistent support for promotional events.
The winner of the Chefs’ Choice Award for Best Client Support 2009 is….
• James Mather, key account manager, MMI
Congratulations to James, and to our runners-up!
Read on to find out who has won the Beverage Supplier of the Year title…
BEVERAGE SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR
This title is to recognise a firm that makes clear extra effort to meet clients’ expectations. In addition to practising safe and hygienic handling and transportation of products and delivering orders as promptly and regularly as required, this firm should have built up strong and lasting relationships with clients in the Middle East by providing comprehensive and ongoing support and training; offering fair prices and deals according to market fluctuations; and keeping track of market trends and adapting to them to them accordingly.
The shortlisted nominees were:
• MMI
• MH Enterprises
The winning sales staff was praised for showing enthusiasm and constant support to their wide range of clients, as well as their laudable determination to put the customer first when it came to recommendations and cost-efficient initiatives, particularly over the past year during the financial downturn.
Their support for staff training was also highly commended.
The winner of the Chefs’ Choice Award for Beverage Supplier of the Year 2009 is….
• MMI
Congratulations to MMI, and to our runner-up!
Read on to find out who has won the Food Supplier of the Year title…
FOOD SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR
With so many top suppliers and distributors operating in the Middle East, this was a highly competitive category; but in the end, a single nominee stood out as exceeding the standards expected from our Food Supplier of the Year.
In addition to practising safe and hygienic handling and transportation of foodstuffs and delivering orders as promptly and regularly as required, this top supplier has established solid client relationships by providing comprehensive and ongoing support and training; offering fair prices and deals according to market fluctuations; and keeping track of market trends.
The category shortlist included:
• Horeca Trade
• Fresh Express
• General Trading
• Chef Middle East
• Federal Foods
The winning firm was hailed as being “a breath of fresh air” in the crowded Dubai supplier market, offering genuine support and care for their clients and going that extra mile to deliver orders and fulfill last minute requests.
In addition to supporting the industry at various local events and competitions, members of this team were praised for their personalised service and dedicated efforts to ensure expectations were met.
The winner of the Chefs’ Choice Award for Food Supplier of the Year 2009 is….
• Fresh Express
Horeca Trade was also highly commended by judges.
Congratulations to Fresh Express, Horeca Trade and to our other runners-up!
Keep an eye on HME.com all this week to find out who else has become one of Caterer’s industry champions of 2009.