Worlds leading pioneers in food ingredients, manufacturing, production, processing, packaging, and supply chain won key recognition at the debut Gulfood Manufacturing Industry Excellence Awards, held at the Armani Hotel Dubai.
Held on the fringes of the ongoing event, the awards recognised best practices and innovation across the food manufacturing industry value chain, said a statement from the organisers.
With Gulfood Manufacturing split into five distinct components automation, ingredients, manufacturing, processing, and packaging, and supply chain the 12 core awards were distributed across the shows quintet of sectors. The ingredients awards comprised Most Innovative Food Ingredient won by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) for Fruit Up Fiber, a low-glycemic and non-GMO ingredient for clean-label food, drink and snack developers; and Most Innovative Health Food Ingredient won by Novozymes for Spahera, a lactose-free, fermented dairy product.
European firms dominated the manufacturing industry awards, with Major Plant Sustainability Initiative going to Barcelona-based Liven for its Green Energy Snacks line; Italys Elettric 80 scooping Greenfield Facility for its fully-integrated and automated system; and Italys A Due Si Squeri Donato & Co. winning Cost Waste Reduction for Niagara, a revolutionary water-saving technology.
Gian Luca Catellani, commercial director, A Due Di Squeri Donato & Co, said: This award brings industry-wide recognition for the company and the work we do to preserve our environment. This is a milestone achievement that recognises our efforts in saving water our planets most valuable resource – for a sustainable future.”
Awards in the processing and packaging accolades went to Tetra Pak, which won Distributor and/or Integrator for its customised automation solution, Plant Master; Packaging Design was claimed by Germanys VF Verpackungen; and the hotly-contested Processing Innovation gong went to Dutch firm Log5 for a new-to-market dry food pasteuriser. The categorys big winner, however, was industry heavyweight Ishida, which took home the Product Protection and Robotics Industrial Vision awards for AirScan, a leak detection system, and Robotgrader, which allows for fixed-weight packing for fresh poultry, meat and fish, respectively.
Jeff Say, general manager, Ishida Middle East and Africa (MEA), said: Winning these prestigious awards at the inaugural event are a testament to the hard work and commitment of our team who relentlessly work to protect our customers brands and help them succeed in their businesses. We look forward to continued success and extend our winning streak next year.”
The supply chain categories included two awards: Best Commercial Vehicle Light Heavy went to Ford Motor Company for its refrigerated Transit Custom vehicle, while Transveritas Foodstuff Trading scooped Supply Chain Innovation for its intermediate bulk containers, Goodpack.
Pankaj Jaiswal, head of sales- foods and liquid business Indian subcontinent, Goodpack, said: The event is the most sought-after trade event in the region, so winning this award equates to true industry recognition amongst our peers. Going forward we aim to provide the best of supply chain systems to our customers and help businesses maximise bottom line through our world leading end-to-end supply chain solutions.
Three additional awards were handed out to companies with the best stands at the exhibition. Best Stand up to 50m went to Golden Falcon; Best Stand from 51-200m went to Multivac; and Best Stand greater than 200 m went to Tetra Pak, it stated.