Bakkavor

Congratulations to our Procurement team for winning the prestigious Food and Drink Manufacturer of the Year Award at the recent Foodservice Packaging Association (FPA) event. The FPA Awards celebrate success, innovation, creativity and sustainability across the foodservice industry. Each year, the Food and Drink Manufacturer Award is one of the highlights of the evening, and this year Bakkavor beat the likes of Coca-Cola, Nestle, Cranswick, Greencore, Mars, PepsiCo and Premier Foods to take home the trophy. “The award is voted for by the PFA membership,” explained Category Procurement Manager – Packaging and Indirects, William Badham, after collecting the award. “Based on their interactions with manufacturers, they are asked to nominate who they believe to be the best food and drink manufacturer of the year. Their exact reasons for voting are never revealed, but in broad terms members tend to vote for companies who have displayed category leadership, innovation and development while maintaining strong supplier relationships.” Well done to everyone involved!

Today is International Women’s Day (IWD), a global day designed to celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness against bias, and take action for equality. ​​​​​​​ Last year, we celebrated by supporting the IWD #ChooseToChallenge theme. As part of this, our Chief People Officer, Donna-Maria Lee, pledged to celebrate our female colleagues’ achievements within Bakkavor. In early 2021, we set up our Inclusion and Diversity Forum to develop an inclusive culture where colleagues feel valued, respected and involved at Bakkavor, whatever their backgrounds or experiences. Another key priority has been to improve female representation in leadership roles. Today, we’re proud to be launching our first 12-month Female Mentoring programme. The first cohort, formed of 21 senior female mentees, starts this month and will be followed by a Frontline Leaders Female Mentoring Programme later in the year. This is just the start of an important journey and one that will continue in the years to come. We look forward to supporting all involved and sharing our progress along the way.