Entry & Awarding Process

Please see below overview of the Quality Food & Drink Awards entry process. Make sure you take note of our Key Dates to leave yourself plenty of time to prepare your entries and samples.

1) Enter Awards: Entries are now open and close on Friday 1 May. Make sure you take the time to select the right category to enter your product, and leave yourself time to complete the written nomination ahead of the deadline. The written form will ask you to include product specific details such as name, price point, weight/capacity, launch date and also imagery, company logo and your product description.

2) Product Delivery: Once you have submitted your entries, you will receive the 2026 delivery schedule, in May with instructions on how to send your product in for judging including a specified delivery date for your category(ies). Make sure you follow the instructions carefully and contact the team if you have any questions. 

3) Products Prepared: Throughout judging, the kitchen and service teams will prepare and serve your product exactly to the instructions you have listed in your entry. Make sure these are correct, detailed and match the instructions on pack. Our team will prepare the product exactly as a consumer would at home or a chef would in a foodservice establishment.

4) Products Judged: Our judges will review each product in detail. Guided by the Chair of Judges, they will scrutinise the product against the 10 point judging criteria . They will not just look at taste! The judges will record their written feedback on how the product has performed and a panel discussion will be capture by the notetaker in the room.

5) Products Scored: Once judging for that category has finished, the Chair of Judges will review the category with the judging panel, identify the top scoring products and entries with the best feedback to guide the panel through the awarding process, selecting the Gold, Silver or Bronze medalists and deciphering a shortlist for the category .

6) Shortlist Revealed: The shortlist will be announced after judging for all product categories on Wednesday 15 July . All finalists will be contacted directly to inform them if they have made the shortlist or not and they will be sent logos to use in their social media, advertising, print and digital channels. Tables will be available to book.

7) Awards Night: The whole industry is invited to join us for the awards night , held at The Round Room at Mansion House on Wednesday 16 September . Expect an evening of celebration, prestige and networking. Book tickets and take advantage of our early bird rate now!

8) Feedback Circulated: Following the awards night, every entrant will receive a bespoke feedback report for every product entered into the awards. The feedback report will contain anonymised feedback from our judges highlighting how the product performed well or could be improved against the category criteria/.