The Mayor of London celebrates the best of urban food

Run this year during Urban Food Fortnight by City Hall, London Food Link and Borough Market, the Urban Food Awards celebrate London’s fantastic food scene. In addition to great taste, they throw the spotlight on the good food practices and people behind the products.

In May, an open invitation was extended to the capital’s small, good food and drink makers, growers, retailers and heroes to enter. The list was then served up to Londoners, 3400 of whom voted for their favourites, creating a shortlist of finalists in 11 categories.  The winners were then chosen by a panel including London-based chefs Tom Hunt, Rowley Leigh and Oliver Rowe and food writer Olia Hercules.

Opening the awards event at Borough Market, Sadiq Khan said: “I salute the breadth and expertise of the huge numbers of Londoners producing and growing the very best food and drink and it’s fantastic to see their entrepreneurship flourishing in our great city.”

The winners were:

• Beautiful Brew - Queen of Diamonds IPA (Wild Card Brewery)
• Heavenly Honey - Bermondsey Street Honey (Bermondsey Street Bees)
• London Leaves - Supergreen Frilly Mixed Salad (GrowUp Urban Farms)
• Londoners’ Loaf: plain - The Brick House Miche (Brick House)
• Londoners Loaf: special - Double Chocolate Sourdough (Brick House)
• Proper Preserves - Fruit Cheese (Fruit Magpie)
• Best Retailer - The Food Assembly
• Capital Growth’s Growing Enterprise - Forty Hall Community Vineyard
• Most Inspiring Producer - Bee Collective
• Roots to Work - Growing Communities
• Sustainable Street Food - Gourmet Goat

In recognition of the great work being done by several of the finalists to tackle the issue of food waste, the Mayor presented the brand new Best Surplus Food Initiative award to recognise the innovative use of surplus food.

The award was won by Gourmet Goat, which uses surplus goat meat from dairy farms, vine leaves from Forty Hall Vineyard in Enfield and other surplus products to make delicious eastern Mediterranean-style dishes.

The Mayor said: “It was a privilege to present the Best Surplus Food Initiative award. It’s a tragedy that so much food goes wasted in the capital when some Londoners are going hungry every day and I’m delighted that Gourmet Goat and the other nominees are tackling the problem in such a creative and effective way.”

As the voice for good food in the capital, London Food Link is pleased each year to help run the Urban Food Awards in order to celebrate the best of the food grown, made, cooked and saved right here on our doorstep, and the inspirational people behind the enterprises doing so.

See photos from the event

www.urbanfoodawards.org

About the winners

Best Surplus Food Initiative
Gourmet Goat creates and sells eastern Mediterranean village-style dishes using sustainable ingredients (including: kid meat from UK dairy farms; vine leaves from Forty Hall Vineyard in Enfield; whey cheese, a by-product of the cheese industry, organic wheat berries – a by-product from bread production; and offal from Crete).
Why they won:  Gourmet Goat is proof that street food does not need to be ‘fast’ food and can be truly sustainable and address a surplus issue created by an industry – whilst also tasting great. They are helping to transform attitudes to London’s street food scene and are proof that reducing surplus and a commitment to sustainability can run through every aspect of a street food business and if other vendors followed their lead, we would go a long way in reducing the issue of surplus food.
 

Best Retailer
Open to shops, stalls, box schemes, local markets and online outlets leading the way in offering a marketplace for small batch London producers
The Food Assembly is a community network that brings people together to buy fresh food directly from local farmers and food makers. Food Assembly customers order food online from local producers before picking the food up at a weekly collection. The Food Assembly has over 12,000 members in London buying local, seasonal and environmentally friendly food.
Why they won: A great initiative connecting producers with customers, building that vital link in the food chain.

Roots to Work
Celebrating organisations helping people learn the ropes of the food trade, by running training in growing, making or selling
Growing Communities is a social enterprise run by local people in Hackney.  Growing Communities runs a farmers’ market, a vegetable scheme and urban patchwork farms. They use their farms to grow food for the veg scheme and teach people how to grow and cook local organic food.
Why they won: A glowing example showing how a community benefits from learning about food production, whilst showing how this can be integrated in all aspects of our work; whether at school, at home or in business.

Capital Growth’s Growing Enterprise
Entrepreneurs generating income from and for their community food gardens
Forty Hall Community Vineyard is an award-winning, community-led social enterprise in Enfield, which delivers skills development, health and social benefits to local people. As well as operating as a local, sustainable food project and small not-for-profit business, FHCV offers exciting opportunities for safe and supported volunteering, therapeutic support, learning and socialising in a beautiful and unique outdoor setting.
Why they won: With the first release of wine for sale to the public with the terroir of Enfield, this is a unique social business model deserves recognition.

Sustainable Street Food
Must clearly demonstrate ethical/sustainable practices
Gourmet Goat creates and sells eastern Mediterranean village-style dishes using sustainable ingredients (including: kid meat from UK dairy farms; vine leaves from Forty Hall Vineyard in Enfield; whey cheese, a by-product of the cheese industry, organic wheatberries – a by-product from bread production; and offal from Crete).
Why they won:  Gourmet Goat is proof that street food does not need to be ‘fast’ food and can be truly sustainable and address a surplus issue created by an industry – whilst also tasting great. They are helping to transform attitudes to London’s street food scene and are proof that reducing surplus and a commitment to sustainability can run through every aspect of a street food business and if other vendors followed their lead, we would go a long way in reducing the issue of surplus food.

Most Inspiring Producer
The person or team behind growing/making and selling great food or drink of any sort in London in a way that sets a good food benchmark for others
Bee Collective helps people across London to help bees.  It provides a honey extraction service to London beekeepers and volunteering opportunities so everyone can get involved. Bee Collective sell s London honey and other hive products to cover their costs, and develops partnership projects to improve London’s landscape for bees.
Why they won: A unique initiative offering a vital service to London’s apiarists with social engagement and education at the core of the business.

Beautiful Brew
Open to all types/styles of beer or ale produced in London
Queen of Diamonds IPA – Wild Card Brewery - Good and cloudy in appearance with a zippy full flavour with a lovely bitterness

Heavenly Honey
Collected from hives in London boroughs, not just blended/packaged here
Bermondsey Street Honey – Bermondsey Street Bees - Floral and rich with great viscosity with a taste that lingers in the mouth

London Leaves
For growers that sell their own London-grown mixed salads
Supergreen Frilly Mixed Salad – GrowUp Urban Farms - zesty and powerful in taste. A good balance between peppery, acidic and earthy

Londoners’ Loaf: plain
An everyday Real Bread, ie made without any artificial additives or processing aids.
The Brick House Miche – Brick House Bakery - good sourdough tang with complex flavour. Very dark with impressive even crumb.

Londoners’ Loaf: special
Real Bread with one or more extra natural ingredients
Double Chocolate Sourdough – Brick House Bakery - great crust and crumb with a good balance of sweet and sour flavours

Proper Preserves
Jam, chutney or other preserve made in London without artificial additives of any kind from fruit or veg grown in London or from surplus produce
Fruit Cheese – Fruit Magpie - aromatic in flavour with great acidity, clear apricot colour and a good shine.