The FreeFrom Food Awards 2024 Gala presentations took place on Friday last, 1st November in the Grand Hotel, Malahide, Co. Dublin with entries from producers across the 32 counties. The freefrom industry assembled to find out who would scoop the Gold, Silvers or Bronze awards for products judged by panels that included coeliacs, parents of freefrom children, nutritionists, dietitians, chefs, foodies and bloggers.
Kinsale Bay Food Company were named Small Producer of the Year. Anna Marsden of Juvela, were winners of the Product of the Year, for their Gluten Free Indian Flatbread. Value Range of the Year went to the Supervalu Sauce Range, while the Retailer of the Year award went to Aldi’s FreeFrom team for the fourth year running due to the consistency of their stores and clarity, range and variety available to freefrom consumers.
This is the 9th year of the awards and they continue to be a beacon for the best in freefrom in the industry in Ireland. Winning an award, encourages the continued growth of the sector and demonstrates the quality of freefrom foods – which are reaching a level where mainstream consumers can struggle to tell the difference, a far cry from the dreadful gluten free bread in tins of the 1970s in Ireland. Over 40 categories were judged over three weeks in September and the awards night was the culmination of this process.
Freefrom Food Awards Ireland has been established independently by John Burke, founder of GFLife, a lifelong coeliac. The FreeFrom Food Awards, were started in the UK in 2007, being the only industry awards for FreeFrom foods, by FoodsMatter and FreeFrom Foods Matter. Having been a judge at the UK FreeFrom Awards, John adapted the awards format for an Irish setting.
