Nominate Now: Velvet Food & Drink Awards return for 2025
Since launching three years ago, the Velvet Food & Drink Awards have proved so popular, we’re doubling their size for 2025 - running two sets of awards, one each for Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. Time to nominate your foodie favourites from across both counties
When we launched the Velvet Food & Drink Awards three years ago, to give much-deserved recognition to both the businesses and individuals that make our area a more delicious place, we knew they’d be popular. But with nominations coming in by the thousand, from right across our circulation area, they exceeded even our expectations.
As a result, we have decided to double the size of the awards this year: running in tandem, there will be one set of awards for Cambridgeshire and one for Suffolk. This expansion has been made possible with the support of our headline sponsors: TR Global Events in Cambridgeshire and Thomas Ridley Foodservice in Suffolk.
As ever, we’re calling on you, our readers, to nominate your favourites across 12 categories in each county: Food Producer, Beverage Producer, Farm Shop/Deli, Pub/Bar, Tearoom/Coffee Shop, Street Food/Pop-up, Restaurant, Chef, Hotel, Hospitality Hero, Sustainability Hero and Food Hero.
The three businesses or individuals with the most nominations per category will then be shortlisted and the winners chosen by a panel of independent, industry-expert judges.
Suffolk’s winners will be announced at a ceremony at Stowmarket’s Haughley Park on June 9, with coverage following in July’s Velvet, while Cambridgeshire’s awards ceremony will take place at Childerley Hall on June 23, with coverage in August’s magazine.
Nominating is easy: simply head to velvetfooddrinkawards.co.uk, hit either ‘Cambridgeshire’ or ‘Suffolk’ on the homepage and fill in the swift nomination form, telling us what makes your favourite/s stand out from the culinary crowd. You’ve got between 1am on January 28 2025 and midnight on May 2 2025 to get your nominations in.
So whether you’ve got a soft spot for a particular bakery’s bread, swear the coffee in your local cafe can’t be beaten or book every special–occasion meal at a specific restaurant, we want to hear from you! These awards are YOUR awards, so get nominating. . .
Food Producer of the Year: From cottage industries to large-scale manufacturers, this category is open to all producers, whether they are growing fruit and veg, pickling and preserving, baking bread or making cakes. The winner will be driven by both a personal passion and stellar professional standards.
Beverage Producer of the Year: This part of the country boasts an increasing number of brilliant drinks businesses, from tea blenders and coffee roasters to gin distillers and wine makers. If there’s a local company you love and return to time and again, now’s the time to raise your glass to them. We’re looking for quality and consistency of product and distinctiveness of brand.
Farm Shop/Deli of the Year: We’re looking for stores which sell the highest quality local, seasonal and speciality goods, are staffed by knowledgeable and helpful teams, and provide a welcoming atmosphere too - all of which turns the weekly shop from chore to pleasure.
Pub/Bar of the Year: All pubs and bars are eligible, no matter what their theme or style, but good vibes and excellent drinks are essential. There must be something which sets this venue above the rest, whether it doubles as a community hub or simply serves best-in-class beer.
Tearoom/Coffee Shop of the Year: With our area home to numerous outstanding tearooms, coffee shops and cafes - and more opening every month - this is set to be a hotly contested category. The winner will provide excellent food, drink, service and ambiance.
Street Food/Pop-Up of the Year: Open to street food vans, pop-up restaurants and kitchen takeovers, this award will go to a business which brings fun, flair and lots of flavour to the local menu, whether they’re flipping crepes, topping tacos, building Buddha bowls or scooping gelato.
Restaurant of the Year: The winner of this category will offer all-round excellence, topping the charts with its menu, drinks list, service and venue. It will be distinctive too; setting rather than following culinary trends.
Chef of the Year: If you know a chef whose menus always delight and never disappoint, this is their category. The top spot will go to someone who’s pushing culinary boundaries, whether innovating with new flavours, textures, techniques or zero-waste menus, and inspiring both diners and the next generation of chefs along the way.
Hotel of the Year: Whatever its size or style, the hotel that ultimately takes home this award will stand out across the board - offering the very best in terms of food and drink, customer service, decor and ambiance, events programming and community engagement.
Hospitality Hero: This category shines a light on businesses across the hospitality spectrum. The winner will provide excellent customer service and a unique experience - and will always be evolving and innovating to keep loyal customers engaged and attract new audiences.
Sustainability Hero: Open to both businesses and individuals, this category celebrates green trail-blazers within the local food industry. Whether they source solely local ingredients to curb food miles, turn leftovers into innovative dishes to combat waste or fuel their ovens via green energy, they are setting standards not only here and now, but for the future.
Food & Drink Hero: The winner of this award will be absolutely outstanding at what they do. Whatever food and drink role they play, what marks them out is the excellence they deliver and their willingness to champion the talents of others as well as their own.
Nominate Now! Head to velvetfooddrinkawards.co.uk to nominate your favourite in either Cambridgeshire or Suffolk - or both - across our 12 categories.
Community Spirit: With nominations made by local people, winners chosen by local experts and recognition given to local businesses, these awards couldn’t be more embedded in our surrounding communities. To reflect that, we’re proud to introduce our Community Sponsor for 2025, Love Newmarket, and our Charity Partner, Ormiston Families.
Love Newmarket is an inventive and progressive not-for-profit run for local businesses by local businesses. Established in July 2016, the Love Newmarket Business Improvement District (BID) covers a defined area of the popular market town where the team works to improve the trading environment and identifies additional projects and services that develop the town centre, from offering training and marketing support to organising events, such as the annual Christmas lights switch-on, and the upcoming Restaurant Week, which runs March 10 to 16 and sees eateries across town offer special menus, with prices starting at £5.
To find out more, go to lovenewmarket.co.uk or follow @love.newmarket on Instagram.
Ormiston Families is a charity in the East of England which has been supporting families to build resilience for more than 40 years. It runs a range of services which provide mental health support, bereavement counselling, and advice for families affected by imprisonment, SEND, additional needs and disabilities. Last year the charity worked with more than 5,000 families across its services and its Breaking Barriers service - which gives counselling to children with a parent in prison - was given the Early Intervention Award by Children and Young People Now.
To support the charity's work, visit ormiston.org or follow facebook.com/ormistonfamilies or @ormiston on Instagram.
Read more
Food and DrinkMore by this author
Alice Ryan