BC Food Industry Honoured by BC Food Processors Association
Vancouver, BC – BC’s best of the best in the food and beverage processing industry were honoured on June 8th at the BCFPA annual Gala Awards Dinner at the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver. JD Sweid was inducted into the BC Food Processors Hall of Fame at the FoodProWest 2017 Awards Gala. Debra Hellbach of Grounded Strategies received the Leadership Award, MNP received the BCFPA Member of the Year Award, whilst the Rising Star Award was won by Sylvia Martinelli of S&B Gluten Free, and the Innovation Award went to Mazza Innovation. Left Coast Naturals was selected for the Sustainability Award, while Garden Protein won the Workplace Safety Award.
400 of BC’s top food & beverage processors and industry leaders came together to honour their colleagues at the prestigious Gala Awards Dinner hosted by the BC Food Processors Association.
Leadership Award, sponsored by BMO: The Leadership Award recognizes an Industry leader that provides business leadership and inspiration; makes a positive contribution to the community, practices mentorship, environmental sustainability and is a role model. Debra Hellbach of Grounded Strategies was this year’s recipient.
Rising Star Award, sponsored by Farm Credit Canada: The Rising Star Award celebrates a processor who has demonstrated innovation, shown leadership in industry and the community. The award was won by Sylva Martinelli of Otimo’s/S&B Gluten Free.
Innovation Award, sponsored by Reliance Insurance: The Innovation Award recognizes a processor which has demonstrated innovation in any aspect of the company (e.g. processes, technology, ingredients, human resources, culture, engagement, sales and marketing, product development, health and safety, research and development). Mazza Innovation took home the award this year.
Sustainability Award, sponsored by Vancity: The Sustainability Award recognizes a processor which has demonstrated energy conservation and sustainability in their operations. The award was given to Left Coast Naturals.
Workplace Safety Award, sponsored by the BC Manufacturers Safety Alliance: The Workplace Safety Award recognizes innovative programs, policies, tools or projects that assist in reducing workplace injuries. Garden Protein was the recipient of the award this year.
Hall of Fame, sponsored by KPMG: The Hall of Fame recognizes a BC company that has been in the business for 25 or more years and shows a commitment to prosperity and environmental stability. JD Sweid joins Sun Rype Products, Nature’s Path Foods, Olympic Dairy, Pacific Coast Fruit Products, Gizella’s Pastry, Vanderpol Food Group, Avalon Dairy Ltd., Purdy’s Chocolates and Freybe Gourmet Foods as BC Food Processor’s Hall of Fame inductees.
Member of the Year Award: The Member of the Year Award recognizes a BCFPA Member (processor or associate) that has demonstrated a high engagement level in BCFPA activities and made a contribution to industry efforts. MNP was honoured by this award for its support and effort in such areas as the Membership Committee and partnering with the BCFPA on an industry Economic Impact Study and SWOT Analysis.
The awards were presented at FoodProWest, the premier annual gathering of BC food processors.
The event also included an outstanding keynote speech by Peter Legge, an International Buyers Day and Expo, the BCFPA’s Annual General Meeting, capped off by the Awards Gala Dinner. During the event, attendees networked and browsed the trade show with nearly 100 exhibitors.
“It’s always special to have the opportunity for our diverse industry to come together to celebrate and honour our amazing award nominees, finalists, and winners” Said Jim Pratt, the newly elected BCFPA Chair of the Board. “FoodProWest provides a great opportunity to do this. The event gets bigger every year as the BCFPA continues to experience unprecedented growth. We are delighted that the event celebrated its 10th anniversary this year.”
“It was a very successful day that saw over 700 food and beverage processors and industry stakeholders come together,” added James Donaldson BCFPA CEO. “Buyers Day Expo saw approximately 30 buyers from 8 international counties and over 40 local retail and foodservice buyers and distributors”. says Donaldson. “Our goal is always to create a forum to bring industry together and facilitate opportunities for networking for our members to learn and grow their business.”
The BCFPA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to representing all segments of the food, beverage and nutraceutical processing industry, and to coordinate common industry activities and resources under one umbrella. The Association represents micro, small, medium, and large processing companies.
Photographs, videos and more will be posted on our website: www.bcfpa.ca; www.foodprowest.ca
For more information:
James Donaldson, BCFPA, 202B – 8047 199th Street, Langley, BC V2Y 0E2
TEL: 604-371-4245