Deadline approaching for Highlands & Islands Food and Drink Awards 2014

18th April 2014

Food and drink businesses across the Highlands and Islands and within the Cairngorms National Park area have just days left before the deadline to enter the region’s largest and most prestigious food and drink industry awards.

As the Wednesday, 23 April deadline approaches for entries for this year’s Highlands & Islands Food & Drink Awards, sponsored by Gordon & MacPhail and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), organisers are calling on the area’s food and drink businesses to make sure they don’t miss the closing date.

The Highlands & Islands Food & Drink Awards, now in its tenth year recognises and reward the businesses which are displaying best practice, achieving exceptional standards and pushing boundaries in a key growth industry sector.

Quintin Stevens of the Awards’ committee said they were keen to see businesses of all sizes and from all sectors within the industry enter for a range of categories, including the New Business, Healthier Food & Drink, New Product, Best Drink Award, Best Eatery and Restaurant of the Year.

He continued: “There is so much good work being achieved in the industry and we want to shine the spotlight on some of the best innovative and creative businesses out there. We know how hard our peers work and we want to make sure their passion and commitment is rewarded.”

The Awards are the region’s longest-running food and drinks awards, celebrating excellence and achievement in the industry and recognising industry players at the top of their game.

In addition to title sponsors Gordon & MacPhail and HIE, sponsors this year include Bank of Scotland, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Ecosse Professional Services Ltd, JBT Distribution & Parcelinq, Johnston Carmichael, Norbert Dentressangle, North Highland Initiative, Scotland Food & Drink, TIO Ltd, Think Local, University of Aberdeen Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health. The media sponsor is Scottish Provincial Press.

The closing date for entries is 5pm on Wednesday, 23rd April. Further information on all the award categories and how to enter can be found at www.hifoodanddrinkawards.com.

The shortlisted finalists will be announced in late June, and full details of the Awards Dinner & Ceremony on Friday, 24th October at the Kingsmills Hotel in Inverness will be announced in due course.

 

Related Businesses

 

Related Articles

16/7/2026 : Visitor Attractions

John O'Groats Distillery Wins International Success with Scottish Enterprise Support

One of Caithness's newest success stories is proving that location is no barrier to reaching customers around the world.   8 Doors Distillery in John O'Groats, Scotland's most northerly mainland whisky distillery, is expanding into international markets with support from Scottish Enterprise and Team Scotland, demonstrating how businesses from the far north can compete on the global stage.  

8/7/2026 : Advisory / Counseling Services

How Rural Job Creation Actually Works

Rural job creation is one of the most misunderstood parts of economic development.  Politicians talk about “hundreds of jobs created”, enterprise agencies publish glossy figures, and press releases celebrate “transformational investment”.  

8/7/2026 : Advisory / Counseling Services

Fixing Enterprise Job Reporting: A Blueprint for Honesty, Accuracy, and Rural Reality

Enterprise agencies in Scotland have spent decades publishing glossy numbers about “jobs created” and “jobs retained”.  As the Highlands knows all too well, these figures often bear little resemblance to what actually happens on the ground.  

8/7/2026 : Advisory / Counseling Services

How Enterprise Agencies Inflate Job Numbers

Enterprise agencies in Scotland — Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), and the South of Scotland Enterprise regularly publish impressive sounding figures about “jobs created”, “jobs retained”, and “economic impact”.  These numbers appear in annual reports, ministerial speeches, and press releases.  

25/6/2026 : Advisory / Counseling Services

Annual investment shows size of economic opportunity in the Highlands and Islands

More than £50m of additional public investment was attracted to the Highlands and Islands last year by the region’s development agency.   Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) almost doubled its £53m opening budget from the start of financial year 2025/26, delivering an annual spend of £105m to create hundreds of jobs and grow the regional economy.  

19/6/2026 : Advisory / Counseling Services

 
OWGP signs Memorandum of Understanding with HIE at Global Offshore Wind

The Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with HIE at Global Offshore Wind 2026, marking a shared commitment to strengthen the offshore wind supply chain in Scotland.   The Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with HIE at Global Offshore Wind 2026, marking a shared commitment to strengthen the offshore wind supply chain in Scotland.  

17/6/2026 : Advisory / Counseling Services

The Salmon Nobody Wants to Name: Why Consumers Are Turning Away from Scottish Farmed Fish and Why Agencies Pretend It’s Just “Aquaculture”

A press release from Highlands and Islands set us digging - see it at the bottom of this article.   Something strange is happening in Scotland’s salmon industry, and it’s not the kind of thing you’ll find in a government press release.  

14/6/2026 : Local Authority

How Caithness Can Strengthen Its Case for Major Capital Investment in an Era of Shrinking Budgets

Caithness has reached a moment where the old assumptions about public investment no longer hold.  For decades, the region could rely on a three‑pillar system: HIE to drive economic development, Scottish Enterprise and national programmes to support growth, and Highland Council to deliver the infrastructure that underpins daily life.  

14/6/2026 : Advisory / Counseling Services

When the Money Moves South: How HIE’s Shrinking Budget Has Hit Caithness and Why “Record Funding” Doesn’t Mean What It Used To

For decades, Highlands and Islands Enterprise was the economic backbone of the far north.  It wasn’t perfect, but it was one of the few institutions that understood the basic truth of life in Caithness: distance costs money, and if the state doesn’t step in, the market won’t.  

26/5/2026 : Advisory / Counseling Services

 
Argyll firm secures funding for halibut farming commercial development project

Otter Ferry Seafish Ltd is aiming to demonstrate that juvenile halibut can be grown successfully and commercially in sea cages in Scottish waters.   A £97,400 aquaculture research and development project in Argyll, is aiming to demonstrate that juvenile halibut can be grown successfully and commercially in sea cages in Scottish waters.