This time last year the annual Free From Food Awards were done and dusted with the judging having managed to get in under the wire when it came to all things COVID. We celebrated the winners via a virtual awards ceremony on Zoom and then wondered just what would happen when it come to the 2021 awards, quietly confident that the wonderful and hard-working team behind the magic of the FFFA would have something special up their sleeves.

Needless to say they absolutely did, and even managed to put in enough measures to allow some in-person judging of the increased number of categories, albeit in a different way to what all of us seasoned judges have become used to. Unfortunately, despite an offer to travel to London for a judging session at the end of March, I wasn’t quite sure when my first vaccine would happen and so sadly I decided to decline the invite this year. However, G and M were delighted to step into my shoes and take up my mantle by judging some of the offerings from the “Child & Teens” category, which once again found some new favourites to add to our cupboards.

M also joined the brand new “Digital Presence” panel and absolutely loved being able to legitimately spend time online looking at how well various freefrom brands manage their websites and social media. And my month was made when I was asked to join the virtual session for finalising the shortlisted products and awards for the Child and Teens contenders.

This week the finalists for the Free From Food Awards 2021 have been announced and it’s wonderful to see some of the children’s new finds as well as old favourites being included in the shortlist, which you can see here. The final winners will be announced on May 27 and we can’t wait to see just who has won what across all of the categories.