The winners of the Free From Food Awards 2022 were announced in an online ceremony on 26 April, with the successful food & drink brands and retailers chosen from over 500 entries. 

The panel of top industry judges, including IFE Event Director Philippa Christer, spent five weeks scrutinising, tasting and discussing the entries, before the winners were ultimately announced. 

Philippa commented: "There were some amazing products and brands in the shortlist for this year's awards and it was great to see the diversity and quality in the world of free from food & drink. Congratulations to all the winners!"

“We were so pleased this year to be able to run the judging sessions without Covid restraints, and delighted to see such an amazing selection of exciting new free from products despite ingredients shortages, delays in supply chains and other global woes!” Added Free From Food Awards CEO Cressida Langlands; “So much expertise, time, energy and investment goes into producing free from food and drinks, and there is a special passion-fuelled story behind every one of these products. We’re also thrilled to see keto, paleo, vegan and speciality foods manufacturers increasingly catering for the free from and allergic consumer. ”

Violife’s top-14-allergen-free butter lookalike, Vioblock - an amazingly versatile product with excellent allergen credentials - was voted ‘Best Free From Food Product of the Year, sponsored by IFE’ by the judges. “It just ticks every box ,” they said  “for flavour, convenience, versatility, allergen friendliness, value for money - and it is even fortified. Unquestionably a winner.”

Long term awards medal winners  Damm Brewery took ‘Best Free From Drink Product of The Year, sponsored by IFE’ for their no alcohol Free Damm: 0.0% ABV. “Light and crisp, with a great hop balance - amazingly good for a zero alcohol beer”.

There was high praise for the ‘free from’ offer from both Asda and Tesco: Asda for the quality of their staple items, with low price point and success in replicating mainstream essentials; and Tesco for their welcome, much sought-after innovations. But, ultimately, Tesco took the ‘Free From Retailer of the Year’ crown by a whisker, winning it back after ceding it to Asda in 2021.

The judges were delighted to award the first ever ‘Convenience Retailer of the Year’ prize to The Co-op for recognising the ‘free from’ and allergic consumer’s need for core staple items in smaller convenience stores.

The Free From Hero Award, which recognises ordinary people achieving extraordinary feats in the allergy and ‘free from’ arena, went to Alexa Baracaia, author of ‘My Family & Food Allergies’ and tireless campaigner on behalf of those living with multiple allergies.

To view all winners in the Free From Food Awards 2022, click here.