Suppliers Round-up

All Hants on deck
The Hampshire Food Festival will take place from 26 June to 11 July and will feature events across the county, including open days at speciality producers of fruit, honey, organic vegetables, wine and meat. For more information, call organiser Hampshire Fare on 01962 845999.

Apetito digs in Apetito, the supplier of ready meals and pastry products, is to invest £450,000 in a new product development centre at its Trowbridge headquarters in Wiltshire. The new facility will be completed in January 2005 and will focus on the development of frozen ready meals and ready-to-bake pastries.

Blakemore opens catering awards Blakemore Food Service is celebrating its 25th year of trading by launching its own catering awards to recognise excellence and teamwork across the industry.

The competition is open to Blakemore customers, who can enter one or more of five categories: menu development, eating environment, communication of menu, theming of dining area, and customer service. In addition, there will be two overall sector winners - from local authorities and leisure, and from the licensed trade - each winning vouchers worth £1,000. Entry forms are available from Angie Sund on 0121-526 8400.