The Sammies 2022

SANDWICH DESIGNER How far would you go for a truly great sandwich?

The kitchen? The local shop? A walk into town? Maybe these days, you just reach for the phone and order one in? Here at Sammies HQ, we’re not even sure if we should answer that question in minutes or miles. Let me explain…

There’s been very little any of us could describe as typical over the past two years. The routine has been anything but routine and that thing we’ve always done has become no longer the done thing. So, the story of how far we’ve gone to fi nd a truly great sandwich, at least for this year’s competition, is getting on for three years in the making. It all started way back in late May 2019.

You see, the planning for each annual awards and competition begins in earnest with a full and frank de-brief of the previous one. Caron Parry, the events manager, leads the team through each step of the process, discussing the notes and observations each member has made. It’s this constant fi ne-tuning which we hope keeps things fresh, engaging and ultimately better with each passing year.

Having to improvise and adapt to the circumstances of these past two years meant that our plans for this year had to go back to the last time we had a “typical” awards cycle. That was during the heady days of 2019, when facemasks were for surgeons; no one was an armchair epidemiologist, and a Zoom chat would surely have meant something involving ice lollies.

LUNCH! LAUNCH!

From that review, this year’s competition launched in the September 2021 issue of this very magazine and at the lunch! show, with competitors invited to register to take part and receive the sponsor’s ingredients package in early January.

By February, with hundreds of recipes entered, the measure “how far” changed from days to distance as we were once again able to hold in-person semi-fi nals around the country. And so, for two of the team, that meant it was time to put some miles on the tyres.

THE GREAT BRITISH SANDWICH ROAD TRIP

“We’ve got 253 miles to Darlington; half a pack of Haribo; it’s March and we’re making sandwiches.” Recollections may vary as to whether these were the actual fi nal words of chief competition sandwich wrangler Sandra Bennett before she and her long-suff ering sidekick Josh Davis set out for the fi rst of the Sandwich & Food to Go Designer semi-fi nals, but let’s not let the truth get in the way of a nod to Jake and Elwood.

The pair had already clocked around 35 miles by way of a visit to Nisbets National Catering Equipment Centre to collect the oven and hob they kindly loaned for us to use during the semi-fi nals. You can visit Nisbets too at www.nisbets.co.uk.

In Darlington – well technically in a Holiday Inn between Darlington and Richmond – our intrepid pair were joined by judges representing the competition sponsors as well as the first batch of semi-finalists. There were more than twenty sandwiches and food to go dishes prepared and tasted, resulting in four of the competitors progressing.

Gary McDowell and Adrian Fitzpatrick, both representing Deli Lites, will be joined at the finals by Elizabeth Goodman from On a Roll Sandwich Company and Greencore’s Megan Grove.

“WAY ON DOWN SOUTH, LONDON TOWN”

The Sultans of Sandwich clocked up another 244 miles as they headed for the next showdown in their bid to find the finest sandwich designer in the land. Beaufort Sports in Feltham played host to another cohort of hopefuls and, having munched their way through each of the recipes presented to them, the judges advanced three more competitors to the finals.

Alexia Cowen and Catherine Fleetwood, both from Greencore, made it to the next stage alongside Simon Broadribb from Uptons of Bassett.

With two semi-finals in the rearview mirror and two more to come, Sandra and Josh headed the 115 miles back to Sammies HQ for a brew and a half-time orange. This being a road-trip, it was probably a Terry’s Chocolate Orange. And some doughnuts. And some more Haribo.

BRIZZLE-ING WITH EXCITEMENT

Semi-final three was just a short hop over the Severn and down the M5 to old friends Nisbets whose National Catering Equipment Centre at Avonmouth, near Bristol, gave the competition a home for the day.

Although slightly fewer in number than the other semi-finals, the competitors at Bristol had multiple entries in multiple categories, meaning there were more recipes for the judges to sample than there were at either Darlington or London.

This resulted in Kieran McGivern from Around Noon, Tony BishopWeston from Foods for Life, Nutrition & Health, Dai Llewellyn from Co-Op and Around Noon's Stanley Revell taking their places in the final.

THEY FINISHED IN THE MIDDLE

For the fi nal leg of their sandwich odyssey, Sandra and Josh found themselves headed 120 miles up the M5 and M42 to visit long-time supporters Flexeserve® - www.fl exeserve.com – who welcomed them with open arms and, crucially, open kitchen.

This hotly contested semi-fi nal resulted in no less than seven competitors receiving the judges’ nod to make a date for the fi nals.

Bradgate Bakery’s Harry Dempster and Edvinas Smigelskis will be joined by Greencore trio Frances Cope, Eleny Mito and Martin Willsher as well as Sam Tebbatt from Melton Foods and The Soho Sandwich Company’s Susannah Montgomery.

A THOUSAND MILES AND COUNTING

Okay, so those of you paying attention will have clocked 922 miles, but I’m adding some extras for unrecorded drive-through visits plus, by the time this goes to print, infl ation will mean I’m pretty much on point!

As for the “and counting”, well there’s still the fi nal on 5 May 2022 to go, where we will fi nd out the individual winners in each of the sponsored categories as well as who claims the £2,000 winner’s cheque and the title of Sandwich Designer of the Year 2022. We’ll be covering that in the next issue.

SPONSORED BY

THE SANDWICH & FOOD TO GO INDUSTRY AWARDS The Sammies Awards Dinner is the source of that intangible secret ingredient which keeps the industry ticking. A sprinkling of stardust!

That stardust doesn’t appear by magic though, it’s ground from the monumental e ort of the Sammies Awards team, with the added muscle of the judging panels. First, the awards entries were shortlisted earlier in the year and then, during March, the serious work began.

Eight marathon judging sessions were conducted throughout the month with representatives for each of the shortlisted entries given the opportunity to present the judges with a compelling case as to why they deserved to win.

There can be no doubt that this is serious work and thanks need to be given to everyone who took part, and especially to the judges who gave their time and loaned their expertise to choosing a winner.

With the judging nished, preparations complete and the invitations sent, the industry is ready to sprinkle a little stardust as it is once again able to celebrate its success stories in person at the Sammies Awards Dinner.

In the next issue of the magazine, we’ll bring you full coverage of the evening but in the meantime the winners will be revealed at www.thesammies.co.uk on 5 May 2022, right after the awards dinner.