Innovation and Collaboration celebrated at Inaugural Tastebuds Collective Awards

Connected Innovation proudly supported the inaugural Tastebuds Collective Food and Drink Collaboration Awards, held to celebrate collaboration and innovation across the region’s food and drink sector.

We sponsored the Innovation Project of the Year category, highlighting our commitment to fostering collaborative R&D and supporting agritech, foodtech advancements in our region.

The awards evening showcased a range of standout projects, many of which were supported through the £7.5 million Agritech and Foodtech Launchpad initiative. Among the wider nominees were several collaborations that showcased the impact of cross-sector innovation too.

The Innovation Project of the Year award was jointly won by Simply Roasted Crisps and Fabcon Food Systems Ltd, recognised for their work in snack production technology.

Other category winners included:

• Norwich Business School x Sucseed
• Crumpetorium x Chilli Willy’s
• Korutek Engineering x University of East Anglia
• BeanTastic Hummus x John Innes Centre
• Humber Doucy Brewing Company x Heart of Suffolk Distillery Ltd

The event also featured a showcase of local food and drink vendors, bringing together a diverse mix of industry professionals, researchers, and entrepreneurs.

We would like to extend our thanks to the Tastebuds Collective team for organising a memorable evening that spotlighted the region’s thriving food and drink cluster.