Food Made Good Awards 2020 Winners Announced

RELATED: Food Made Good Awards 2021

How do we as consumers know that a company is sustainable?

How do we know that a restaurant sources ethically?

How do we know that food waste doesn’t end up in a landfill?

It is often impossible to know the answers to these questions for sure, and sometimes even the restaurants themselves don’t know. There’s never been an objective scale to measure sustainability credentials in Hong Kong, until Food Made Good, that is.

Food Made Good arrived in Hong Kong in 2019, and over the past year, they have been collecting restaurant and association members that have been working hard to improve their sustainability rating. You can read about some of the Food Made Good members.

Food Made Good Awards 2020

The Food Made Good Awards 2020 present seven categories that recognise a year of ambitious work, innovative change and tireless self-improvement.

The lead sponsor this year is Henderson Land Development, who have been encouraging their tenants to become involved, which is heartening to see. WWF Hong Kong are co-organisers of the event.

Submission for the One Planet Plate recipe award, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre

The awards ceremony was hosted by vibrant Asian Food Network host Debbie Wong and live-streamed on Facebook. In a tough year for F&B around the world, the awards were a welcome opportunity to focus on some of the achievements made by chefs and organisations around Hong Kong.

The awards were attended in person by special guests Shane Osborn, Richard Ekkebus, Punam Chopra, Antonio Lai and Wong Kam-sing and virtually by food artist Charles Michel from Colombia to help the winners to celebrate.

“We are working together, and within our community, together, we can effect change.”
– Chef Shane Osborn

As CEO and founder Heidi Spurrell said, we need resilient and sustainable supply chains and processes now more than ever. We need this space to be collaborative and pre-competitive. With the disruption that COVID has caused to the world, this may be the ideal time for us to consider our impact and choices going forward.

In breaking news, Wong Kam-sing, Hong Kong’s Secretary for the Environment, announced that Hong Kong has committed to being carbon neutral by 2050.

The winners

Sourcing Award

This award goes to the business that has shone in the Sourcing pillar of the rating and pushed the boundaries of sourcing models. The member has scored consistently highly across each of the four key areas. These include offering a range of local and seasonal produce and serving high-welfare meat, sustainable fish and ethically sourced products that support global farmers.

The nominees are:

And the winner is... Haoma

Based in Bangkok, Haoma is guided by the philosophy “grown to give back”. They have their own farm and aquaponic system and aim for full traceability. Recently, Chef DK of Haoma started the #noonehungry initiative to put nutritious meals in the hands of folks who are hurting in their community.

Society Award

This award goes to the business that has excelled in the Society pillar of the rating. The member demonstrates how to support their staff, customers and community and showcases their true social responsibility and how they are a progressive business.

The nominees are:

And the winner is... Sohofama

Larry Tang from Sohofama accepted the award tonight. He said that there were no options like Food Made Good when he started back in 2013, but so much has changed since then. His advice to other restaurants is to get in touch with Food Made Good and to embrace the ethos, saying, “This means more than a Michelin award... congratulations to Bobsy and Christian [from MANA! & TREEHOUSE]. We are all working to the same goal, and we need the support of the consumers.”

Environment Award

This award (co-sponsored by WWF) goes to the business that has demonstrated exceptionally high scores in the Environment pillar of the rating. The winning business has implemented effective practices across all environmental areas, which include valuing natural resources, supply chain and waste-management practices.

The nominees are:

And the winner is... Amber

Winner of the 2020 Foodie Sustainability Award Richard Ekkebus thanked the Food Made Good team on behalf of Amber for this wonderful recognition. He said, ”It’s always been very important for us to be a responsible operator. Over the years, our direction has become more profound, especially in how we produce and handle waste.”

Business of the Year 2020

The Business of the Year award is given to the Food Made Good member that has excelled in their Sustainability rating. This member demonstrates true innovation across all three (Sourcing, Society and Environment) pillars and is a leading example of how sustainability practices can be implemented in a holistic manner across their business.

The nominees are:

And the winner is... SpiceBox Organics

We are so excited to hear our friends at SpiceBox Organics have won this prestigious award, winning with the highest Food Made Good score overall. Founder Punam Chopra was ecstatic about her win, stating, “It’s great to be a part of this team and the FMG umbrella – like-minded businesses moving to the same collective goal.”

Industry awards

Industry Awards are open to Food Made Good members and non-members.

One Planet Plate Award

Chefs from around the world can submit their recipe, and the best are recognised at the end of the year. The judges looked for the dish submitted by a chef that:

had the biggest impact on one of the six categories
is easy to replicate at home
is delicious and nutritious

The nominees are:

And the winner is... MANA!

MANA! has tremendous experience being socially and environmentally conscious, breaking ground on this front for more than 20 years. On receiving the award, founder Bobsy Gaia congratulated his team and also the Hong Kong government for its 2050 carbon-neutrality commitment, announced earlier in the evening.

Good to Go Award

sponsored by Deliveroo

This category showcases operators that prove you don’t have to ditch principles when serving takeaway food. The winner needs to lead by example to motivate the larger community to not only take measures to lessen their environmental impact but also to demonstrate wider innovative practices that span across Food Made Good’s framework.

The nominees are:

And the winner is... Fete Up

Fete Up is known to have a special healthy menu with an Asian twist. Nutritious and balanced food, accessibility and bioavailability are the focuses of this young company.

Landlord Choice Award

sponsored by Henderson Land Development

Landlords in the Food Made Good network in Hong Kong are invited to nominate up to six F&B tenants to apply. The winning business is the one that has achieved the highest score in the Food Made Good 50 rating, which translates to ethical sourcing, social responsibility and environmental management.

The nominees are:

And the winner is... TREEHOUSE

Foodie Forks 2020 Readers’ Choice Best Green Eats winner TREEHOUSE is on top of the conscious eating movement with multiple innovative initiatives such as returning packaging for reuse and eliminating food waste from their restaurant.