A TEESSIDE-BASED chilled snack foods and ready meals manufacturer has scooped two awards in the food industry’s ‘Oscars’.

SK Chilled Foods walked away with the Chilled, Fresh & Dairy Manufacturing Company of the Year and Partnership of the Year award at the prestigious Food Manufacture Excellence Awards in London.

The two awards recognised the technical innovation that resulted in the company making record sales last year.

From its head offices in Wynyard and two factories in Middlesbrough, SK Chilled Foods makes ethnic snacks and accompaniments for meals and own-label party food for the UK’s biggest supermarkets, as well as restaurant chains and food service companies.

In awarding the manufacturing of the year award, the independent judging panel praised the firm’s continued innovation around product development and manufacturing processes, and for the partnership award it highlighted SK’s close working relationship with a major supermarket chain that enhanced the shelf-life of chilled snacks from 10 to 14 days, improving product availability.

SK Chilled Foods’ Managing Director Jeremy Faulkner said: “To win one award is fantastic but to come away with two is unbelievable, especially when you consider the competition we were up against.

“Worldwide brands, such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Weetabix, were amongst the finalists, so for a company based in Teesside to win two prestigious awards is a major honour.

“There is a constant drive for technical innovation at SK Chilled Foods and I would like to thank our 550 employees for their hard work and dedication. Every single member of staff makes a significant contribution to SK being one of the leaders in the UK food manufacturing industry.

“I would also like to thank our customers for their continued support; we couldn’t achieve anything without their backing.”

This year’s awards, now in their 18th year, were hosted by TV presenter Gregg Wallace.