Finalists announced in new Young Food and Farming Entrepreneur Award

The very first finalists for the Taste of Kent Awards’ brand new Young Food and Farming Entrepreneur Award have been announced today, with those shortlisted coming from Maidstone, Ramsgate and Dover.

The award, in its inaugural year celebrates Kent’s young food and farming entrepreneurs and is given in memory of ex-Mayor of Tunbridge Wells, Mike Rusbridge, a great supporter of young entrepreneurs.

Produced in Kent’s Stephanie Durling comments: “Kent’s Young Food and Farming Entrepreneur of the Year is a great way to celebrate Kent’s young talent and the next generation of farmers and food entrepreneurs. The award has attracted many entries from across Kent from innovative and hard-working young people under the age of 30 and we are delighted to be giving young people a platform to showcase their skills.”

The applicants were judged by a prestigious panel with representatives from the Rusbridge Family Baker who are the one of the sponsors, Kent Foundation, the Princes Trust as well as the Kent Farmers’ Market Association who are also a sponsor. The panel assessed the applications earlier this month, followed by individual interviews with the three successful finalists.

Dawn Wellbelove from the Kent Foundation said: “We are delighted to have been involved with this new award which celebrates Kent’s young food and farming entrepreneurs. When choosing the finalists, we did not concentrate on the greatest financial achievement, but more on the entrepreneurial success of the individual, the originality of the idea and the effort put in to achieve success. We offer our warmest congratulations to the three finalists and will be thrilled to see the winner announced at this year’s Taste of Kent Awards ceremony!”

The finalists are:

Alexander Auger (24) – Founder and Managing Director at The Juice Executive, nr Maidstone

Laura Bounds (29) – Commercial Director at AMC Foods Ltd, Ramsgate

Marie Prebble (27) – Sheep Farmer at Kent Shepherd, Dover