Nominations for the VfL Awards for Excellence have now closed. Our panel of judges are now voting on who they think are this year's stars of vegan & vegetarian care catering. We will reveal the finalists here, week commencing 29 July 2024. Watch this space.

Here at VfL, we think that care caterers who make a special effort to create delicious and nutritious vegan and vegetarian meals deserve special recognition.

This year marks the 8th VfL Awards for Excellence in Veg*n Care Catering. With more vegans and vegetarians moving into residential care every year, this annual award recognises those who are pioneering the way in modern care catering. We're delighted to be returning to the Houses of Parliament for this year's ceremony, which is expected to be held on the afternoon of Thursday 12 September 2024.

The categories for this year’s awards are:

Vegan/Vegetarian Care/Hospital Caterer of the Year sponsored by Middleton Foods. We want to find a care/hospital caterer who is making a wide range of delicious and nutritious meals for older vegans or veggies in a care setting (open to individuals and teams).

Vegan/Vegetarian Supplier of the Year. We want to find a supplier that is offering either a great range of veg*n products OR a single veg*n product that shows innovation, taste and variety. Your product(s) may be standalone or used as a key ingredient in a recipe and must be specifically available to care/hospital caterers.

Chefs’ Hero Product. We’re looking for chefs to nominate their favourite go-to hero product when developing menus and recipes for vegans and vegetarians in care homes and hospitals.

Most Innovative Vegan/Vegetarian Recipe. We’re looking for a recipe that can be used within a care or hospital setting or simply cooked at home. We’re looking for great taste, value and innovative use of ingredients.

(Submitted recipes will be shared with VfL members and stakeholders and featured on all media platforms.)

The Beulah Charity Trust Special Recognition Award. This is for that special someone who strives to make the UK a better place for older vegans and vegetarians. This could be a volunteer, a resident, a staff member or anyone pursuing this objective.

Chefs’ Hero Product. We want to find the care chef who is making the tastiest meals for older vegans or veggies.

Click here for a look at our past winners.

First launched in 2016, the Annual Awards highlight the importance of catering well for older vegans and vegetarians. We recently surveyed 1,000 care homes to find out how many residents are vegan or vegetarian and striking results show that the numbers of vegetarians and vegans in care homes have increased by 24 per cent in 10 years.

The trend in nursing homes was even more pronounced, with 4 in 10 (41.8 per cent) now having vegan or vegetarian residents – a 56 per cent increase over the past decade. 

With growing numbers of vegans and vegetarians being supported by the care sector, it is no surprise that news of the awards has been positively received by care organisations. Articles about the awards have been published by the NACC, Care Home Catering, Hospitality Assured and more.

It’s becoming impossible to ignore the demand for top-notch veggie care catering