The Crumbs Awards 2018 | Rawlings News

Ok, so back story…  

Generally, we would only exhibit at packaging focused events; Packaging Innovations and Luxury Packaging, Pro2Pac – happening this March, make sure you come and check us out – The Source Show, Beer X, and a few others. Exhibiting doesn’t come cheap, so you need to choose which shows wisely in order to maximise ROI, but sometimes you just have to take a gamble, perhaps you swing and miss, perhaps you don’t. 

Taking a gamble 

So, this month we thought about taking a little gamble and decided to exhibit at the Bristol Showcase South West, a huge biannual B2B exhibition held at Ashton Gate Stadium. We weren’t expecting much because if you don’t run a business that uses glass packaging there’s not much we can do.  

The event is tailored to help local businesses grow, so there’s always a plethora of different firms exhibiting, from software developers, recruiters, marketing specialists, media companies, banks, photographers, and a whole lot more. If anything, we thought it would be a great networking event as we have worked with several companies that were exhibiting, and it didn’t disappoint. We picked up several enquiries from local companies and entrepreneurs looking to start their own food and drink businesses which was lovely to see, but by chance we were approached and gifted with free tickets to the 2018 Crumbs awards as we work heavily with independent food and drink producers, local and national. It was too good an opportunity to turn down.  

Crumbs Awards 

An awards ceremony held at the iconic Bristol Old Vic Theatre surrounded by the people and businesses that make the Bristol and Bath food and drink scene so fantastic. It helps that we’re complete food and drinks nerds ourselves, and something we are very proud of, so we jumped at the chance, even though it was held on a Sunday and went on till 2am.  

A little information on the Crumbs Awards; this was the second year that they had been held and were created to celebrate the awesome food scene we have here. The Awards are an extension of the Crumbs B2C magazine, a publication dedicated to the best food and drinks producers, businesses, and establishments that the South West has to offer, so if you find yourself nestled in this lovely part of the country and enjoy the food and drink scene as much as we do make sure you take a look here. 

There are a variety of awards, and it was exciting to see that some of our clients were finalists, with one, Lost and Grounded taking home the coveted award for best drinks producer. So, a massive congratulations to them.

On the night 

What struck us most, apart from the atmosphere and the free food and drink was the support everyone had for each other. Everyone there had an appreciation for everyone else and the value they brought to the industry. So, whenever an award was handed out the entire theatre erupted into whoops and cheers, and it was great to be a part of.  

One of the joys of working for Rawlings is getting to meet so many people like this, whether they are start-ups or established independent producers because they really care about what they’re doing, what they are creating and everyone that contributes to that process. They want to add value, they invested their time and money to create something unique and wonderful, and it’s a real pleasure to get to know them, which is why we treat every client as a big client. We always strive to create standout, premium packaging that uses the right glass bottle and jar and marries the right decoration process that truly reflects the unique quality of their brand, their product and its’ story.  

See you next year

So, even though we were there in a business capacity we realised pretty early on that this was a night off for the people attending, so we didn’t push the Rawlings brand too hard, the clients we are proud to support in the South West, or the fact that we would relish the opportunity to work with them. It just wasn’t the right time. We just soaked up the atmosphere and enjoyed the event and got to meet some pretty great and inspiring people.  

With that in mind, we would love to increase our brand awareness amongst the South West food and drink community, it is our home after all, and we have been working heavily with food and drinks producers here for decades. So next year we are looking to return in more of an official capacity and hope to get to know even more independent business owners to support with stand-out packaging.  

For more information on the Crumbs awards and the 2018 winners please click here.    

For more information about how we can help with your next packaging project click here.