Wednesday 19th November 2019: Danone has been awarded the top prize at Woolworths’ annual Supplier of the Year Awards.

Leading global food and beverage company Danone took out the 2019 Overall Supplier of the Year Award, as well as the Chilled, Bakery & Deli awards in Sydney overnight.

Woolworths Supermarkets Managing Director Claire Peters said: “In a competitive market Danone is driving above-market growth with its continued product innovation and deep understanding of the changing needs of our mutual customers. 

“We are impressed by Danone’s customer and category focused approach, which has seen them partner with us to launch exclusive products that are helping bring new customers into the category.”

The Supplier of the Year Awards recognised suppliers to Woolworths in 14 categories.

The Sustainability Supplier of the Year Award went to BioPak in recognition of its design of Woolworths’ compostable bakery trays. The innovative trays have helped support the removal of 505 tonnes of plastic packaging from the in-store bakery over the past 12 months. 

The trays are made with sugarcane fibre - a by-product of the sugar refining industry - that is certified home compostable and recyclable. In addition to supplying trays to Woolworths, BioPak also supplies sugarcane pulp trays to a number of Woolworths’ fresh fruit and vegetable suppliers. 

Claire Peters added: “Our customers quite rightly want us to reduce plastics in our stores and expect us to be looking for alternative packaging to deliver this.

“We are delighted to recognise the efforts of BioPak in partnering with us to deliver long term solutions that reduce our environmental impact while continuing to meet the needs of our customers.”

Other highlights included the Longlife Supplier of the Year winner, Boundary Bend, producers of premium Australian extra virgin olive oil brands Cobram Estate and Red Island. Boundary Bend faced a number of challenges including crop damage and subsequent low yields to execute a plan that delivered exceptional growth and market share.

Other winners included Siggi's Yoghurt and Darrell Lea for the Product of the Year Award - and P&G who was named Large Supply Partner of the Year. Frewstal were awarded Protein Supplier of the Year, and Mackays Banana Marketing Co were awarded Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Supplier of the Year.

Claire Peters concluded: “Strong collaborative partnerships are critical to our ability to meet the needs of our mutual customers.

“We’d like to thank all our suppliers for their collaboration over the past twelve months. We look forward to continuing to work together to deliver innovative and high quality products at great value for our customers in 2020.”

-Ends-