Nominate rising stars, industry trendsetters and unsung food heroes in the first Kent & Medway Food & Drink Awards.

The brand new awards, presented by the KM Media Group, will celebrate the very best of Kent and Medway’s thriving food and drink industry - and you can nominate your favourites here.

Whether your local village pub deserves a shoutout or there’s a champion of your community you want to celebrate, you can nominate your foodie favourites from across the county.

With nominations made by the public and the winners selected by a panel of independent industry experts, the awards aim to give credit where it is truly due and recognise those who work tirelessly to deliver exceptional food and drink.

The finalists will be announced in KM Group newspapers and KentOnline from Wednesday, January 17, and winners will be revealed at the Spitfire Ground in Canterbury on Tuesday, February 27.

We want you to vote for your top picks across 12 categories:

Beverage Producer of the Year

Chef of the Year

Farm Shop / Deli of the Year

Food Bank of the Year

Food and Drink Hero

Food Producer of the Year

Hospitality Champion Kent

Hotel of the Year

Pub / Bar of the Year

Restaurant of the Year

Street Food / Pop Up of the Year

Tearoom / Coffee Shop of the Year

Click here to submit your nominations. Businesses are also welcome to nominate themselves in any category and there’s no limit to how many nominations you can make - all we ask is that your nominations are for businesses based in Kent or Medway.

The head judge for the inaugural awards will be award-winning chef Richard Phillips.

Richard studied at Thanet Catering College and began his career at Le Gavroche in London under the guidance of Albert and Michel Roux and went on to work for Marco Pierre White at The Oak Room and The Mirabelle in London.

He now runs his own acclaimed restaurant, Thackeray's in Tunbridge Wells, which held a Michelin star for a total of five years, and opened the Pearson's Arms on Whitstable seafront in 2010.

The awards will be sponsored by Café Nucleus, a collection of four unique café-restaurants across Chatham, Rochester and Rainham.

Also supporting the first Kent and Medway Food and Drink Awards is Shepherd Neame, ORIDA Hotel Maidstone, NFU Mutual Ashford Tenterden and Whitfield, East Kent Colleges Group and kff.