Confectionary firm Fudge Kitchen has scooped a prestigious award as the Food Manufacture Excellence Awards.

The firm, headquartered in Lyminge, near Folkestone, won the Best Ambient Manufacturer of the Year in the small company category - a prize it had previously won in 2014.

The award was handed out at a glitzy event at London's Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square.

Managing director Sian Holt said: "The standard and nature of entries this year was a real testament to just how vibrant, trailblazing and exciting a sector the food manufacturing industry is. More so than most, it is a place of incredible creativity, innovation and, increasingly, integrity that we are proud to be a part of.

“Winning this award tops off a breathless two years for Fudge Kitchen which has seen a complete redesign across shops, packaging and branding, an expansion of our own labels across Selfridges, Harrods and Harvey Nichols, amongst others, a development of our vegan range, growth in our export interest, to now include a Canadian distributor, and a complete overhaul of our branded range into concise, targeted lines."

Editor of Food Manufacture magazine, which organises the event, Rod Addy added: "The judging panel praised Fudge Kitchen’s radical new product development programme, including the launch of new vegan-friendly products and own-label ranges for Harvey Nichols, Harrods and Fortnum & Mason.

"One judge said the company demonstrated 'excellent investment in productivity, while remaining true to the core values of hand finishing'."

Head to our business page for all of the latest news about businesses in Kent.