FOOD ENGINEERING's Plant of the Year Award Nominations

Honoring innovation in food and beverage manufacturing — automation, line design, supply chain strategy, and more.

Do you have what it takes to be PLANT of the YEAR?

SUBMIT A NOMINATION

Submission deadline is September 12, 2025

Eligibility

 Any new food/beverage plant, major retrofit, or pilot/test plant that became fully operational between October 1, 2024 and September 30, 2025. Note: Plants submitted should produce processed food/beverage products (not simply value-added commodities) designed for human or pet consumption.

 Major renovations/expansions of existing facilities are eligible. Renovations will be judged on an equal footing with greenfield plants. Projects must have been completed between October 1, 2024 and September 30, 2025.

Plant visit: Any plant entered in the competition must be available by February 2025 for an editorial visit to be part of our April issue. Please do not submit a plant that will not be available.

Questions? Please contact Editor-in-Chief Alyse Thompson-Richards at thompson-richardsa@bnpmedia.com.

Who may submit entries

Food companies, A/E/C firms, suppliers or any others qualified to provide a detailed rationale for a particular plant. All entrants will be considered for Plant of the Year and Sustainable Plant of the Year awards, as well as future consideration as a Fabulous Food Plant cover story in FOOD ENGINEERING.

What is required?

A detailed narrative (maximum 10 pages) in support of the entry. Narrative should document the ways in which the plant excels with reference to the stated judging criteria. However, if there are additional relevant matters that go beyond the stated criteria, please be sure to call them to the judges’ attention in the narrative. These might include: on-time/on-budget performance; environmental impact; worker safety innovations; food safety innovations; advanced automation, process control and software technologies; size of project; room for future expansions; manufacturing teams; flexible manufacturing; supply chain management; vertical startups; and enterprise resource planning.

Clearly captioned illustrations, renderings/drawings, photos, etc. should be submitted if directly relevant. Please send high-resolution photos. Video clips of the facility's processing and packaging lines may also be included to support the entry, if available. Photos and videos can be submitted via Dropbox or another file-sharing service if they are too large for email.

A list of the companies and equipment manufacturers that served on the project team. We want to recognize everyone in the group that played a role in the completion of the project, from the owner all the way through to the subcontractors and suppliers, this includes manufacturers of any equipment or software installed in the facility. There will be no penalties or points deducted from the scoring by the judges if an incomplete list or no list is included due to such factors as non-disclosure agreements (NDA).