Awards Rules and Privacy Notice

Read the Award Rules and Terms of Use of entry for nominations in the 2025 BBC Food and Farming Awards.

• The BBC, its sub-contractors, subsidiaries and/or agencies cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem which may result in any nomination not being properly registered. Proof of sending is not proof of receipt. The closing date for entries is midday on Monday 30th June 2025.
• Please make sure you read through the description for each of the categories you are submitting a nomination for. Make sure you clearly explain how your nominee meets, or exceeds, the criteria in the description. The BBC has the right to disqualify entries that don’t contain the information requested on the nomination pages.
• The BBC will only ever use personal details for the purposes of administering the Awards and in accordance with the Food & Farming Awards 2025 Privacy Notice. If you are providing any personal data of a third party, please ensure you have their permission before this information is provided to the BBC. The personal data provided will be shared within the BBC and with external third parties for the purposes of administering the award. The BBC will not share your information with any other third parties. The names of nominees who are shortlisted, commended and winning persons may be disclosed to the public. The BBC will retain your information to maintain an accurate record of the award, for the purposes of administering future awards and will destroy this information provided when it is no longer required. Please feel free to ask questions about what happens to the information provided in the nomination form or let us know if you would like to withdraw your entry by contacting us at thefoodprogramme@bbc.co.uk The BBC will keep your information secure and in accordance with the BBC’s Privacy and Cookies Policy, available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/privacy
• All entries will be sent to members of The Food Programme, Morning Live and Countryfile teams to be processed and checked against the criteria before being sent to the judges for consideration. Nominations that do not satisfy the entry criteria or that lack sufficient supporting information may be excluded during the initial review stage at the BBC’s sole discretion.
• Each category judge will select a ‘long list’ for shortlisting. All judges are listed on the BBC Food & Farming Awards website. The judges are independent and have been selected for their knowledge in the various category areas. All judges see the long lists, and their decisions are final in every category.
• During the judging process, judges will review nominations against set criteria that could cover a number of areas including community involvement, sustainability and other business operational matters. If any ongoing or previous legal proceedings emerge that pose risks, reputational or otherwise to the BBC, this may result in a breach of criteria. The judges or the production team may choose to disqualify that nomination in the BBC’s sole discretion. The awards team may undertake social media checks of those nominated. Nominees warrant they have not acted or omitted to act in a manner that will bring the BBC into disrepute. Where it deems appropriate, the BBC may require shortlisted nominees to undertake DBS checks, specifics of which will be agreed between the BBC and the nominees if required. Information discovered or that may have been disclosed by the nominees themselves will inform the decision as to the selection of the finalists. Disqualification will not be automatic but the decision is in the sole discretion of the BBC. Information will be shared with the BBC’s editorial policy advisor for the awards and be handled in the strictest confidence and as with all personal data, in accordance with the BBC’s Privacy Notice
• You can nominate yourself or the organisation or company you work for. However, you will need to state if you are nominating your own business. Previous winners are eligible to be nominated again for the 2025 Awards.
• Because of the number of nominations we receive, it will not be possible to update you on the outcome of your individual nomination. We may contact the nominees directly for further details, but all those shortlisted will be contacted personally in July 2025.
• The next stage of the process will include a visit from selected judge(s) before the winner in each category is decided.
• The Awards are not open to employee or contractor of the BBC, BBC Group company or any person directly involved in the organisation or running of them, or their family members. This exclusion covers both the nominating process and the right to be nominated.
• Nominees have to be based in the UK, The Channel Islands or the Isle of Man and will also need to have been trading for at least one year to be considered for entry. For the BBC Food Innovation category only, we will accept nominations from internationally-based companies that have a significant customer base and significant business operation located in the UK, Channel Islands and/or the Isle of Man. All nominees for an award must be over the age of 18, except for the Countryfile Young Countryside Champion 2025 where the nominees must be over the age of 16.
• A press release will be issued with details of finalists in each category, and a later release will name the winners. The finalists will also be announced on the Food Programme and listed on the website during July 2025.
• The award will consist of a certificate and a wooden chopping board. There is no cash prize. No commercial gain can be made from using or referencing the BBC brand, the award itself or any other element of this awards process. The certificate and wooden chopping board is for the winner’s personal enjoyment only and cannot be sold or transferred in any circumstances. The winner cannot copy, reproduce or distribute or copies of them. Any branding or logos on or associated with the award cannot be used or reproduced by the winner in any way.
• To the extent permitted by law, the BBC will not be liable for any loss or damage (whether such damage or losses were foreseen, foreseeable, known or otherwise) including financial, reputational loss or disappointment.
• The BBC reserves the right to exclude any entry from the award at any time and in its absolute discretion if the BBC has reason to believe that a nominator or nominee has breached these rules, acted fraudulently or has done anything which, in its sole discretion, brings the BBC into disrepute.
• The BBC reserves the right to amend these Award Rules. The BBC reserves the right to cancel this award or alter any of the Rules at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, or if circumstances arise outside of its control.
• To the extent that they apply – this Award is subject to the BBC’s Terms of Use and the Code of Conduct on Competitions and Votes –https://www.bbc.com/editorialguidelines/guidance/code-of-conduct
• These Award Rules are governed by the laws of England and Wales