And the winners are

Golden Leaf Awards winners accept trophies in festive atmosphere

Representatives of Universal Leaf Tobacco, Tobaccotoday, U.S. Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers and Andromeda Forwarding received their Golden Leaf Awards trophies at a festive ceremony held during Tobacco Reporter’s first Global Tobacco Networking Forum at the Intercontinental Hotel in Rio de Janeiro.
George Hendrata, CEO of the Golden Leaf Awards exclusive sponsor, BMJ, accepted the trophy on behalf of ITC Printing and Packaging, which had won the prestigious BMJ “most committed to quality” award but was unable to send representatives to the forum.

The other winners were recognized in the categories “most promising new product introduction” (Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers); “most impressive service initiative” (Universal Leaf); “most outstanding service to the industry” (Universal Leaf again); and “most exciting newcomer to the industry” (tobaccotoday.info).

For the second year in a row, Andromeda Forwarding took home the “people’s choice” award. The company had been nominated by a whopping 44 business partners—12 more than in the run up to the 2007 Golden Leaf Awards. In addition to their trophies, winners of the Golden Leaf Awards received a $1,000 donation to a charity of their choice.

Following the awards ceremony, festively (and scantily) dressed Brazilian dancers took over the stage and encouraged the crowd to join in. Many participants eagerly did so, with some displaying remarkable levels of stamina on the dance floor. As the evening wound down, many agreed it was an event worth repeating. They can look forward to the next Golden Leaf Award ceremony, which will be held during the TABINFO exhibition and congress in Bangkok, Thailand, Nov. 11-13, 2009.