Stowmarket-based maltster Muntons is celebrating after scooping a prestigious sector award.

The firm was crowned Maltster of the Year at the RMI Analytics Global Brewing Supply Awards ceremony held at The World Barley, Malt & Beer Conference (WBMB) in Dublin earlier this month.

The prestigious prize was presented at a gala dinner at the WBMB conference by Mr Stefan Homeister, a member of the judging panel and an independent leadership consultant accompanied by a two minute video showcasing Muntons.

Sales director Tim Stonehouse, who attended the event with colleagues Alan Ridealgh, Pete Robson, Mike Norfolk and Michaela Crack, accepted it on behalf of the company.

The award was presented to the company who, in the opinion of the judges, best demonstrated exceptional financial returns, strong growth and innovation strategies plus market leadership in its sector.

Judges also looked for evidence of inventiveness, ethical credentials, good stakeholder relationships and long term planning balanced by the flexibility to deliver consistent results in dynamic market conditions.

Tim said: “On behalf of Muntons Malt I thank RMI Analytics, the board of judges and our customers for this award. It is our philosophy to put our customers and people first. This recognition is very important to all of us at Muntons and I strongly recommend other companies in the brewing industry to put themselves forward in future years. This is indeed a great honour - thank you from all of us.”

The WBMB is the world’s premier event for the barley, malting and brewing industries, attracting nearly 300 attendees from the global brewing supply industry for its three day conference, including over 70% of the brewing trade, the majority of global barley malt traders and many of the world’s maltsters.

The theme of the conference this year was ’growing a better world’ focusing on the sustainable supply of the key ingredients for beer; barley, malt, hops and yeast. RMI’s Dublin based WBMB conference was the eighth in a long running series of conferences serving the brewing industry since 2001.

RMI this year hosted the brewing supply industry awards for the first time, which rewards the most innovative businesses in the global malt, barley, beer and hops business community.