If you are not on our Awards mailing lists and wish to be added for future awards, please email Alex.
The full entry and awards process is described below. 2024 dates will be replaced by 2025 dates in autumn, but most other information will remain the same for next year.
First things first …
Read and understand our Criteria & Rules.
Choose the Categories and Special Awards you wish to enter, and check that the products you wish to enter meet our Criteria.
Understand the full Awards process — plus fees and key dates — outlined in points 1–10 below.
For answers to common questions — including what makes our awards different to other awards — see our FAQs .
1. Entry dates for 2024
Please note: There is an initial three-week ‘Early Bird’ entry period — during which a 10% discount applies to all entry fees.
‘Early Bird’ entry opens 8th January 2024.
‘Early Bird’ entry closes 28th January 2024.
Final entry date is 1st March 2024 (extended).
2. Entry fees for 2024
There are two tiers of fee: the lower tier, which represents a 20% reduction, applies to brands with fewer than three individuals working across the brand and any parent company, owners included, both nationally and internationally. (NB. The condition applies to the cosmetic brand / parent company, and not to any PR, regional representative or independent agent entering the brand’s products. Two full-time individuals and one part-time individual is the maximum total accepted under ‘fewer than three individuals’)
Fees are as follows. VAT is NOT charged.
£175 or £140 — per product, per main category (1–16).
£30 or £24 — per product, for optional additional participation in the Free From Achievement Award.
£30 or £24 — per brand, for optional additional participation in the Best Labelling Award.
£30 or £24 — per brand, for optional additional participation in the Best Digital Presence Award.
No charge — for participation in the Best Free From Brand Award (minimum three product entries required).
10% overall discount — if submitting entry forms by ‘Early Bird’ deadline of 28th January 2024.
There are no additional fees at any later stage of the Awards: all the benefits of participation are included in these fees. (Although note samples requirements below.)
3. Entering the Awards
Once you have decided what to enter, go to our Online Entry Forms and follow the instructions and guidance provided.
4. What happens after you submit entry forms?
a/ You should receive a confirmation of entry email.
b/ We will check entry forms for possible issues: such as products entered into inappropriate categories, or ineligible products. While we endeavour to resolve any issues before we accept entries, we remind entrants it is their responsibility to ensure submissions are accurate and to check whether there are problems which may disqualify them.
c/ We aim to confirm acceptance of your entries within a week, but if you don’t hear from us, email us or try contacting us through one of our social media accounts, such as X.
d/ We will send you an Entrant Logo to use on social media to share your participation in the Awards.
5. What about samples?
a/ When we confirm acceptance, we will include instructions for sending us samples — normally, six full-size units of each product in each category will be required. These must arrive from UK brands within 10 days of being requested — we will allow a week longer for deliveries from Ireland and continental Europe. Samples must be in the size specified on the entry form, and be products as sold to the purchasing consumer in the UK / EU. Pre-trade / tester / trial / mock-up samples cannot be accepted.
b/ In the case of one-time-use products only (eg bath bombs, sheet face masks), more than six samples will be required. The quantity is likely to be around twenty.
c/ We do NOT need extra samples for additional participation in the Free From Achievement Award, Free From Labelling Award or Best Free From Brand Award.
d/ Entrants are wholly responsible for delivery fees to our UK address. Duties and taxes incurred because of shipment from outside UK must also be met entirely by the entrant. Please consider these fees before submitting entries. We will give further advice on this when we accept your products.
6. What happens after we receive your samples?
a/ We will confirm their receipt.
b/ We will welcome you to the Awards on at least two of our social media channels, including Instagram. (Our hashtag is #FFSA24)
c/ We will begin to send your samples out to our Testers. Four experienced testers, carefully chosen and matched with your products, will test your products for one month.
d/ Once their testing period is over, testers submit detailed feedback and scores to us; and once this is received for all entries, the data will be collated and the List of Finalists compiled.
7. When are the finalists announced?
a/ The Finalists will be announced on May 15th 2024 and shared widely on social media and to the press / beauty media.
b/ We will write to all successful and unsuccessful entrants, and send a Finalist Logo to the former. Entrants who do not hear from us at this time should contact us.
8. What about judging?
a/ Products which reach the final are then presented to round-table panels of judges consisting of, for example, cosmetic formulators, beauty writers, skincare experts, allergy bloggers, ‘free from’ experts and selected brand owners, for further assessment during a live judging week in early June. Extracts of feedback from Testers is presented to judges, along with the products. Judges’ views, when combined with Testers’, allow us to reach decisions on all winners and runners-up, with typically one or two Gold winners, several Silver and several Bronze winners in each category decided, as well as multiple additional winners in the special awards categories too.
b/ To learn more about the testing and judging process, click here.
9. And when are the winners announced?
Winners will be announced online on 26th June 2024. We will write to all finalists with full details closer to the time.
10. What happens after the announcements?
a/ Soon after the announcements, we will email Winners Logos to all winning brands.
b/ We will issue press releases about the results, and encourage all winners to participate in publicity regarding their win, which we will aim to support in any way we can. (For previous press coverage, see here.)
c/ We will share news and winners on our social media channels, and showcase a large selection of products and brands across our websites and accounts, and at any shows at which we will be exhibiting, such as The Allergy & Free From Show.
d/ Detailed testers’ feedback on products will be available on request in the weeks after the awards to all participants, whether or not they make the final, whether or not they win.
