1. TERMS USED

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1.1 The Organisers or Clifton Chilli Club, the organisation that runs the National Chilli Awards

1.2 CliftonChilliClub.com - the website through which entrants enter the National Chilli Awards.

1.3 Company profile - the company’s record on CliftonChilliClub.com, through which entries to the National Chilli Awards are made and the results & feedback recorded and released to the entrant.

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2. NATIONAL CHILLI AWARDS REGISTRATION

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2.1 The entry system will send all National Chilli Awards correspondence about entries, deliveries and results to the email of the user who made the entry.

2.2 It is the responsibility of all entrants to ensure that the user entering has access to their email account during entry, delivery and results periods.

2.3 It is the responsibility of all entrants to ensure that the domain name cliftonchilliclub.com is added to a safe senders list to avoid missing important National Chilli Awards information.

2.4 It is the responsibility of all entrants taking part in National Chilli Awards to provide correct information and spellings of company names, product names and contact details.

2.5 A receipt will be emailed to you on completion of your online transaction. This is the only receipt you will receive.

2.6 National Chilli Awards is open to chilli food producers, importers, distributors and retailers.

2.7 To be eligible to enter National Chilli Awards, entrants must confirm that they are registered as a Food Business with the Food Standards Authority (UK only) https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance (or, for FSA-approved exceptions, must have local authority approval in the UK), or registered for food production with a competent authority in their country (if outside the UK). Companies that are not registered will be unable to enter products into National Chilli Awards. No refunds can be given for withdrawn entries. Additionally, entrants will be asked about food safety accreditation and documentation.

2.8 All entries must be commercially available to the general public at the time of entering i.e. sold through independent retailers, local markets, online or a multiple retailer. Limited edition items are not recommended for entry.

2.9 Producers should be aware of the judging dates (February 2025) when considering which products to enter. Alternative judging dates cannot be accommodated for products which are unavailable by the product submission date.

2.10 Products may only be entered into National Chilli Awards if they can be tasted alone or with the addition of only ONE added ingredient, e.g. mayonnaise, coconut milk, chicken or pasta. The single added ingredient must be readily available. It will be at the Organiser’s discretion whether the added ingredient can be provided.

2.15 No products can be accepted into National Chilli Awards that require specialist equipment to taste.

2.16 Products not eligible for entry include: products containing non-sustainable palm oil, limited edition products, products without clear ingredient lists (including allergens), expired products.

2.17 The judging panels are assessing the taste, texture, appearance, aroma and flavour of the products, not any associated health or nutritional benefits of a product.

2.18 All products must be made to the same standard and recipe as the foods available commercially. Different batches made specifically for National Chilli Awards judging will be disqualified. If a product is entered as a seasonal blend this blend must be identified in the description / product name.

2.19 If the product is changed in any way, permission for use of the award label or logo will be withdrawn and the product must be resubmitted to National Chilli Awards. Any change that could potentially affect the product, including but not limited to: difference in production or manufacturing process, altered recipe, a significant seasonal impact on ingredients, alteration to ingredient quality, a change in source or type of ingredients and their treatment, would make the award void and the product should be resubmitted to National Chilli Awards.

2.20 Only entries fit for human consumption will be judged.

2.21 National Chilli Awards closes for entry on 17th January 2025 and all products must be received by 31st January 2025.

2.22 Product entry details must be correct when entries closed. There will be no opportunity to edit the product entry details after the entry period closes. Only in extreme circumstances will amendments to product entry details be made, and only at the discretion of the National Chilli Awards Organisers. This would not extend to a substitute to a completely different product than that entered.

2.23 The list of ingredients provided on the entry form may be shared with the judging panel in some circumstances. Include all ingredients and avoid commercially sensitive details.

2.24 National Chilli Awards Organisers reserve the right to refuse entry of a product if it is deemed inappropriate or not in the true spirit of the awards.

2.25 No entry will be accepted AFTER the entry deadline

2.26 The Organisers may check your product description and amend or remove nonfactual information, if applicable.

2.27 Entries that do not include full entry information before judging commences, with any sections left as TBC (or similar) will be automatically disqualified.

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3. PAYMENT

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3.1 A payment by credit/debit card or PayPal, in full, is required when entering online. Entry fees not paid in full will result in products not being judged.

3.2 There will be NO REFUND given if a product needs to be WITHDRAWN from the judging process after an entry has been paid for. However, if you contact the office BEFORE entries close, the Organisers may be able to accept an alternative product in its place. No product details can be edited or changed by the entrant after the entry period closes. Please refer to point 2.22.

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4. PACKAGING

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4.1 All products must be submitted for judging in their RETAIL PACKAGING where possible. The retail packaging must state the Use By/ Best Before date along with all ingredients and allergens.

4.2 All products are judged blind, exclusively on taste, texture, appearance, aroma and flavour.

4.3 All products are DECANTED from original packaging prior to judging, to ensure fair blind-tasting.

4.4 ONE product category equals ONE entry.

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5. DELIVERY

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5.1 A delivery date window will be allocated to each company entering the National Chilli Awards. An email will be sent to the user to advise of delivery dates and instructions.

5.2 It is the responsibility of the entrant to ensure the prompt and safe delivery of all products by the requested date for delivery. Failure to do so may result in disqualification.

5.3 Due to limited storage space, the Organisers cannot save packaging to be collected after delivery. Please use recyclable packaging wherever possible.

5.4 Please use the delivery address supplied with the delivery instructions on all parcels to state clearly if product(s) need to be refrigerated and every entry MUST carry a Use By or Best Before date.

5.5 It is the entrants’ responsibility to ensure that all products are packed, transported and delivered in a condition fit and safe for consumption by the judges.

5.6 Any products arriving in a damaged or unsafe condition will be disqualified. This includes any product requiring refrigeration with no prior notification or poor labelling. Chilled products received at the incorrect temperature will be rejected and the product(s) recalled.

5.7 If a delivery slot is missed, an attempt will be made to judge products arriving after the allotted delivery date. However, this will be at the discretion of the Organisers and is not guaranteed.

5.8 Entrants entering products that require cooking, re-heating or preparing in some form before judging must provide Kitchen instructions, which will form a part of the entry details for each product. It is each entrant’s responsibility to ensure that the kitchen instructions given for each product are accurate. In order to ensure parity and impartiality across the judging process, Clifton Chilli Club will have final decision on how products are prepared for judging.

5.9 Any shipping/customs/import charges applicable to the delivery of an entry must be paid by the entrant. If applicable, the Organisers will seek to reclaim any such charges incurred from the entrant or reject delivery.

5.10 The Organisers are unable to make applications for an import licence for products not normally permitted for delivery to the UK. Entrants should check any import restrictions before entering National Chilli Awards.

5.11 If there is a balance outstanding for the company payable to Clifton Chilli Club, entries may not be called for delivery until payment is received and no refunds for entries will be given. If applicable after results are released, certificate, trophy, label and logo orders may not be processed until the balance is cleared.

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6. JUDGING

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6.1 Judging will take place in February 2025. The primary judging location will be in Bristol, UK but the Organisers reserve the right to include additional locations.

6.2 The Organisers will take great care to ensure safe keeping of all entries throughout the judging process. However, the Organisers, their employees and associates cannot be held responsible for this safe keeping.

6.3 The Organisers will make every effort to cook and prepare your product(s) following the label guidelines or Kitchen instructions entered with the product. It is the responsibility of the entrant to ensure that relevant information is included in the kitchen instructions supplied.

6.4 No products can be returned to entrants.

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7. RESULTS

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7.1 The results will be available online early 2025.

7.2 An email alert from the Organisers will be sent out to each entrant as soon as the 2025 results have been edited and are ready to go live.

7.3 It is the entrants’ responsibility to look up their results.

7.4 Award-winners always will be displayed in the format entered into National Chilli Awards by the entrant. This includes the name of the company, name of the product and the website & social media links. Entrants must ensure that all product details are provided correctly on entry to National Chilli Awards.

7.5 Award certificates will be available to download for free giving entrants immediate access and enabling entrants to print their own copies or use certificates in a digital format on websites and other communications.

7.6 The Organisers may share winning entrants’ contact details, including telephone numbers or email addresses with carefully selected partners for the purposes of stocking awarded products.

7.8 The Organisers may share National Chilli Awards winners’ details and positive quotes from judges with relevant sponsors or media contacts for promotional purposes only. If you do not want your company details shared with third party organisations, please contact the Organisers to make this clear. Non-personally identifiable order data for all entrants will be sent to Google Analytics.

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8. JUDGES AND FEEDBACK

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8.1 No specific information relating to the identity of any of the judges involved in sampling and judging will be revealed at any time.

8.2 Judges’ comments relating to each product are available to the company entering the product. Some judging comments for award-winning products may be used in PR by carefully selected retail and media partners.

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9. LABELS AND LOGOS

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9.1 National Chilli Awards logo artwork and labels will be available to companies wishing to use them for promotional purposes.

9.2 The National Chilli Awards name & logo is protected by trademark. Any misrepresentation will result in the award being withdrawn or disqualified.

9.3 Use of the National Chilli Awards logo or labels must be in accordance with the most recent published brand guidelines relating to the current National Chilli Awards artwork.

9.4 The logo must always include the year in which the award was won and the position (gold, silver or bronze), and may only be used on award winning products.

9.5 Use of the logo on any product that has not won an award is expressly forbidden. In the event that a logo is misused, the Organisers reserve the right to report it to Trading Standards without notice.

9.6 If the exact same product is sold under an alternative brand name, and this brand name was declared on the National Chilli Awards entry form in the alternative names field, in the event of an award at the discretion of the Organiser it may be permitted to use the award logo on these alternative brand names. The alternative names cannot be advised retrospectively.

9.7 If an award-winning product is changed in any way, permission for use of the award label or logo will be withdrawn. Any change that could potentially affect the product, including but limited to: difference in product or manufacturing process, altered recipe, a change in source or type of ingredients and their treatment, would make the award void.

9.8 The Organiser has the right to remove an award if a producer is prosecuted by a relevant authority for food, packaging, human or animal safety violation.

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10. DISPUTES

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10.1 Under no circumstances can the Clifton Chilli Club or its employees undertake discussion about judges’ comments.

10.2 Judging results and comments are final. The Organisers will not enter in to dispute with entrants after the results are published.

10.3 On all matters relating to National Chilli Awards, the verdict of the judges is final.

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11. OTHER

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11.1 The Organisers reserve the right to re-open entry during 2025 to accept additional entries.

11.2 Please note dates and judging location indicated are subject to change without notice. The Organiser reserves the right to delay judging and therefore amend the dates associated with it.