Best Bites
The Best Bites program celebrates excellence in food businesses across the areas of nutrition, accessibility, waste management, water and energy saving, along with going smoke free and alcohol management.
There are two elements to the current Best Bites program: The Best Bites Food Guide and the Best Bites Food Awards. These are managed by the Best Bites Advisory Committee.
Win a $100 Best Bites Budget voucher
Help us with our Budget 2023-24 planning and we’ll feed you!
By participating, you have the chance to win a $100 food/beverage/dining voucher from one of our local Best Bites award winners.
Visit our Budget Portal to find out more.
2022 Best Bites Food Awards winners
2022 Best Bites Awards
Business Category results
Restaurant
Winners:
- Bronze (joint) – Unica Cucina E Caffe, Capel Sound
- Bronze (joint) – Stumpy Gully Dining, Moorooduc
- Silver – The Kitchen, Bistro, Bar and Courtyard, Tootgarook
- Gold – Foxeys Hangout, Red Hill
Finalists:
- Rosebud RSL, Rosebud
- Rye Hotel, Rye
Café
Winners:
- Bronze – Two to Tango, Somerville
- Silver – Blue Mini Cafe-eatery-emporium-events, Rosebud
- Gold – Commonfolk Coffee Company, Mornington
Finalists:
- Corner Pantry, Somerville
- Elements Eatery, Rosebud
- Miss Moose Tuckshop, Somerville
- Lilo Café, Mornington
Farmgate
- Gold – Mock Red Hill, Red Hill
Takeaway outlets
- Silver – The Hive Loukoumades, Rye
- Gold – Spudalicious, Hastings
Health and education
Winners:
- Bronze – Tyabb Village Children’s Centre, Tyabb
- Silver (joint) - Hastings Childcare and Community Kinder, Hastings
- Silver (joint) - Crib Point Early Learning Centre, Crib Point
Finalists:
- Westernport Childcare Centre & Kindergarten, Hastings
- Rosebud Early Learning, Rosebud
- Toorak Caterer’s, Mount Eliza
- Kidz Shed, Hastings
Retail
Winners:
- Bronze – La Casa Nostra Deli, Rosebud
- Silver – Ritchies Mount Eliza, Mount Eliza
- Gold – Be Fit Food, Mornington
Finalists:
- Mornington Peninsula Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery, Flinders
- Mt Eliza Village Fruits, Mount Eliza
Areas of Excellence category results
Smoke free and alcohol management
Winner:
- The Hidden Kitchen, Tootgarook
Highly Commended:
- Crib Point Early Learning Centre, Crib Point
- Tyabb Village Children’s Centre, Tyabb
Nutrition and healthy eating
Winner:
- Blue Mini Cafe-eatery-emporium-events, Rosebud
Highly Commended:
-
Toorak Caterer’s, Mount Eliza
-
Hastings Childcare and Community Kinder, Hastings
Access and inclusion
Winner:
Highly Commended:
- Tyabb Village Children’s Centre, Tyabb
- Commonfolk Coffee Company, Mornington
Energy and water efficiency
Winner:
Highly Commended:
- Commonfolk Coffee Company (Energy), Mornington
- Tyabb Village Children’s Centre (Water), Tyabb
Waste and recycling
Winner:
- Via Battisti, Mount Martha
Highly Commended:
- Toorak Caterer’s, Mount Eliza
- Lilo Café, Mornington
The Best Bites Advisory Committee
The Best Bites program is coordinated by the Best Bites Advisory Committee. Members are drawn from Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, Peninsula Health, the Disability Advisory Committee, and other relevant organisations with knowledge and experience in the program areas of access and inclusion, nutrition, tobacco control, and sustainability. The committee are guided by Terms of Reference(PDF, 123KB) .
Community members and organisation representatives interested in joining the Best Bites Advisory Committee, can express their interest by emailing us.
You can contact the program via email bestbites@mornpen.vic.gov.au, or phone 1300 850 600 for more information.
Best Bites Food Guide
The Best Bites Food Guide features the most outstanding food businesses on the Mornington Peninsula in the five areas of nutrition, tobacco and alcohol, waste and recycling, energy and water efficiency and access for all.
To qualify for the Best Bites program, food businesses must attain 95% compliance with their annual Shire Food Safety Assessment.
It's free to be involved, and simply requires a short on site assessment to be carried out.
Once assessed across one or more of the five areas, businesses are included in the Best Bites Food Guide - in print and online.
The Guide, which lists more than 100 local food businesses serving safe, healthy and sustainable food, is available for free from Shire customer service centres, local food businesses, visitor information centres, libraries and the most up-to-date version is maintained online.
Download: Best Bites Food Guide 2022(PDF, 10MB)
Businesses can nominate to be included in the next edition of the Best Bites Food Guide by completing a nomination form to arrange an assessment.
There are lots of resources to help businesses achieve excellence across the five areas of the Best Bites program. More information about the Best Bites Food Guide and the Best Bites program can be found at mpbusiness.com.au/best-bites.
Best Bites Food Awards
As part of the Best Bites program, the Best Bites Food Awards showcase excellence in local food businesses.
Businesses that are in the Best Bites Food Guide can nominate for the awards, and are assessed on how well they are achieving the following:
- Providing of safe and healthy food;
- Using environmentally sustainable business practices;
- Providing accessible and inclusive premises; and
- Minimising harm associated with alcohol consumption and tobacco use
There are different nine business categories including :
- Café
- Restaurant
- Takeaway outlet
- Tourist Accommodation (for example, bed and breakfast, accommodation with a dining room)
- Health & Education (includes child care, school canteen, aged care, etc)
- Farm gate: includes primary producers with a retail frontage
- Food manufacturer (for example, bakers, cheese makers, home based businesses, etc)
- Retail (for example, butchers, supermarket, delicatessens, etc)
- Community Group (for example, sporting clubs with canteens)
Nominees in each of these categories are judged by an independent panel to determine the award finalists, highly commended and winners.
Judging takes place over winter and spring, with the Awards announced in late Spring.
See our previous Best Bites Food Awards results or find out more about entering the Best Bites Food Awards and the Best Bites program.
Best Bites Judges
An independent judging panel drawn from Peninsula Health, Disability Advisory Committee, Mornington Peninsula Shire and relevant industry associations/groups assesses the entrants across a wide ranging criteria. Judges are drawn from organisations such as
The judges for each Best Bites business category have great knowledge and experience in the program areas of access and inclusion, nutrition, tobacco control, and sustainability. All of the judges are volunteers who kindly donate their time and expertise to support Best Bites. Without their support the Best Bites Awards would not be possible.
You can contact the program via email bestbites@mornpen.vic.gov.au, or phone 1300 850 600 for more information.
Useful links for businesses
There are a large number of great online resources available to businesses to help them learn more about the Best Bites program. Be inspired by other local businesses delivering excellence across the Best Bites categories, find new resources to upskill staff, and give your business a higher community profile using the Best Bites program.