Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/567722
How Judging works The sofi Awards judging takes place over several months. First, a panel of judges tastes and evaluates thousands of product submissions over the course of eight full days to arrive at the year's sofi Award finalists. Entries are each assessed on such attri- butes as taste, quality, innovation, ingredient profile, merchandisability, and best in class status. Here is a look at the judging process: • March–April: A national panel of specialty food professionals convened over eight days to taste and evaluate all entries to select the 125 finalists. Judging is divided into two parts: Part 1 with 30 categories, and Part 2 focused exclusively on Outstanding New Product and Outstanding Product Line entries. • June 28–29: Final judging to select winners took place on-site at the Summer Fancy Food Show. This year, 200+ participating retail and foodservice buyers tasted and cast votes for their favorites in each category. • June 29: The red-carpet awards ceremony revealed the 33 winners (with a tie in the Outstanding Cooking, Dipping, or Finishing Sauce category). The finalist judging panel comprised retailers, journalists, and foodservice professionals. This year's panel included: Nick Anderer, USHG-Marta/Maialino; Phillip Arons, UNFI; Ray Arroyo, Citarella; Sonya Askew, The Fresh Market; Ken Blanchette, Fresh Direct; Dino Borri, Eataly; Stacy Delikat, Fox5NY; Christina DiLaura, Food52 Shop; JoJo Feld, Food52 Shop; Charles Gagliardo, Citarella; Seth Goldman, HelloFresh; Beth Haley, DPI; Julia Hallman, Formaggio Kitchen; Melanie Hansche, Rodale; Julia Heffelfinger, Food & Wine; Sergio Hernandez, Bklyn Larder; Kirsten Hogan, UNFI; Kathy Klingensmith, Kroger; Patrycja Kotowska, Wine Library; Alison Kunetka, Williams-Sonoma; Eric Larson, Cooper's Hawk; John Lawson, Whole Foods Market; Mathis Martinez, Kroger; Max McCalman, master fromager; Mike McMahon, Bristol Farms; China Millman, mouth.com; Sara Moulton, PBS/AP; Kate Planitzer, mouth.com; Gizella Otterson, Bklyn Larder; David Porat, Chelsea Market Baskets; Jacqueline Raposo, freelance food writer; Avanelle Rivera, Citarella; Dan Rothman, Whole Foods Market; Francine Segan, food historian/writer; Emily Taylor, Bklyn Larder; Amy Templeton, independent caterer; Tina Ujlacki, Food & Wine.—D.P. SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com I S5 overHeard from tHe Judges The Specialty Food News team covered each day of the sofi finalist judging process on its live blog. As flies on the wall during the action, we heard things: the good, the bad, and the indifferent. Here's a sampling. Go to live .specialtyfood.com to read full coverage. "If you can make something great with 1 or 2 ingredients, that speaks volumes." —in deliberation "The packaging is tough for merchandising. But the quality is there—and the pricing shows it!" —in confections "It tasted like 1988." —in deliberation Nut creams and cheeses (like cashew) are up and coming. —in general discussion "This is the best category for Indian food. It holds up so well." —in foodservice "It has a texture like melted Playdoh." —in pasta sauce "How much ginger is too much?" —in deliberation "The [producer's] whole story is on the back. Read it and then taste. Even better." — in oil "Turmeric is a hot ingredient." —in deliberation "Hey, I love this! I'm glad no one stormed out!" —in deliberation