By Lorrie Baumann
This year, the Specialty Food Association has recognized products in 49 categories ranging from alcoholic beverages to yogurts with sofi Awards. This year’s category reflected the evolution of the food industry to emphasize functional and nutritional benefits and plant-based proteins as well as foods more traditionally considered “gourmet.” For instance, this year’s categories made space for beans, grains and rice as a single category, for plant-based milks as their own category distinct from dairy products and for plant-based protein products like tofu and textured vegetable protein products made from pea protein, grain, mushrooms and legumes. Even wellness bars and energy gels had a category in which to compete this year.
Outstanding new products included Long Root Wit Beer from Patagonia Provisions, which won a Good Food Award in 2019 for its Long Root Ale, which was brewed by Hopworks Urban Brewery. Like the Long Root Ale, the Long Root Wit Beer is made from Kernza, a perennial cousin of annual wheat that was developed at The Land Institute. Today, there are 107 farmers producing the grain on over 2,000 acres globally, and the grain is being used to produce a variety of products for consumers. This beer is a spin on Belgian-style Witbier and was brewed with coriander and orange peel for a citrus finish.
Bacon Wrapped Wagyu Beef & Gorgonzola Skewers from The Fillo Factory won the award for the best new product in the appetizers and snacks category, and Gem City’s Blueberry Lemon Loaf was named the best new product in the bakery desserts category. The Blueberry Lemon Loaf is a frozen specialty tea cake that’s gluten free and nut free. The loaves are individually packaged and can be served as-is or warmed with butter.
Date Lady Barbecue Sauce was judged the best new product in a category that, this year, included hot sauces as well as barbecue sauces. This is a mild, smokey barbecue sauce sweetened with dates, so it includes no corn syrup or cane sugar. It’s organic, vegan, kosher and gluten free.
The best new bread this year was Wake~N~Bagel Everything from Little Shop of Bagels. Wake~N~Bagel is a frozen thaw-and-bake line of bagels made from organic ingredients. It’s sold from the freezer case for consumers to thaw overnight in their refrigerators and then bake in the morning in either a range oven or toaster oven. In addition to its new product award, Wake~N~Bagel won the gold award in the category. Veggies Made Great offered the best new breakfast product this year with Mushroom & 3 Cheese Frittata, allergy-friendly and gluten-free egg white frittatas made with mushrooms, cauliflower, kale, potatoes and cage-free eggs. Each serving offers 80 calories and 4 grams of protein.
ROUGETTE Bonfire Marinated Grilling Cheese was named the best new product in the category for cow’s milk cheeses. All natural and lactose free, this is a savory semi-soft cheese that softens as it’s warmed. It’s pre-marinated in herbs and oil and is packed with its own grilling pan to be warmed either on the grill or in the oven. Studd Enterprizes‘ Aphrodite Artisan Goat Milk Halloumi won the best new product award for a cheese made from milk that didn’t come from a cow. This Halloumi is made in Cyprus using the traditional method of hand-forming it into pockets.
Sea Stick, a hand-rolled and baked crunchy seaweed snack from GoodLife, won the award for the best new salty snack. It’s offered in three flavors: Mild, Spicy and Wasabi and is packed with five pouches in a box. Inside each pouch is three rolls in a plastic safety tray.
Strawberry Balsamic Ganache from CocoTutti won the award for the best new chocolate candy, Goodnow Farms Colombia Boyaca 73% won the best new products award in the dark chocolate category, and Golden Goodness from Chuao Chocolatier won the award in the milk and white chocolates category. Golden Goodness is made from caramelized white chocolate and 100 percent cacao nibs to give it some crunch and balance the sweetness. In the category for confections not made from chocolate, Libity Bits Sesame Snacking Toffee from Vermont Amber Candy Company was named the best new product. My Organic Coco – A Bit Fresh – mint is MOCO‘s interpretation of a chocolate mint candy in a hot cocoa mix. It won the award for best new product in the category for coffees and hot cocoas.
Vegan Fermented Tea Leaf Dressing from Burma Love won the best new product award in a category that, this year, included condiments, dressings and marinades – any condiment other than a barbecue sauce or hot sauce, including ketchups and mayonnaises. This dressing is made from organic tea leaves hand picked in the Shan State mountains of Burma.
In the cookies and snack bars category, Loacker USA, Inc. took home the award for best new product with its Tortina Triple Dark Wafer, which belongs to its Loacker Gran Pasticceria collection. It’s made from dark chocolate with 60 percent cocoa around light and crispy cocoa wafers with a smooth cocoa-cream filling. On a more savory note, raincoast crispcotti™ pineapple & thai basil crackers by Dare Foods’ Lesley Stowe Fine Foods brand took home the award for the best new product in the crackers and crispbreads category. And since it’s hard to make a meal out of crackers, Beecher’s Handmade Cheese offers Beecher’s Gluten Free Cheese Curd Lasagna, which was recognized as the best new product in the category for lunch and dinner entrees. And for dessert, The Latest Scoop Vanilla Coconut Cream Premium Gelato from Cable Car Delights, Inc. was recognized as the best new product in the frozen desserts category. This dairy-free frozen dessert features Madagascar vanilla extract in coconut cream. For an unfrozen dessert, St. Benoit Creamery Pot de Creme Dessert – TCHO Chocolate received the best new product nod in a category called “other dairy.” Made in California from pasture-raised Jersey milk custard, this comes from Laura Chenel’s Chevre and is packaged in a glass jar.
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A mushroom jerky won the best new product award in the jerky and meat snacks category this year. Haw River Sassy Sesame Teriyaki Mushroom Jerky is 100 percent vegan, made from sustainably-grown mushrooms from the Haw River Mushrooms family farm.
ZOE Yellowfin Tuna Nape – tuna fillets packed in glass jars with extra-virgin olive oil – was named best new product in this year’s meat, poultry and seafood category. The product, offered by JCS Tradecom, Inc., is made from line-caught yellowfin tuna harvested in the Bay of Biscay, Spain.
Olivelle Black Garlic Tamari Barrel Aged Balsamic won the best new product award in a single category for oils and vinegars. This is a soy sauce-inspired balsamic vinegar that starts with black garlic that’s fermented and then cooked for days with Japanese tamari and Italian barrel-aged balsamic vinegar. Olivelle won another new product award in the seasonings and spices category for its Coconut Chai Sugar Shaker. Paleo-friendly coconut sugar is mixed with aromatic, Middle Eastern chai spices that include cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and turmeric to make a seasoning for squash, soups, fruit or beverages.
Atlantic Sea Farms offers familiar flavor in its Fermented Seaweed Salad, which was named the best new product in the pickles and olives category. This version is made from domestic kelp harvested from the clean, cold waters of Maine. The seaweed salad is high in probiotics and the method by which it is farmed removed carbon and nitrogen from the ocean with each harvest.
Hope & Sesame Chocolate Hazelnut Organic Sesame Milk received the best new product award in the new plant milks category. It was the only sofi Award presented in the category this year. The product is made from 100 percent plant-based sources including sesame and pea proteins, and it’s non-GMO, OU kosher and certified gluten free.
TEVONY Tachbisha Mediterranean Garlic Gourmet Spread from The Sauce Girls, LLC is made from minced garlic blended with olive oil, turmeric, spices and zest of lemon and lime juice. It was named best new product in the category for salsas and dips. It’s vegan and free of gluten, GMO ingredients, sugar, dairy soy, artificial colors and flavors. The Tachbisha products are made in the USA.
Sutter Buttes Natural & Artisan Foods received the best new product in the sauces category for its Indian Butter Chicken Simmer Sauce. The product features warm Indian spices and was created from a collection of family recipes.
Brooklyn Food & Beverage LLC won the best new product award in the soda and carbonated beverages category this year, a category that was intended to include sodas of all kinds as well as sparkling non-alcoholic juices, for its Moshi Yuzu Sparkling Drink. From a new craft soda brand, the soda highlights yuzu, the uniquely aromatic Japanese citrus, in a ready-to-drink sparkling beverage. This was the only sofi Award for the category this year.
Olivarez Honey Bees Inc. won the best new product in the sweeteners category for its Chico Honey Company Clover Honey, a dairy-free, gluten-free honey with a pale amber color and a light floral flavor accented with notes of shortbread. It’s pure, raw honey harvested from the company’s own hives.
In the tea category, Vahdam Teas Global Inc. won the best new product award with Turmeric Saffron Herbal Tea Tisane, which offers notes of the flavor of coconut blended with aromatic spices like cardamom, turmeric, and the bold flavors of ginger and complemented by Kashmiri saffron. It’s packaged loose in stand-up pouches. Finally, in the category for ready-to-drink teas and coffees, 3 Mountains, a social enterprise based in Asheville, North Carolina, that has been working with Rwandan farmers since 2007, won the best new product award for its Silverback Carbonated Tea in the Classic Silver flavor. This tea is made from Fair Trade-certified and organically grown Rwandan tea, without any refined sugars or artificial preservatives. Made with a whole-leaf brewing technology, it’s one of the first carbonated teas on the market.