The winners of the 41st sofi Awards for the outstanding specialty foods and beverages of the year were announced at the Summer Fancy Food Show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York.
The awards, from the Specialty Food Association, were presented at a red-carpet ceremony hosted by internationally-acclaimed chef Marcus Samuelsson. A sofi is the highest honor in the $86 billion specialty food industry. The awards are open to members of the Specialty Food Association (formerly NASFT), a not-for-profit trade association for food artisans, importers and entrepreneurs. “sofi” stands for Specialty Outstanding Food Innovation.
This year’s contest was the largest in its 41-year history, with specialty food makers submitting 2,573 products across all 32 awards categories.
The 2013 sofi Winners are:
Appetizer Antipasto, Salsa or Dip - Gourmet du Village - Hot Parmesan & Artichoke Dip Mix
Baked Good, Baking Ingredient or Cereal - Fromagerie Belle Chevre - Goat Cheese Cheesecake
Cheese or Dairy Product (TIE) - Caves of Faribault - Jeffs' Select; Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co. - Toma
Chocolate - Chocolat Moderne - Avant-Garde Bar Blood Orange Bergamot Flavor
Classic - Cypress Grove Chevre, Inc. - Humboldt Fog
Cold Beverage (TIE) - Brands of Britain - Fever-Tree Premium Sparkling Lemon; Canada Enterprises - Jin-Ja
Condiment - The Virginia Chutney Company - Spicy Plum Chutney
Confection - The Sticky Toffee Pudding Company - Chocolate Tiffin with Biscuits, Roasted Almonds & Cherries
Cookie - Tate's Bake Shop - Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Chip
Cooking Sauce or Flavor Enhancer - Korean Delights - We Rub You - Spicy Korean BBQ Marinade
Cracker - Lesley Stowe Fine Foods Salty Date and Almond Raincoast Crisps
Dessert or Dessert Topping - McConnell's Fine Ice Creams - Double Peanut Butter Chip
Diet and Lifestyle Product - Fromagerie Belle Chevre - Belle & The Bees Breakfast Cheese
Food Gift - Bee Raw - Manhattan Rooftop Honey Flight
Frozen Savory - Hancock Gourmet Lobster Co. - Old Port Lobster Flatbread
Hot Beverage - Bhakti Chai - Bhakti Chai
Innovation in Packaging Design or Function - HoneyPax - HoneyPax Raw Tupelo Honey Packets
Jam, Preserve, Honey or Nut Butter - Wildly Delicious Fine Foods - Beet & Red Onion Marmalade
Meat, Pâté or Seafood - Creminelli Fine Meats - Campania Handcrafted Italian Salami
New Product (TIE) - Artisan Biscuits Ltd. - The Fine Cheese Co. Pearls of Pure Goats’ Cheese; Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co. - Point Reyes Bay Blue
Non-Food Specialty Item - EcoTensil Inc. - EcoTaster Mini
Oil - Los Chileros - Stöger Cherry Seed Oil
Pasta Sauce - Ritrovo Italian Regional Foods - Ritrovo Selections Casina Rossa Due Formaggi
Pasta, Rice or Grain - Luquire Family Foods - Carolina Creole Stone Ground Grits
Perishable Foodservice Product - Sukhi's Gourmet Indian Foods - Pakora & Aloo Tikki Indian Bites Platter
Product Line - Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams - Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams
Salad Dressing - NaGo Foods - Ginger Sesame Miso Dressing
Shelf-Stable Foodservice Product - Effie's Homemade - Single Serve Oatcakes
Snack Food - POP! Gourmet Popcorn - Rogue Blue Gourmet Popcorn
Soup, Stew, Bean or Chili - Sarabeth's Kitchen - Legendary Velvety Cream of Tomato Soup
USDA-Certified Organic Product - Pro Ecuador - RUNA Hibiscus - Berry Guayusa Tea
Vinegar - Italian Harvest, Inc. - Sopraffino 12 Year Aged Wine Vinegar
“The sofi awards honor innovation and excellence. With a record number of entries this year, the products that emerged as winners truly represent the best examples of the passion, creativity and care specialty food makers are bringing to their craft,” says Specialty Food Association President Ann Daw.
This spring, a national panel of specialty food professionals convened over eight days to taste and evaluate all entries and select 125 finalists. To determine the winners, more than 150 buyers at the Summer Fancy Food Show sampled the finalist products and cast votes for their favorite in each category. The results were tabulated by an outside accounting firm this afternoon.
The Summer Fancy Food show is the largest marketplace devoted exclusively to specialty food in North America. The show ends July 2.
