First Glance at the Kosher Nasft sofi™ Winners

KosherEye enjoyed sampling and seeing many of the thousands of kosher certified products at the Summer Fancy Food Show. The show happens twice yearly. It is based on the east coast in the summer and the west coast in the winter. Food manufacturers and sellers from around the world gather for a few days of schmoozing, tasting and searching and identifying culinary trends and outstanding products. We present a “taste” of some of the kosher standouts.

And the award goes to:

First, about the Nasft sofi™ competition:
According to show sources, this year was the most competitive sofi™ competition ever, with a record 2,326 entries across all 33 awards, including 464 entries for outstanding new product. A national panel of specialty food experts narrowed the field to 125 Silver Finalists; and then 200 buyers at the Summer Fancy Food Show tasted and evaluated the finalist products and cast votes to select the gold winners.

“A sofi™ award (specialty outstanding food innovation) is a seal of excellence that is widely recognized by discerning retailers and restaurateurs around the world,” says Ann Daw, president of the NASFT. “This year’s winners stand out as great examples of the creativity and commitment to quality that are the foundation of the specialty food industry.” A sofi gold award is considered the highest honor in the $70-billion specialty food industry.

We congratulate all of the silver and gold winners of the 39th sofi Awards, and highlight the kosher certified recipients for outstanding foods and beverages of the year. As indicated below, KosherEye recognizes a winning product and has already Spotlighted several of the winning entries.

The Kosher Certified Gold sofi™ Winners: 

•  Baked Good, Baking Ingredient or Cereal – Nielsen-Massey Vanillas, Inc. –  Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste. KosherEye Spotlighted feature: Nielsen-Massey Vanillas, The Cadillac of Vanillas.

•  Classic – Savannah Bee Company – Tupelo Flute Honey. KosherEye Spotlighted feature: A Honey of A New Year!

•  Confections – Béquet® Butterscotch Caramel. KosherEye Spotlighted feature: Béquet Caramel Confections.

•  Dessert or Dessert Topping – Ciao Bella Gelato Company – Belgian Chocolate S'mores Gelato

•  Non-Food Specialty Item – Culinary Papers – PaperChef Culinary Parchment Cooking Bags. KosherEye Spotlighted feature: Save Time, Save Money.

•  Oil – Culinary Collective – Castillo de Canena Family Reserve Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Most rabbinical sources advise that unflavored extra virgin olive oil does not need certification.)

The Kosher Certified Silver sofi™ Award Finalists:

•  Outstanding New Product Line – Wild Thymes – BBQ Sauces. KosherEye Spotlighted features: Wild Thymes Barbecue Sauce and Wild Thymes, Award Winning 100% Natural Condiments.

•  Outstanding Baked Good – Run-A–Ton Group – Unique Belgique Pearl Sugar Belgian Waffle

•  UDSA Certified Organic Product – Run-A–Ton Group –  Wholly Wholesome Traditional 6-inch pie shells. KosherEye Spotlighted feature: Wholly Wholesome...Wholliciously Wonderful!

•  Chocolate – Justin’s Nut Butter – Dark chocolate peanut butter cups

•  Outstanding USDA Certified Organic Product –  Late July Organic Snacks – Dude Ranch Multigrain Snack Chips

KosherEye agrees with the sofi™ panelists and tasters – these products are exceptional!  We will be sharing more about these winners. The exclusive KosherEye 2011 Fancy Food Show picks will be highlighted in future feature articles and throughout the year. Yes, dear readers, we are still tasting, testing and toasting!

July 20, 2011