Finalists Selected for sofi Awards

Crunchy capers from Sicily, lentil rice crispbread from East Hampton, N.Y., and grapefruit lilac water from Westfield, Mass., have made the finalists’ list for the Specialty Food Association’s sofi Award for Outstanding New Product of 2014.

In all, there were 459 entries for the New Product Award. A national panel of specialty food professionals tasted and evaluated them to come up with 11 finalists for this coveted industry award. The judges also selected six finalists for Outstanding Product Line, which honors a company’s full menu of products.

A sofi represents the best of the best of what the association’s brand represents to the food community. sofi stands for Specialty Outstanding Food Innovation.

The contenders will go on to the last round of judging at the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York. Winners will be announced June 30 at a red-carpet ceremony at the show to be hosted by Dominique Ansel, the award-winning pastry chef.

“The specialty food industry is thriving, and the entries, whether aged goat cheese, sweet and spicy confections, or handcrafted charcuterie, showed the passion and creativity food manufacturers are bringing to their craft,” said Ann Daw, the Specialty Food Association’s president. “The finalists stood out the most in a very crowded field.”

The awards are open to members of the Specialty Food Association, a not-for-profit trade association for food artisans, importers and entrepreneurs. The sofi Awards have 32 categories in total. This year, Association members submitted a record 2,737 entries to the contest. See the finalists list.

Judges included top buyers from Fresh Direct, Whole Foods Market, Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants, Mollie Stone’s Market, DeLaurenti’s Specialty Food & Wine, Kroger, Bristol Farms, Sickles Market, Artisanal Premium Cheese, Chelsea Market Baskets and Caviar & Bananas. The panel also included a food historian, executive chefs from Loi restaurant and Grand Central Oyster Bar, and journalists from Food & Wine, MarketWatch/The Wall Street Journal, Edible Manhattan, Women’s Health and Cooking Stoned. 

Part one of the competition, judged last month, covered 30 categories from Outstanding Appetizer to Outstanding Vinegar.

The Specialty Food Association, established in 1952, is a not-for-profit trade association that provides its 3,000 members in the United States and abroad the tools, knowledge and connections to champion and nurture their companies in an always-evolving marketplace. The Association (formerly the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade) owns and produces the Winter and Summer Fancy Food Shows, and presents the sofi Awards.