New York State Companies Win 'Sofi' Awards

 

From the state Department of Agriculture and Markets:

A total of nine New York state specialty food and beverage producers are winners of the prestigious 2015 sofi Awards at this year’s Summer Fancy Food Show.  

“sofi” stands for specialty outstanding food innovation and recognizes the very best specialty food and beverages across the Northeast. The winning companies, located in the Hudson Valley, Long Island and New York City regions, were selected from more than 2,700 submissions across 32 award categories. 

Four of the nine companies participate in the Taste NY initiative and took part in the Taste NY Pavilion at the Summer Fancy Food Show.

The 2015 sofi award winners from New York are:

 

Hudson Valley

·         Sweet Chili Chickpea Chips, Maya Kaimal Fine Indian Foods (Savory Snack category) – Rhinebeck

·         Grade A Very Dark Color Strong Taste Maple Syrup, Crown Maple , LLC (Food Service category) – Dover Plains

Long Island

·         Authentic Moroccan Seasoning,  cHarissa (Cooking, Dipping or Finishing Sauces category) – Cutchogue

·         Gluten Free Ginger Zinger Cake,  Tate's Bake Shop (Vegan and Gluten Free Product) category – Southampton

 

New York City

·         Dangerously Delicious Black Licorice Chocolate Toffee,  Laurie & Sons (Chocolate Bars category)

– Manhattan

·         White & Vine,  Owl's Brew (Cold Beverages category) – Manhattan

·         Special Sauce, Sir Kensington's (Condiment category) – Manhattan

·         Speculoos Cookie Butter, Steve's Ice Cream, Craft Collective (Ice Cream category) – Brooklyn

·         Kettle Pipcorn, Pipsnacks, LLC (Sweet Snack category) – Manhattan 

 

Now in their 43rd year, sofi Awards are considered the top accolade in the $109-billion specialty food industry. Award submissions were open to all members of the Specialty Food Association. 

More than 200 retailers and foodservice buyers attending the Summer Fancy Food Show judged the products, voting on them based on quality, innovation, ingredient profile, packaging, and pricing.

The judges are top professionals in the specialty food industry and include specialty food retailers, supermarket buyers, natural food merchants, mass marketers, chefs, caterers, journalists and culinary educators. 

New York State had finalists in 14 of the 32 categories, such as chocolate bars, crackers, hot beverages and more.