The first All Things Organic New Product Competition recognized the best new organic products of 2009 June 18 during a ceremony held at the All Things Organic Conference & Trade Show in Chicago.
A panel of food professionals gathered on site to judge the selected finalists and choose the winners. Products were judged based on a set of criteria specific to each category including taste, appearance, efficacy, convenience & practicality, packaging & merchandising, as well as its originality & marketability.
The 2009 winners are:
- The Organic Smokehouse’s Elderflower Cured Gravadlax (Best Overall Organic Retail)- A salmon cured in a traditional Welsh smokehouse in England that is certified organic by the Soil Association. This product also won the award for Best Retail Package design at the 2009 Seafood Prix d'Elite New Products Competition in Belgium.
- Cloud Top Organic Functional Frozen Yogurt (Best Overall Organic Foodservice)-The first U.S. certified organic tart frozen yogurt fortified with health enhancing vitamins and nutrients.
- SK Food International’s Crimson Red Corn (Best Overall Organic Ingredient)-A hybrid corn with a gene that prevents GMO contamination, used as an ingredient in snack foods, tortillas, and flour.
- Bethel Organics Inc. Real Organic Real Easy Seed Starting Kit (Best Overall Organic Non-Food)-The kit includes dot pots-biodegradable containers that promote root growth and allow easy transplant-as well as seeds and everything else needed for plant starts.
One New Organic Product Grand Award was given out as well to the product with the highest overall score. With an overall score of 296 points out of a possible 300, the prize was awarded to Bethel Organics Inc. Real Organic Real Easy Seed Starting Kit.
The 2009 Panel of Judges included:
Scott P. Silverman, Category Director (Natural & Organic), Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.
Steve Schoultz, Director – Contract Manufacturing, Sara Lee Corporation
Vaughan Lazar, President/Founder, Pizza Fusion
