sofi Judging Day 1

April 13, 2011 - A panel of judges have tasted their way through seven categories so far to pick the 2011 finalists in the sofi™ Awards—a competition that selects the outstanding specialty foods in 33 categories ranging from Cheese and Dairy to Cookie to Meat, Pate and Seafood.

Thus far, judges have tasted their way through Outstanding Jam, Preserve, Honey or Nut Butter; Cracker; Salad Dressing; Oil; Vinegar; Food Gift and Pet Food (okay, no one was required to taste these particular entries). What remains on today’s docket are Cheese, Soup, Cookies and Dessert and Dessert Topping. A total of 548 products will be tasted today alone, and judging runs through Friday, April 15. By the end, these nine intrepid judges, which include buyers for renowned food stores and food journalists, will have tasted and evaluated a total of 1,600 products.

We’ve noticed some emerging flavor trends in this year’s entries that you can expect to see soon on retail shelves. These include:

• Cherry: Preserves and jams in particular are bursting with cherry flavor and combinations such as cherry Shiraz preserve; sour cherry preserve sweetened with agave; and Montmorency red cherry curd. The fruit is also showing up in unexpected places such as crackers, where we spotted a cherry, almond and linseed (flax) variety to accompany cheese. (Check out more products jumping on the cherry bandwagon here: Cherries Jubilee )
• Pineapple: Golden pineapple vinegar sounded enticing, but a flavor combination that really caught our attention was pineapple horseradish sauce.
• Chocolate-Hazelnut: This classic combination is big in spreads this year, part of a recent trend in chocolate products for breakfast first seen at the Winter Fancy Food Show. (See Top 5 Trends at the Winter Fancy Food Show)
• Sweet/Spicy: This combination is not new but it’s being reinvented with some interesting flavors, such as strawberry black peppercorn preserves and roasted pepper blackberry dressing.
• Apple: Dressings and vinegars especially seem to be showcasing the apple this year. Among varieties we’ve spotted so far are apple poppyseed dressing and honey apple vinegar.—Denise Purcell

Click here to see all sofi Award news, photos and more.

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