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GOURMET NEWS DECEMBER 2017 www.gourmetnews.com YEAR IN REVIEW 1 9 BY LORRIE BAUMANN The Specialty Food Association announced on April 19 that 154 products earned sofi Awards this year. An additional sofi Award for Product of the Year, awarded to the sin- gle product that received the highest score in the judging, will be announced at the Summer Fancy Food Show in June. The April announcement, made without a public ceremony by Specialty Food Asso- ciation President Phil Kafarakis and celebrity Chef Sara Moulton, honors prod- ucts in 39 categories with gold, silver and bronze awards for each category. Sofi awards have been presented by the Spe- cialty Food Association since 1972. This year, sofi Awards were also given to the best new product in 37 of the categories. The winners were chosen from among almost 3,000 entries submitted by 875 Specialty Food Association member companies, noted Kafarakis. "Winning the sofi is really a big deal," he said. "It's the best of the best. It's promoted in the industry like crazy," added Moulton, who recalled that in covering the Fancy Food Show for 12 years for "Good Morning America," she always liked to head first to the display case for sofi winners because she knew that those products had already been filtered by knowledgeable judges. To this day, when she's at the Fancy Food Show, the sight of a sofi statuette in a ven- dor's booth will often make her turn aside and take a look at that booth, even if she hadn't intended to do so, because the stat- uette indicates to her that the booth repre- sents a company that produces good products, she said. "It attracts a lot of traf- fic," she said. Judging for this year's awards competi- tion was done at the Specialty Food Asso- ciation offices in New York over a two-week period by 62 judges who in- cluded chefs, culinary instructors, blog- gers, food writers and specialty food buyers, Moulton said. "We all get together to talk about what's happening in the spe- cialty food world," she said. "You learn while you're tasting. It's fantastic." The products were judged after being prepared by professional chefs as they were intended to be used, according to Moulton. For instance, a marinade intended to be used with chicken was prepared by the chefs according to package directions be- fore being presented to the judges for tast- ing. "These are all prepared right then and there as we tasted them," she said with par- ticular reference to the entries in the pasta, rice and grains category. Each product was judged in a blind tast- ing, so the judges didn't know which com- pany had made it. Scores were sent di- rectly from each judge to be tallied without any discussion that might other- wise have influenced anyone's individual decision, according to Moulton. "We tasted the food the way it should be tasted," she said, adding that this year's judging process was an improvement over the methodology of previous years. "I think it was the best it's ever been," she said. In four categories, the gold award winner was also named best new product. Those were Wozz! Kitchen Creations' Cambodian Coconut Peanut Sauce, Aunt Dottie's Pumpkin Seed Vinaigrette from JGF Enter- prises, Manicaretti Italian Food Imports' Rustichella d'Abruzzo Pasta Integrale di Farro – Couscous and Le Bon Magot LLC's Spiced Raisin Marmalata. JGF Enterprises also won a silver sofi in the salad dressings category for its Aunt Dottie's Turmeric Maple Dressing. Le Bon Magot also won a gold award for its Tomato and White Sul- tana Chutney, a bronze award for its Lemon-Sultana Marmalata with Caraway and Saffron and a bronze award for its Brin- jal Caponata condiment. Manicaretti Italian Food Imports also won a bronze award for IASA Spicy Anchovies in the seafood cate- gory. In addition to the two sofi awards for Cambodian Coconut Peanut Sauce, Wozz! Kitchen Creations won a bronze award in the vinegar category for its Spiced Beet Vinegar and a silver award in the condi- ment category for its Balsamic Fig Mostarda Savory Spread. Calivirgin Olive Oils swept the gold, silver and bronze awards for olive oils with a gold award for Jalapeno Garlic Olive Oil, a silver award for Blood Orange Olive Oil and a bronze for Frantoio Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Azienda Agricola Coppini Arte Olearia Srl won the award for best new product in the olive oil category with Olives and Mandarines Condiment Coppini Arte Olearia. More than 80 olives oils were entered for the sofi judging this year, according to Kafarakis. Vermont Creamery was also among this year's big winners. Its Vanilla Creme Fraiche received a gold award in the category for a dessert sauce or top- ping or a syrup; Cultured Butter with Sea Salt Crystals won a bronze award in the category for dairy, yogurt or dairy alternative products; a silver award for Bonne Bouche, a geotrichum-rinded aged goat cheese; and a best new prod- uct award for St. Albans, an aged cow milk cheese introduced to the market in October of 2016. GN Specialty Food Association Names sofi Winners BY ROBIN MATHER As Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas Gulf Coast on Friday, Aug. 25, an employee of the Vintage Park H-E-B store in northwest Houston looked out the rear of the store and saw a funnel cloud. In- side the store, the other employees scur- ried for cover in the still-open store. No one was injured, but the store stayed open after the tornado danger had passed. And when Hurricane Irma struck Florida's southwestern coast, Publix's emer- gency response team watched closely. They'd been eyeing this storm, as they do every storm, trying to maintain the delicate balance of store associates' need to prepare their own homes and their families against their customers' need to stock up and get home safely. Supermarkets, as it turns out, may be the unsung heroes of natural disaster. Two chains in particular – H-E-B and Publix – stay open as long as possible before a hur- ricane hits, so their customers can stock up on much-needed supplies, especially if they're going to shelter in place. And they reopen – if they closed at all – the very minute it's possible to do so, because they know their customers will need to restock the milk, the ice, the bottle water, the baby formula after the worst of the emergency has passed and recovery be- gins. "In a way, we're first responders," says Maria Brous, a Publix spokesman who's based in Lakeland, Florida. "We see it as part of our mission to help our communi- ties in so many ways. For people to have a smile and a warm cup of coffee … to use the phone charging stations we had set up … just all that stuff that we don't think about in that kind of situation." In Houston, H-E-B Steps Up Kimberly Weiberg lives near that Vintage Park H-E-B, and shops there regularly. She's lived in Houston for going on 16 years, and says the store "always has a good produce selection, friendly people, and wonderful sampling, especially on the weekend. They have a nice organic section, and you can grind your own peanut butter there." While Weiberg purchases some items at stores closer to her home in Norchester, a Houston suburb, she goes to H-E-B for one thing in particular: "H-E-B is where I pur- chase meats because I feel more comfortable about the quality, and they do have good prices on meat." Weiberg and her family left town the day before Harvey hit, headed first to Dallas and then back to family in Missouri. "I stocked up before we left, though, so when we returned, I was able to help neighbors through the outreach pro- gram of my church, which is called Mercy Ministry." It was while assembling packages of emergency aid after the storm had passed that Weiberg's friendly feelings toward H- E-B skyrocketed. "We're putting together these packages for Mercy Ministry, and up comes a tractor- trailer full of paper products – mostly toilet paper – and somebody said, 'That's from H- E-B.' And then I learned about H-E-B's $5 million donation to J.J. Watt's (tight end for the Houston Texans) hurricane relief fund. It's so cool to see people doing that." H-E-B's concern for its community con- tinues, she says. "I've seen posters about H- E-B giving free tetanus shots," she reports. "But in terms of charity, everyone is not wanting to take because they think some- one else needs it worse." Kelly Akey, also of Norchester, sheltered in place during the storm, and shopped at the H-E-B the night before Harvey made landfall. "I didn't go to that H-E-B for a lit- tle while after the storm because the park- ing lot was flooded, as were the streets from my house to H-E-B, so I'm not really sure when they re-opened," she says. The em- ployee who spotted the tornado told her about it on her next visit to the store after the storm. In Florida, Publix Hopes to Help Publix's spokesman Brous says the com- pany was eager to send aid to hard-hit Houston after Harvey. "We sent five trailers of water," she says, "and H-E-B was so gra- cious that, just a few days after that, they sent 10 trailers to us – seven trailers of water, two of ice, and one of assorted food, cleaning supplies and baby needs." The company and its customers have al- ways been generous, she says. "Right after Harvey hit Texas, we opened a register campaign where customers could make a donation to the Red Cross for Texans. In less than five days, we raised $2.5 million for hurricane relief, and Publix Super Mar- ket Charities, our non-profit, also donated an additional $250,000 to that effort." Another register campaign was begun right after Hurricane Irma, Brous says, and that one is still on-going. "But Publix Char- ities has donated $1 million to the Red Cross and the United Way to help the re- covery process." Publix, which is headquartered in Florida, has a lot of experience with hurri- canes, Brous says. "Back in 2004, we had four hurricanes: Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. After that, we invested in genera- tors for our stores and now, more than 700 stores have them." Harvey's effect on Houston may have en- couraged Publix customers to prepare for Irma, Brous says. "We saw our customers preparing earlier, getting to the store and stocking up before the storm." In Irma's aftermath, she says, "we had some water damage for some stores, but no significant issues. We did have more than 400 stores on auxiliary power. All of our stores have reopened, and now we're help- ing our neighbors in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands." But hurricane season has been tough on all grocery stores, she says. "We have an amazing warehouse and logistics team. Those teams literally worked around the clock to get bottled water, batteries, bread, diapers and formula to our stores, and those items are all still in high demand." At the heart of Publix's generosity is the company's "deeply personal relationship with our customers and our communities," Brous says. "It's all about the people and the bonds we make with our customers. The one thing that can't be replicated is our people and their desire to serve." GN The Unsung Hurricane Heroes: H-E-B and Publix

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