2018 Good Food Award Entry Period Now Open

San Francisco, CA (July 5, 2016) – Today marks the launch of a coast-to-coast call for entries of beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, cider, coffee, confections, honey, fish, oils, pantry, pickles, preserves, spirits and (new this year) elixirs. The Good Food Awards celebrates the kind of food we all want to eat: tasty, authentic and responsibly produced. As the only national initiative to recognize food crafters who excel in both taste and sustainability, we anticipate over 2,000 entries from all fifty states.

Over 250 food crafters, grocers, chefs, journalists and pioneers of the food movement will serve on this year’s judging panel, including Tartine Bakery Co-Founder Elisabeth Prueitt; the Museum of the African Diaspora’s Chef in Residence Bryant Terry; Cowgirl Creamery Co-Founder Peg Smith; urban farming champion Ron Finley; Tyler Malek, the “ice cream mastermind” behind Salt & Straw; and celebrated chefs Nora Pouillon, Cesare Casella and Anthony Myint.

To enter, food crafters fill out a short online form at goodfoodawards.org by July 31, followed by sending samples for a blind tasting in September. A $70 per entry processing fee covers sorting, transport and storage (waived for the first entry submitted by new and renewing Good Food Guild members). Early birds entering July 5-12 receive a $10 discount on their second entry. Find more information on the most frequently asked questions at: goodfoodawards.org/the-awards/faq

Elixirs: New this Year Shaken or stirred, our Elixirs category celebrates the ingredients at the front of the bar – bitters, shrubs, syrups, tinctures, concentrates, drinking vinegars and flavor extracts. In the past, elixirs (or “modifiers” as they’re called in the industry) have been incorporated into the Spirits category. With a huge growth in both industries, this year they will be divided. Consequently, there will be twice the number of winners, with 15 spirits and 15 elixir crafters taking home a Good Food Award. Find more information at: goodfoodawards.org/elixirs

Organizers The Good Food Awards is organized by the Good Food Foundation, a California based 501 (c) 3 formerly known as Seedling Projects, in collaboration with a broad community of food producers, chefs, food writers and passionate food-lovers. The Good Food Foundation is also the organizing force behind the Good Food Guild, Good Food Mercantile and Good Food Retailers Collaborative.

Sponsors Special thanks to presenting sponsor the Good Food Retailers Collaborative, composed of 19 of the country’s top independently owned retailers from Austin to Oakland to Salt Lake City, committed to supporting America’s great food producers in their own communities and across the country: Antonelli’s Cheese Shop, Bi-Rite Market, Canyon Market, Cooks of Crocus Hill, Cowgirl Creamery, Di Bruno Bros., Each Peach Market, Foragers Market, Glen's Garden Market, The Greene Grape, Healdsburg SHED, JM Stock Provisions, Liberty Heights Fresh, Look’s Market, Market Hall Foods, Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine, TASTE, Washington’s Green Grocer, Woodstock Farmers' Market and Zingerman’s Family of Businesses. Joining them is a vibrant group of key supporters, including Premier Sponsors Bi-Rite Market and Williams-Sonoma and Lead Sponsors Dominic Phillips Event Marketing, Impact HUB Bay Area and Veritable Vegetable. Find more information at: goodfoodawards.org/sponsors/