Winners of the Good Food Awards 2013 Announced

Nearly 700 people gathered on Friday night at the third annual Good Food Awards Ceremony, held at San Francisco’s iconic Ferry Building, to celebrate this year’s 114 Winners from 30 states. From Iberico Americana Long Leg Ham from Virginia to Colorado Goat Cheddar to a Hawaiian Triple Cacao Chocolate Bar, this year's Winners are as diverse as they are delicious. On Saturday morning, they reassembled at the Ferry Building for the once yearly Good Food Awards Marketplace. An estimated double the number of last year’s visitors - several thousand - attended for the opportunity to taste and buy from eighty of this year's Good Food Award Winners. The weekend’s attendance reinforced the signs that Good Food, delicious and made with integrity, is a growing sector of the US economy and a thriving force within this country. This message was also articulated by the Winners – chosen from amongst 1,366 entries - at the Awards Ceremony.

Speaking on behalf of the Good Food Awards Chocolate Winners, Alan McClure noted, “When I started Patric Chocolate in 2006, there were essentially no craft chocolate makers in the US. What I mean to say is that we had no small, independently held [bean-to-bar] chocolate-making companies driven by the passion of a skilled craftsperson…As the movement continues to grow, I have heard that there may be 50 or more of us in the US as of 2013.”

Verve Coffee Roasters’ Colby Barr commented, “I think you can have high ethics and deliver impact while remaining profitable. In fact, I think it's our obligation to do so. We need to pay our farmers and ranchers well for our raw products, pay well to our staff…It doesn't really help anybody if we aren't around to keep telling the story of Good Food.”

The following day, a bustling Good Food Awards Marketplace and Beer & Spirits Garden brought this concept to life. At times the line was thirty people long to taste and buy the winning cheese and charcuterie, and many of the Winners sold out by the end of the day. Alice Waters, the keynote speaker at the Awards Ceremony, returned as a shopper on Saturday and left with a shopping bag filled to the brim with winning preserves, charcuterie, chocolate and confections.

Good Food Awards Director Sarah Weiner commented, “More than in past years, I am blown away by how delicious everything is. There is no doubt that this is the most impressive group of Good Food Award Winners to date, and it is a true reflection of what is happening around the country.”

Prior to the Good Food Awards Ceremony Friday night, the Good Food Merchants Guild hosted a week of gatherings, bringing together diverse stakeholders to share experiences, build networks and discuss the roles of Good Food businesses within the bigger picture of the food movement and the American economy.

The complete list of 2013 Good Food Awards Winners can be found here:

http://www.goodfoodawards.org/good-food-award-winners-2013