Outstanding food producers rewarded for their excellence
The Nelson Tasman region is packed full of simply outstanding food and beverage producers that we can all be proud of, and once again at the annual Outstanding Food Producer Awards, several local producers have been rewarded for their excellence.
The media release I received says: “Over 250 New Zealand-made food and nonalcoholic drinks have been recognised for their quality, receiving medals in the 2024 Outstanding Food Producer Awards.”
The medal tally was 137 gold, 76 silver and 48 bronze from a remarkable 355 entries from 122 Kiwi food and drink producers, who were judged at Auckland’s Homeland restaurant last month.
New Zealand food industry legend and awards head judge Lauraine Jacobs, who led 23 judges assessing the products, said: “Medals are a morale boost for producers affirming their hard work, while they give consumers a guide to locally made products that they can purchase with confidence.”
The medal winners from Nelson Tasman include Neudorf Black, which won a NZ Life & Leisure gold medal with its Black Honey, following on from winning the Superfood category in the NZ Best of Natural Awards 2023 with the same product. Made from local bush honey that is infused with black garlic, this is an intriguing product, a honey that is both sweet yet savoury at the same time.
Pic’s Peanut Butter also picked up a NZ Life & Leisure gold medal for its smunchy peanut butter, a peanut butter that, as Pic’s website says: “This special jar is for our fence sitters. And so we say, for those nuts who find our smooth too smooth and our crunchy too crunchy, you now have a jar of Pic’s Really Good Peanut Butter that will spread on your toast.”
Pic’s also won a silver medal with its Peanut Chocolate Butter.
Proper Crisps is another local producer that is back in the winner’s circle, this time earning NZ Life & Leisure gold medals with its Big Cut Dill Pickle and Big Cut Purple & Gold crisps as well as a silver medal for its Big Cut Smoked Paprika. I can attest from extensive experience as a consumer that these crisps certainly deserve the awards. Try the dill pickle crisps with a seafood dip, a pairing made to go together.
One of my favourite local producers has been spending quite a bit of time collecting awards as well as being a fantastic community hero in recent months. Not only did it win the best Small Business Award at the recent Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce Business Awards, but Pete’s Natural Sodas earned a NZ Life & Leisure gold medal with its Pete’s Natural Sodas Pink Lemonade.
Quite remarkably, this drink raised $12,000 for Heart Kids NZ. A dollar from every bottle sold went to Heart Kids, so not only was it designed and produced for a good cause, it is a top-quality drop, too.
Pete’s Natural Sodas also won silver medals for its Kola and Raspberry-Kola drinks. Maybe these guys should be drinking champagne while we enjoy the
fruits of their labours.
Yum produces a fantastic range of premium natural granolas, and won a silver medal with the Yum + Lake Hāwea Station Honeycomb Granola. Yum describe this as “with all of its ingredients grown in Aotearoa, the caramelised nutty clusters highlight Lake Hāwea Station's artisanal honey and bee pollen, South Island-grown oats, sweet Nelson gala apples, and a touch of Marlborough sea salt for the perfect balance of flavours”.
I haven’t tried this luxury product yet, but it has been added to my shopping list
Motueka-based New Zealand Creameries won a bronze medal with its Deep South Aspiring Cinnamon Donut Ice Cream. Again, not something I have tried yet, but it will soon find a place in my freezer. Autumn and warm cinnamonflavoured ice cream sounds like a perfect combination, maybe served with some apple pie.
The big winner from this region is a business that is not only new to me but also a reasonably new business.
NaturKidz makes a range of “honest, healthy and convenient kids’ snacks that kids will actually eat – because who actually has time to make all of the things, all of the time?! And, most important, kids were actually thought of when inventing this yumminess”.
These 100% natural fruit crisps are simply made from fruit that is picked, sliced and dried without any additives and are designed as a healthy snack food for kids. So what did it win? Four – yes, four – NZ Life & Leisure gold medals. What an outstanding result.
Here’s what the judges had to say about NaturKidz gold medal-winning products:
NaturKidz Fruit Crispz Apple & Feijoa Sticks:
Flavour and aroma very intense. Pleasant appearance and colour, retaining the intensity of the fruit. Judges loved the fact that the skins are left on. Crunchy texture. A healthy innovation, good bite size and great for kids.
NaturKidz Fruit Crispz Gold Kiwi Slices:
An honest slice of golden kiwifruit. Judges liked that the skin was on, had a good crunch and the colour had been well preserved.
NaturKidz Fruit Crispz Apple Sticks and Blueberry:
Another honest, natural, healthy snack. Well dried and crunchy. Judges are keen to encourage this product. They loved it!
NaturKidz Fruit Crispz Apple Sticks:
Another great healthy, honest product. Judges loved the flavours and this innovative concept.
These awards have certainly put NaturKidz on my radar, and I’ll visit them soon to find out more about the people behind the product – watch this space. All the gold medal winners are in contention for category champion awards, which will be announced at the annual Outstanding Food Producer Awards Champions Party on April 18. Fingers crossed that a trophy or two from one or more of the outstanding food and beverage producers from this region find a home here, too.