Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://specialtyfoodmagazine.epubxp.com/i/567722
– MeMorable Quotes of the Night – "I can't believe this is what I do for my job." —Carrie Morey, Callie's Charleston Biscuits, Outstanding Frozen Savory and Outstanding Bread, Muffin, Granola, or Cereal winner "I want to thank the Association. I want to thank the judges. I want to thank my family. And I want to thank myself." —Sam Ngo, Nago Foods, Outstanding Salad Dressing winner "I ate half a bag of this backstage." —Alex Guarnaschelli about Pipsnacks, Outstanding Sweet Snack winner "This is a massive honor. And it's wonderful to see all the women coming up here." —Maya Kaimal, Maya Kaimal Fine Indian Foods, Outstanding Savory Snack winner "Lives are about to change. Being here tonight, whether as a finalist or winner, is special." —Ted Allen, keynote "This is really like the Oscars." —Alex Guarnaschelli, host "We're grateful to the Specialty Food Association and its members for spearheading a creative industry." —Griff Foxley, Lone Mountain Wagyu, Outstanding Appetizer, Antipasto, or Hors d'Oeuvres winner "Goats have a way of making you their bitches." —Lucas Farrell, Big Picture Farm, Outstanding New Product and Outstanding Confection winner S4 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com — also CelebratiNg… lifetiMe aChieveMeNt awards — T he sofi Awards ceremony also honored the 2015 recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Awards, and the latest inductees to the Specialty Food Association's Hall of Fame. The Lifetime Achievement Awards were created to acknowledge the achievements and special actions of individuals who helped to pioneer specialty foods in the U.S., explained Shawn McBride, chairwoman of the Association's Board of Directors, during the ceremony. The recipients were: Edith Friedland, EFCO, the first woman to lead the Association as Board chair; John Roberts, leader of the Association from 1989 to 2006; Giorgio DeLuca, Joel Dean, and Jack Ceglic, founders of Dean and DeLuca; Alfred Lepore, a groundbreaking Italian foods importer and producer with the iconic Ferrara brand; and Steve Reich, who championed specialty foods as gifts through his company Charlotte Charles. (Read interviews with each of this year's honorees beginning on p. 50 and view the Hall of Fame inductees at specialtyfood.com/ awards/hall-fame.) Several of the honorees, or their family members, spoke about starting out in the specialty food business without realizing the scope their impact would one day have on the way Americans consume and think about food. Accepting of behalf of her mother, Friedland's daughter, Lisa, noted, "We were always going to, at, or coming from a [Fancy Food] Show. This was a huge part of our lives but I didn't realize at the time how big it was what we were doing." Ceglic, who accepted for himself and on behalf of his partners, noted, "We picked Metro shelving because we couldn't afford a carpenter. We borrowed money from my mother and made her our first cashier. We named it Dean & DeLuca and the rest was history." Stewart Reich, accepting for his father along with his brother David, told the other honorees and Hall of Famers that they changed the way America eats. "As far as I'm concerned, you are giants." Referring to the sofi Awards ceremony that followed the Lifetime Achievement Awards, Reich pointed out that his father would have embraced the idea of holding both celebrations on the same evening. "The idea that you honor your past while looking to you future would have appealed to him," he said. —D.P.