Specialty Food Association Seeks Tasty Connecticut Competitors

PLANTSVILLE — The Connecticut Specialty Food Association (CSFA) is seeking additional entrants for its tenth Product Awards Competition on February 17, at the Aqua Turf.

This year’s categories have been revamped to include beer, wine, and cheese. Other categories aimed at increasing participation by Connecticut farmers include certified organic product, Connecticut grown product, fresh fruit or vegetable, jam/honey/syrup/sweet topping, and meat/pate/fish.

(A complete category list appears below.)

Eligibility is limited to ready-to-sell products made by Connecticut-based companies, but both members and nonmembers of CSFA may participate. The deadline to enter is February 7.

Winners from past competitions have received considerable media attention and have used their trophies as effective marketing tools in promoting their products.

The 2010 Product of the Year, The Purple Pear by Tina’s Buttered Almond Cream dessert topping, was featured in four major Connecticut newspaper stories, bringing a flurry of new business to the company.

“Sales for Buttered Almond Cream now far exceed those for our other flavors,” explained the Purple Pear’s Tina Fearnley. “And the press we received has pushed our whole company to a different level.”

Sonal Miller of Mama Manju’s Salsa concurred that her CSFA award has improved business.

“People definitely take notice of the honor,” said Ms Miller, whose Fandango Mango Salsa won the top prize for best salsa or hot sauce in the 2010 competition. “I mention it in all my marketing materials and display the plaque every time I demo my products. Customers are much more likely to try and buy when they learn it’s an award-winning salsa. It really does make a difference.”

Another benefit entrants enjoy by competing is having their products sampled by some of the state’s leading chefs and food writers. Scott Miller, executive chef at Max’s Oyster Bar and member of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture’s Farm-to-Chef Program, discovered Ola! Granola at the 2008 competition and immediately began buying it for his restaurant.

“It was love at first bite,” Chef Miller recounted. “After living and working in Colorado for six years, I did not think there was anything produced here that could compare with those premium granolas, but I was wrong. If I hadn’t volunteered to be a judge, I probably would not have tried Ola! and that would have been my— and my diners’ — loss.”

For more information or registration forms, contact Tricia Levesque at CSFA, 860-677-8097 or Tricia@ctfoodassociation.org.

Chefs, culinary professionals, and journalists interested in volunteering to judge should contact Linda Piotrowicz at the Department of Agriculture, 860-713-2558 or linda.piotrowicz@ct.gov.

CSFA is a nonprofit subdivision of the Connecticut Food Association. The association represents small, medium, and large Connecticut-based food entrepreneurs whose shared vision is to provide consumers with high-quality specialty food products.

The Connecticut Department of Agriculture (www.ctgrown.gov/) (DoAG) serves on CSFA’s board of directors in an advisory, nonvoting capacity. CSFA and DoAG have worked in recent years to encourage CSFA members to use Connecticut grown ingredients in their products whenever possible, and have worked to share information about CSFA and its programming with farmers.

Who Qualifies?

Categories for the 2011 Connecticut Specialty Food Association competition are as follows:

1. Bean, Grain, Pasta, Rice, or Soup

2. Beer or Ale

3. Bread

a. Quick Bread, b. Yeast Bread

4. Certified Organic Product

5. Confection or Dessert

      a. Cake, b. Chocolate, c. Cookie, d. Pie

6. Cheese

      a. Aged, b. Fresh

7. Connecticut Grown Product1

8. Fresh Fruit or Vegetable

9. Frozen Food

10. Gluten Free Product

11. Herb, Spice, or Seasoning Blend

12. Hors d’oeuvre

13. Jam, Honey, Syrup, or Sweet Topping

14. Meat, Pate, or Fish

15. Non-Alcoholic Beverage

16. Oil

17. Packaged Mix2

      a. Baked Good or Dessert, b. Dip or Dressing, c. Savory Product

18. Packaging3

19. Pasta Sauce

20. Pickle, Relish, or Tapenade

21. Salsa

22. Savory Condiment

23. Snack Food

24. Vinegar or Salad Dressing

25. Wine4

      a. Blush, b. Dessert, c. Fruit, d. Red, e. Rose, f. White

1Processed products must contain a minimum of 51 percent Connecticut grown ingredients.

2Submit finished product prepared from the mix.

3If your product is perishable, submit packaging only.

4Must contain 100 percent Connecticut grown fruit.