Food competition

Food competitions – Drink competitions

Food or drink competitions reward products primarily for their gustative worth in the form of an award or a medal. These competitions can be classified into different categories. Most awards are product-specific such as for wines, beers, and cheeses. Others focus on local, regional, national products. Finally, the international competitions test all kinds of foods and drinks available to the consumer worldwide. Wine is probably the most tested drink followed by beers and spirits.

There is a variety of such food/drink competitions worldwide where the taste and quality of products are assessed. Most evaluations are carried out blind sometimes complemented by laboratory analysis. The jury usually consists of a panel of different types of experts in tastings such as Chefs or Sommeliers. The history of degustation tests is unclear; however, one of the earliest taste awards recorded for drinks is The Brewing Industry International Award dating back to 1888^[1]. For food, diet, health and cosmetics, Monde Selection is the oldest insitute recorded. During the last decades, as the variety of food products on the market grew, so did the number of competitions and evaluations.

To cover the expenses of such events (or at least a part of it), most organisations charge an entry fee. Alternatively, producers or retailers pay a fee only if their products are awarded and/or if they decide to communicate about the award (e.g. right to show the award on packaging^[2]). In both cases, one could think that these recognitions can be bought. However, that is simply not the case as the tastings are carried-out independently and are blind-tested, where judges focus exclusively on sensory (organoleptic) features (such as taste, olfaction, vision, aspect, mouth-feel, after-taste, etc.) and quality of the products, without being influenced by packaging, branding, marketing or any other parameters.

Product-specific Awards (e.g. Wine, Beer, Cheese)

Category	Name	Participants	Jury/Judges	Award(s)	Further Notes
Wine	Concours Mondial de Bruxelles	6,000 wines from four continents	International wine experts and professional tasters like oenologists, sommeliers, journalists, wine writers and international buyers and traders: A total of 240 experts from 40 nations	Each wine gets a mark out of a hundred. A medal is given according to this scheme, depending on the mark, there are different award classes ('Médaille d’Argent', 'Médaille d’Or', 'Grande Médaille d’Or'). The maximum of medals is 30% of the total of the samples presented	Judging criteria follows the model suggested by the OIV and the International Union of Oenologists. Partner competitions: Concours Mondial Argentina, Concours Mondial Brasil, Concours Mondial Chile, Concours Mondial Uruguay, Concours Mondial de Provence Main article: Concours Mondial de Bruxelles
Wine	International Wine Contest	Wine producers, dealers and distributors	Eminent experts coming from all over the world. They are selected by Monde Selection for their recognized professional proficiency as: - Oenologists - Sommeliers - Wine experts - Professors and lecturers - Columnists - Wine controllers	Calculation of the results is made according to the official procedure developed by the O.I.V. and is updated every year accordingly. The sum of all medals awarded may not exceed 30% of the total sum of all the samples presented.	The only Belgian wine competition that is granted the high patronage of the O.I.V., the ‘Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin. Organised by Monde Selection, International Institute for Quality. Acknowledged by the European Union and controlled by the Belgian Ministry of Economic Affairs
Wine/Spirits	International Wine & Spirit Competition IWSC	Producers of wines, spirits and liqueurs	More than 150 judges, sommeliers, traders, producers, writers, consultants and other experts. All judges have to pass a test and their performance is reviewed	Competition based on organoleptic judgement plus further chemical analysis. If the required minimum score is reached, gold, silver and bronze awards are given in each tasting category. Products with the highest mark will be awarded "Best in Class" and are retasted for national and international trophies.
Beer	World Beer Cup	644 breweries from 58 countries and 45 U.S. states with 2,864 beers in 91 beer style categories	129 judges, mostly from international breweries, from 21 countries	The top three entries in each category win gold, silver and bronze awards. In addition, the competition gives “Champion Brewery” and “Champion Brewer” awards in each of five brewery categories.
Beer	Australian International Beer Awards	1074 entries from 42 countries	Industry representatives, no numbers mentioned	Here not only taste is awarded, but also “packaging aesthetics“, “product information“, “utility of packaging“. Awards: Gold, Silver, Bronze plus several extra awards in classes like company size, and others.
Beer	The Brewing Industry International Awards	752 entries in 2005 from breweries in 43 countries	31 professional and experienced brewers from 17 countries	9 categories, 25 classes, each with a Gold, Silver & Bronze Award	Since 1888, more about the history here.
Cheese	World Cheese Awards 2010	2,400 cheeses from all over the world	About 150 judges in 30 teams	128 Gold, 124 Silver and 131 Bronze awards in 2005

Other Wine Competitions:
International Wine Challenge
International Wine Contest of Brussels
San Francisco International Wine Competition
Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition
Sydney International Wine Competition

Other Beer Competitions:
World Beer Awards
European Beer Star
Monde Selection
Golden Tap Awards in Wikipedia: Golden Tap Awards

National/Regional/Local Awards

Category	Name	Participants	Jury/Judges	Award(s)	Further Notes
Regional Award (Wales)	True Taste Wales – Food & Drink Award	More than 340 companies from Wales with more than 900 products in 2008	Culinary experts including food writers, journalists, TV and industry chefs, food retailers and wholesalers.	67 Award winners in 2008	More details in Press release
Irish Food Awards (Ireland)	Blas na hÉireann - Irish Food Awards	not specified	Judges are journalists, chefs, producers and grocers	18 categories with one Gold, one Silver and one Bronze medal for each, plus special awards e.g. Newcomer or Grand Champion
National Award (Cheese)	British Cheese Awards	in 2009, 884 cheeses from 189 cheesemakers	Industry experts like cheese buyers, writers, chefs and food critics	66 Gold, 100 Silver, 149 Bronze Medals	Only British cheeses from cow, goat, ewe and buffalo milk can enter. Statistics here (pdf)
National Food Awards (US)	National Food Awards	Consumers, Social Media Foodies, Food industry followers, tv food show demographics	22 weeks of voting with 66 food and drink categories	Bi-weekly digi-awards in Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals	100% popular vote wins!

Other National/Regional Awards: Champion Beer Award Britain
Cider & Perry Awards
American Cheese Maker Awards
Swiss Cheese Awards

Awards for internationally branded products

Category	Name	Participants	Jury/Judges	Award(s)	Further Notes
German Organisation	DLG-Award	Mainly German and European products/manufacturers	Judges: trained expert panel with members from the food industry, government, food monitoring services and academia	Different food categories. For each category there’s the Great Award, the Silver Award and the Bronze Award	The Agricultural Society DLG tests 20,000 German and European products each year. Tests on sensory analysis, specific laboratory examinations, and other testing features
International Organisation	Superior Taste Award	Food/drink products/companies of all sizes from all over the world	Judges are only chefs or sommeliers from most acknowledged European professional organisations like: Maîtres Cuisiniers of France and Belgium, Academy of Culinary Arts, Hellenic Chefs' Association, Académie Culinaire of France, Verband der Köche Deutschlands, Jeunes Restaurateurs d'Europe, Federerazione dei Cuochi Italiana, Portuguese Chefs Association, Årets Kock of Sweden, Euro-Toques and the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI). The tastings are blind and follow the sensory analysis rules.	Products in 270 food and drink categories are tested by the International Taste & Quality Institute (iTQi). Depending on judgment marks, the products are granted the Superior Taste Award with one, two or three stars. In addition, iTQi launches a media/internet campaign and provides the winners with a commented report on the tastings with suggestions for improvements of the products from the jury members.	In 2010, 14 per cent of tested products received three stars, 46 per cent received two stars and 17 per cent received one star.
International Organisation	Monde Selection	Type of company: All sizes, local and international Type of products: Spirits & Liqueurs, Beers, Waters & Soft Drinks, Food, Diet & Health, and Cosmetics & Toiletries	Each product category has its own specialized and independent professional jury. Over 70 scientists, experts, nutrition and health consultants, Sommeliers and Chefs from prestigious culinary organisations collaborate with the Quality Institute. Monde Selection (est. 1961) is the only quality institute evaluating with scientific methodologies in accordance with international health and nutrition regulations (inspired by the European Directives and Regulations).	According to the average of points, a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Grand Gold Award is granted.	Each year, a three days' celebration is organized in a different European city. Diplomas, Trophies and Awards are handed over at Monde Selection’s annual Closing Ceremony.

Other international awards:
Great Taste Award
Saveur de l’Année

See also

International Institute for Quality Selections
Wine competition
Wine tasting
Superior Taste Award

External links

Judging details e.g. of the The Brewing Industry International Awards

Notes

1. ^ http://www.brewingawards.org/articles_30_competition-history_2_awards.html 1
2. ^ download.dlg.org/pdf/bier/DLG-Test_Bier07.pdf 2