About
The Good Food Awards rely on the expertise of the elixirs community to create the tasting, determine judges and set standards for the category. Read on to learn who has been integral to building the category, as well as what the elixirs standard are and who will be judging this year.
Committee
ChairJen Flaxman
Head of People, Peak Design
This is Jen’s 6th year chairing the Elixirs committee and her thirteenth year volunteering and/or working with the Good Food Awards. Her passion for food and beverage was shaped through her years of involvement with the Good Food Foundation, her time working in coffee, and her love of hospitality. Outside of the Good Food Awards, Jen leads the People team at Peak Design, a certified B Corp and proud member of 1% for the Planet, where she champions people-centered culture and sustainable business practices. When she’s not working, you can catch Jen eating, drinking and frolicking her husband, Alec, and pup, Olive.
2026 Judges
Willow Blish
Chapter Leader, Slow Food East Bay
Charlie Berkinshaw
Partner, CPG Anatomy
Sarah Holt
Director of Marketing + Community, Bi-Rite Family of Businesses
Saeeda Hafiz
Self-Emplyeed
Jason Jamereson
Bar Director, The Morris
Standards
In order to be eligible for a Good Food Award, elixirs entries must meet the following standards:
- Made in the USA or US Territories.
- Utilize ingredients that are grown and sourced responsibly, with awareness of origin, seasonality, trade and labor practices.
- Free of genetically modified ingredients (including GM beet sugar, vinegar derived from GM corn and alcohol derived from GM grain or sugar).
- Free of high fructose corn syrup. Sweeteners must be organic or Fair Trade certified.*
- Free of artificial ingredients, including colors, flavors and preservatives.**
- Made with a traceable base.
- If made with fruits and vegetables, they are grown without the use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fungicides or fertilizers. Where a grain is the primary ingredient there is a strong effort made to use ingredients free of these inputs wherever possible.***
- All spices and herbs must be certified organic, Fair Trade or traceable to the farm level and grown without the use of synthetic inputs.****
- Made by a crafter that is an upstanding member of the good food community, committed to equity and inclusion in all levels of their business,***** as exemplified through integrating these practices:
- Creating a safe and healthy work environment where employees receive a fair wage, are safe and respected at work and have access to the resources they need to keep themselves healthy.
- Offering a diversity, equity, and inclusion training to staff members and/or leadership annually.
- Thoughtfully acknowledging the heritage of culturally-specific food on websites, packaging and/or marketing materials.
- For the small percentage of Good Food community that operates on a significantly larger scale, meeting additional criteria related to board diversity, maternity leave and employment practices.*****
* Honey does not require organic certification, but must meet the criteria established for the Good Food Awards honey category.
** Citric acid will be accepted for some extracts.
*** IPM practices will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
****If less than 2% of ingredients in the product do not meet this stipulation, the entry will not be disqualified.
*****Check if you are in the 2% of companies meeting the Good Food Foundation definition of large scale, and review the addition criteria on the Rules & Regulations page.
Subcategories
Additionally, elixirs entries must fit within one of the following subcategories:
- Bitters
- Syrups
- Shrubs and Drinking Vinegars
- Concentrates
- Flavor Extracts
- Tinctures
- Ginger Beers, Tonics and Mixers
- CBD & Adaptogen Mixers