About
The Good Food Awards rely on the expertise of the snacks 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 snacks standard are and who will be judging this year.
Committee
ChairSally Rogers
CEO of Parsnip
Sally Rogers worked in finance and consulting for a decade before deciding to leave her corporate career and chase her passion: connecting with people around making better food choices. Sally went on to start two companies (Nibble, a healthy snacking company, and The Pickle, an editorial), and is currently working on Parsnip, a matchmaking company for consumer brands (including tasty and good food and beverage!). She is on the Advisory Board of the Good Food Foundation.
Noelle Fogg Elibol
Partnership Manager at Kitchen Table Advisors
Noelle’s passion for tasty and ethical food began when she observed the powerful impacts that food has on the environment, economic opportunity, community, and health while working at Root Capital. This prompted her personal exploration into U.S. agriculture, and while working on farms in Massachusetts and Nevada, she gained a deeper appreciation for the physical hard work and financial challenges that our food producers undertake every day. Noelle supported dozens of sustainable farms and food businesses on the East Coast through financial and farmland access advising. Today, she is part of the incredible team at Kitchen Table Advisors, where she advises farmers and ranchers and builds partnerships with values-aligned food businesses to support the long-term economic viability of sustainable small farms and ranches.
Monica Nassar, Associate Attorney, Reinisch Wilson Weier
Rachel Stoczko, Communications Lead, Planet FWD
Michelle Xie, MBA Candidate, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Standards
In order to be eligible for a Good Food Award, snacks entries must meet the following standards:
- Made in the USA or US territories.
- Made with a balanced objective of local, organic and highest-quality.*
- Made with transparency in supply chain.**
- Free of high fructose corn syrup, palm oil and artificial ingredients, including colors, flavors and preservatives.
- Made with rBGH-free milk, where milk is used.
- Made with flours
- That have not been bleached or bromated
- Grown without the use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fungicides or fertilizers.***
- Free of genetically modified ingredients.
- Made with spices that are certified organic, Fair Trade, or traceable to the farm level.*
- Must include more than one ingredient or be created in such a way that an agricultural product has been transformed into a value-added snack. If product entered is a single ingredient transformed to a value-added snack, single ingredient must be grown without the use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fungicides or fertilizers.****
- Made by a crafter that is an upstanding member of the good food community, committed to equity, inclusion, and justice in all levels of their business.
*Ingredients that make up less than 2% of the product (such as spices, sugar, or lemon juice) may be sourced from farther afield, or from a larger distributor.
**That is, an earnest attempt is made to verify the origin and production methods of the ingredient. If made with ingredients that are not grown domestically, a farm-direct or certified organic source has been sought and documentation of this search, including notes on calling distributors, is provided.
***Grains made grown with minimal synthetic inputs using IPM will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the type of crop and region of growth.
****Ingredients grown with minimal synthetic inputs using Integrated Pest management practices will be evaluated on a case by case basis.
Subcategories
Additionally, snacks must fit in one of the following subcategories:
- Cookies & Baked Goods (brownies, shortbread, macarons)
- Jerky
- Dehydrated Fruit
- Popcorn (must be pre-popped)
- Granola
- Chips (e.g., corn, potato, veggie)
- Crackers & Crisps (excludes graham crackers or other sweet cookie-like crackers)
- Bars & Balls (e.g., granola, protein, energy)
- Hard Pretzels
- Snack Mixes (e.g., trail, nut, seed, or party!)
- Puffs (e.g., cheese, quinoa, rice, veggie)
Judges
Darel Scott
Founder, Earth in Color
Jennifer Doan
Director of Marketing Communications, Veritable Vegetable
Perla Melendez
Chef and Owner, Two Mamacitas
Kayla Abe
Founder + Co-CEO / Foodservice, Ugly Pickle Co. / Oatly
Hourie Sahakian
Menu Director, Blue Bottle Coffee
Wendy Weiden
Principal, Wendy Weiden Food Solutions
Daniella Sawaya
Community Engagement Manager, Kitchen Table Advisors
Maia Hirschbein
National Foodservice Sales, California Olive Ranch
McKenzie Phelan
Founder, Foodmuse
Gerard Mealy
Product Manager, IfOnly
Avery Resor
Co-Founder, Daybreak Seaweed
Tamara Hicks
Clara Lee
Chef/Owner, Queens SF
Iso Rabins
Owner/Partner, Forage Kitchen/ Forage SF
Shannon Gomes
Founder/Principal, Good Food PR
Olga Katsnelson
Founder, Postcard Communications
Jennifer Rojas Cline
Category Sales Manager, Grocery Staples, Bi-Rite Family of Businesses
Nitika Dhamankar
Director of Product Innovation, Kitchentown
Andrea Akers
Operations Manager, CUESA