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
Co-ChairsSally Rogers
CEO of Parsnip
Sally 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.
Liz O’Hara
Consumer and Market Intelligence Director, Natural & Organic Operating Unit of General Mills
Liz is a Director of Consumer and Market Intelligence at General Mills with a particular focus in the Natural and Organic food segment. Her passion is helping brands determine growth strategies that are centered on consumer needs which solve real human and planet pain points. In her 20 year career in food, she’s held a variety of roles focused in both North America as well as supporting global teams. Her favorite place on change curve is the very beginning when we’re all stepping into the unknown ready to solve seemingly impossible problems.
Monica Nassar
Rachel Ross
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 and inclusion in all levels of their business,***** as exemplified through integrating these practices:
-
- 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.*****
*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.
*****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, snacks must fit in one of the following subcategories:
- Cookies & Baked Goods (e.g. brownies, shortbread, macarons, sweet breads)
- 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)
2022 Judges
Jenna Hua
CEO, Million Marker
Rob Volpe
CEO, Ignite 360
Mike Forbes
CEO, Alter Eco Foods
Karnika Haridoss
Director of Marketing, La Tourangelle
Sophie Fleming
Manager, Flour + Water
Shauna Sadowski
VP of Sustainability, Simple Mills
Amy Sherman
Editor in Chief, Cheese Professor
Sarah Weiner
Executive Director, Good Food Foundation
Wendy Weiden
Consultant, Wendy Weiden Food Solutions
Corey Rateau
Senior Category Manager, Good Eggs
Jen Flaxman
Head of Learning and Development, Stitch Fix
Nico Madrigal Yankowski
Editorial Assistant, SF Gate
Marsela Pecanac
Director Impact Banking, SVP, Signature Bank
Rachel Barron
Culinary Innovation Project Manager, Thistle
Caroline Bonham
E-Commerce Manager, Luke's Local