About
The Good Food Awards rely on the expertise of the spirits 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 spirits standard are and who will be judging this year.
Committee
ChairBrittany Smail
Freelance Writer & Editor
As a bartender and bar manager, Brittany helped build one of Colorado’s most comprehensive bourbon programs before relocating to San Francisco in 2008 to join its thriving cocktail and food scene. She quickly joined forces with the Good Food Awards to promote the growing wave of responsibly and passionately made American spirits. She established the inaugural Good Food Awards Beer and Spirits Garden and has alternately served as Chair of the Spirits and Elixirs categories for the past 15 years. When not tinkering with cocktails at home, you can find her reading at one of San Francisco’s many excellent breweries.
2026 Judges
Rachel Malm
Shop Keeper, Bitters & Bottles
Ryan Anderson
COO, Steward
Ea Ksander
Buyer, Cheese Plus
Sara Arbabian
Owner, The Rind
Jordan Winter
Creative Director, Avant Food Media
Sally Rogers
Board President, Good Food Foundation
Standards
In order to be eligible for a Good Food Award, spirits 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.
- If the primary ingredient is a fruit, it is sourced domestically where possible, and 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.
- Free of artificial ingredients, including colors, flavors and preservatives.
- Distilled without genetically modified ingredients, including the use of GM corn to produce grain neutral spirits.
- 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.
- If your company is Publicly-held, Owned/Partially-owned by publicly-held compan(y)ies, or has over $100 million in annual revenue, your company, as well as its parent company(ies), are required to meet additional criteria to become Good Food Qualified:
- Offer a minimum of 12 weeks of paid parental leave to all employees
- Have at least one woman, minority, or LGBTQIA+ representative on their Board of Directors
- Have a proven track record of prioritizing a safe and fairly-compensated work culture, with no violations in the area of wage or workplace safety in the past 5 years. This will be verified on the Good Jobs First Violation Tracker
Please note that modifiers such as bitters, shrubs, syrups, tinctures, concentrates, drinking vinegars and flavor extracts should be entered into the Elixirs category.
Subcategories
Additionally, spirits entries must fit within one of the following subcategories:
- Whiskey
- Gin
- Vodka
- Agave-Based
- Sugarcane-Based
- Fruit-Based Distillates
- Liqueurs (Aperitifs, Digestifs, Fortified Wine)
- Low ABV
-
Zero-Proof*