Welcome to the 2027 sofi™ Awards!
Submissions will be open June 22–July 27, 2026! As the sofi Awards head into their second year at SFA’s Winter FancyFaire* this January, the program continues to evolve—featuring streamlined, more competitive categories that highlight the very best in specialty.
All About Food's Most Coveted Prize
What are the sofi Awards?
Presented by the Specialty Food Association, the sofi Awards are among the most prestigious honors in the specialty food industry.
Established in 1972, the awards celebrate outstanding products across 25 categories, including snacks, beverages, cheese, and frozen. Winners are selected through a rigorous blind tasting process by a panel of top industry buyers, with evaluations based on taste, ingredient quality, and innovation.
What's New for 2027
The sofi™ Awards will continue with the enhanced format introduced last year, now in its second year:
Finalists Announced in Advance: 75 Gold finalists and 3 Outstanding Packaging Design finalists will be revealed ahead of Winter FancyFaire*, offering increased visibility for top contenders in the lead-up to the ceremony. Finalists will also have the opportunity to showcase their products onsite.
Gold Awards by Category: 25 Gold Awards will be presented—one to the top-scoring product in each category—maintaining a highly competitive, category-based recognition structure.
Grand Honors Live at Ceremony: Grand Honors winners will be revealed during the live ceremony at Winter FancyFaire*, continuing the tradition of celebrating the most distinguished products in a live setting.
Refined Awards Experience: The current structure continues to emphasize transparency, category excellence, and meaningful recognition across both product and packaging innovation.
The awards ceremony will take place at Winter FancyFaire* in San Francisco, January 17-19, 2027.
Award Categories
The 2027 sofi™ Awards will feature:
Gold Awards
One Gold winner per category, representing the top product in each. The top 3 products in each category will be announced as sofi Finalists, including the Outstanding Packaging Design category.
Grand Honors Awards
Special recognitions presented live at Winter FancyFaire*:
Product of the Year – Food
Product of the Year – Beverage
Outstanding New Product
Timeless Taste
Outstanding Packaging Design
Top Retail Buyers Select the sofi Winners
SFA works with the Food Innovation Center at Rutgers University (FIC) to manage the sofi™ Awards judging. For the 2026 awards, a superstar panel of buyers from top retailers participated, including Whole Foods, Wakefern, Giant Eagle, DeCicco & Sons, and more.
With an expanded and elevated judging process, these industry-leading buyers evaluated product entries firsthand. All brands that submit to the sofi Awards receive feedback, including judges’ scores, from these influential decision-makers.
Stay tuned to learn who will be part of the next panel of buyers tasting the upcoming round of entries!
Meet the Buyers
What You Receive When You Win a sofi
- Promotion at Specialty Food Association’s Winter FancyFaire* trade show
- Inclusion in the SFA sofi Media Blitz:
- SFA Press Release promoting all winners distributed to 400+ members of the trade media
- Online galleries of winning products on specialtyfood.com (161k monthly users)
- Announcements across all SFA social media sites (LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and more)
- Dedicated mention in sofi Awards Collection on RangeMe
- sofi Branding Rights:
- Exclusive right to use the sofi™ logo in marketing promotion and on packaging
- Access to the sofi digital toolkit to help you promote your product
- sofi Trophy:
- A physical sofi trophy that you can display at your business and bring to food events where you exhibit—a recognized symbol of excellence and innovation.