Xoconostle Spread (choko-nose-leh) to Compete for sofi™ New Product of the Year at 2023 Summer Fancy Food Show
San Francisco, California (May 13,2023) – Xoconostle Spread (choko-nose-leh) has been named the 2023 sofi™ New Product Award Winner in the Fruit Spreads, Jams, and Jellies category. The Specialty Food Association’s (SFA) sofi™ Awards—which have been bestowed annually since 1972—are a top honor in the $175 billion specialty food industry.
The 2023 sofi™ Awards recognized a New Product Winner and a Gold Product Winner in each of 53 specialty food and beverage product categories. Products were judged on taste—including flavor, appearance, texture, and aroma—ingredient quality, and innovation. Nearly 2,000 products from domestic and international makers were entered into the 2023 competition.
“We are excited and truly honored that our beloved Xoconostle (choko-nose-leh) Spread has won a sofi™ New Product Award,” says Daniela Rubio and Patricia de los Santos, owners of Comá Gourmet Foods, a minority Latina and women owned company based in San Francisco. “Our jam/spread that plays homage to the Mexican cactus. It is the Wild Sour Prickly Pear. It does not have sugar and uses Agave Nectar instead. This spread is a lovely shade of pear with a fruity fragrance, featuring a refreshing tart citrus flavor. As entrepreneurs, we want to know that we are creating the best possible product for our customers, and this Award is one of the ultimate stamps of approval.” Our beloved Xoconostle Spread is found online at Weee!, Etsy, and through our personal D2C shop www.comagourmet.com In addition, several independent retailers are now selling it across California (San Francisco, Los Altos, Los Angeles, San Diego), Oregon, and Colorado.
The Xoconostle Spread will now compete against other category winners for the 2023 sofi™ New Product of the Year Award, which will be selected and announced at the Summer Fancy Food Show, June 25-27 in New York City. The Summer Fancy Food Show is the largest B2B-only specialty food industry event in North America.
“The sofi™ Awards recognize the best, most innovative products in the Specialty Food Industry and the creative, passionate people who make them,” said SFA President Bill Lynch. “Winning a sofi™ Award can open doors to new markets and expanded business opportunities for the winners, which is central to the SFA’s work on behalf of its member makers and manufacturers.”
The sofi™ Awards competition is open to product qualified SFA members in good standing. New and Gold Award Winners in each category are featured in the sofi™ Spotlight Pavilion at the Summer and Winter Fancy Food Shows. Winning a sofi™ Award creates added exposure for products with food buyers from top names in supermarkets, specialty retailers, foodservice, distributors, and the media.
SFA partners with Rutgers Food Innovation Center in Bridgeton, NJ for sofi™ Awards judging and logistics management. Entries were judged strictly on a blind basis—without packaging, pricing, or any brand identification. Products were judged on taste—including flavor, appearance, texture, and aroma—ingredient quality, and innovation.
About Comá Gourmet Foods
Comá (Comida-mamá) represents a Mother’s heart. A company founded by mother and daughter that creates innovative spreads, jams, and preserves Made in Mexico, it symbolizes families. Mothers are an important figure in this country. Our products are sugar free, keto friendly, diabetic friendly, and use agave syrup to sweeten and sustain delicious sweet-tart flavors across our product portfolio.
We believe it’s important to protect our heritage because that's deeply ingrained where the flavors of the Mexicans come from. We have such strong roots that are also related to food. There are many meals that we eat because they are rooted in the same culture. We have evolved in that we’ve both inherited generations of indigenous flavors and acquired our own unique flavors and essences for hundreds of years. At Comá, the mother-daughter relationship comes to fruition.
The company was founded in 2022 by Daniela and Patricia. Patricia (the mother) is based in Mexico City and is the Chief Innovator Officer of this partnership. She uses her creativity to bring new flavors by exploring markets, regions, and local source producers. Daniela (the daughter) is based in San Francisco, a seasoned entrepreneur and professional in the research and strategy industry. Comá Gourmet was founded in 2022 by Daniela Rubio and Patricia de los Santos.
Comá Gourmet Foods will be present at the Summer Fancy Foods Show in New York in 2023. More information can be found in www.comagourmet.com, Facebook, and Instagram
About the Specialty Food Association
The not-for-profit Specialty Food Association (SFA) is the leading membership trade association and source of information about the $175 billion specialty food industry. Founded in 1952 in New York City, the SFA prides itself on being an organization by the members and for the members, representing thousands of specialty food makers and manufacturers, importers, retailers, buyers, distributors, brokers, and others in the trade. The SFA owns and operates the Fancy Food Shows—which are the largest specialty food industry events in North America—as well as the sofi™ Awards—which have honored excellence in specialty food and beverage annually since 1972. The SFA produces the Trendspotter Panel annual predictions, the State of the Specialty Food Industry Report, Today's Specialty Food Consumer research, the Spill & Dish podcast, year-round educational programming for professionals at every stage in their business journey, and SFA Feed, the industry's go-to daily source for news, trends and new product information. Find out more online and connect with SFA on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.
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