New York, NY (June 29, 2023) – Mochidoki’s Vegan Passion Fruit mochi ice cream has won the award for New Product of the Year on top of the award for Best New Frozen Dessert as part of the Specialty Food Association’s (SFA) 2023 sofi Awards, a top honor in the $194 billion specialty food industry.
Vegan Passionfruit was one of 97 winners selected by a panel of specialty food experts from nearly 2,000 entries across 53 product categories. Products were judged on taste, including flavor, appearance, texture and aroma, ingredient quality and innovation at the prestigious Rutgers Food Innovation Center. After anonymous tastings by hundreds of top buyers at the 2023 Summer Fancy Food Show, the Specialty Food Association (SFA) announced that Mochidoki was the 2023 sofi New Product of the Year Award winner.
“We are honored that Vegan Passionfruit has won a New Product of the Year Award,” says Ken Gordon, co-founder of Mochidoki. “As entrepreneurs, we are always looking for ways to know that our product is loved. This is one of the ultimate stamps of approval and we’re very grateful. It's the culmination of a lot of hard work, and it confirms that mochi ice cream is here to stay.” Vegan Passionfruit can be purchased at both of Mochidoki’s New York City locations (176 Spring Street and 1035 3rd Avenue), for direct-to-consumer delivery across the US via www.mochidoki.com, for shipping across 40 delivery regions via Amazon Fresh, and at select retailers, including Citarella, Morton Williams, Westside Market, and Central Market.
“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. Gold and New 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.
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About Mochidoki
Mochidoki is a nationally renowned, New York-based mochi ice cream company, beloved for their imaginative and refined Japanese inspired desserts. The first and only premium mochi ice cream brand, Mochidoki offers a lineup of elegant flavors that inspire moments of joy and discovery – including earthy and rich Purple Sweet Potato, Matcha made with premium matcha, Salted Caramel with cracked caramel candy, Vegan Mango with alphonso mango and more.
Mochidoki uses internationally sourced, high quality ingredients and globally inspired, expertly crafted formulations to take customers on a journey of discovery, while patent-pending packaging keeps the products fresh and perfectly formed for optimal taste and presentation. As the frozen dessert industry, and especially the mochi ice cream market, continues to experience exponential growth, Mochidoki remains an innovator in the space, and has amassed a vast following for its irresistible creations.
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 $194 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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