After a yearlong hiatus in some of its award categories, the Specialty Food Association is proud to present its 2022 Leadership Award recipients in Business, Vision, and Citizenship; and its 2021 and 2022 classes of Lifetime Achievement Award winners and Hall of Fame inductees. They will be recognized during the SFA Awards Celebration, taking place Sunday, June 12 at the Summer Fancy Food Show. The sofi Product of the Year and New Product of the Year winners will also be announced.
“The Specialty Food Association is proud to be back in person at the awards celebration this year to honor the pioneers, entrepreneurs, and trailblazers that have laid the groundwork for today's healthy $175 billion specialty food industry,” said Laura Lozada, vice president of membership for the Specialty Food Association. “Without these dedicated individuals driving our industry forward, we wouldn't be where we are today, celebrating 70 amazing years of the Specialty Food Association, helping to champion, nurture and connect the specialty food industry every day.”
The SFA's Leadership Awards honor influential and innovative entrepreneurs who are transforming the specialty food industry, while the SFA's Lifetime Achievement honorees are widely recognized as having grown the industry, improved the Association, inspired companies, and nurtured individuals. The mission of SFA's Hall of Fame is to honor individuals whose accomplishments, impact, contributions, innovations, and successes within the specialty food industry deserve praise and recognition. Links to profiles of the honorees and inductees can be found below.
Recipients include:
2022 Leadership Award Winners
Business
Kathrine Gregory, The Entrepreneur Incubator Space LLC
Citizenship
Joe Hanni, PS Seasoning & Spices
Vision
Tom Simmons, The Supplant Company
2021 Lifetime Achievement Award Winners
Sotiris Kitrilakis, Big Picture Foods
2022 Lifetime Achievement Award Winners
Rex Howell-Smith, Central Market-Texas
Becky Renfro Borbolla, Renfro Foods, Inc.
Sandi Ford, Ford's Foods
Lorenza Pasetti, Volpi Foods
Donato Cinelli, Universal Marketing SRL
Lou Foah, Foah International LLC
Greg Hinson, O Olive Oil & Vinegar
Marygrace Sexton, Natalie's Orchid Island Juice Company
Caryl Levine and Ken Lee, Lotus Foods
Pierluigi Sini, Forever Cheese
Dariush and Jamshid Soofer, Sadaf Foods
Ted Dennard, Savannah Bee Company
Related: SFA Announces 2022 sofi Winners; SFA Partners With Food Institute on Livestream Show Coverage.