45°
The creme de la creme of the specialty foods trade have selected three products by Fritz Knipschildt, owner of Norwalk's Chocopologie, as Silver Finalists for their annual Sofi Awards. Out of 2,000 food items entered, only 125 made the cut, moving on to the final judging which will take place at the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City on June 27. Gold winners will be announced at a red carpet ceremony the next day.
The National Association for Specialty Foods Trade (NASFT) selects winners in 33 categories annually. The judging panel is comprised of 400 industry experts who matter most: the buyers from supermarkets, natural food stores, and specialty food markets, and a veritable who's who of chefs, food journalists and culinary educators.
Products are judged on taste, quality, and innovation, as well as ingredient profile, merchandisability, and on whether or not the item is best in its class. In the running for Knipschildt are one item each in the categories of chocolate (burnt caramel in 71 percent single bean ecuadorian dark chocolate with pink Hawaiian sea salt), innovation in packaging design (an Easter ensemble of nine hand-painted chocolate eggs in an egg carton-style box), and salad dressing (raspberry peppercorn syrup made with fresh fruit and Madgascar peppercorns).
The Danish chef's confections have been hailed in Food and Wine magazine and The New York Times, and recognized by Oprah Winfrey as some of the best in the world. Check back to this page in early July to find out how his products ranked in the finals.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Norwalk and receive free news updates.
