AmericasMart Atlanta announced the winners of its annual Best of Atlanta awards celebrating the top gourmet food products in its permanent and temporary collections. The awards were adjudicated during the Atlanta Gourmet Market in September.
Winners were designated based on taste, overall appeal and packaging/presentation as selected by industry experts Melissa Libby, founder of Melissa Libby & Associates and gourmet industry public relations specialist; Hil Harper, founder of “Gentleman South” and restaurant critic; and Deborah Geering, columnist and local food expert for Atlanta Magazine.
The winners were: The Orchards Gourmet’s Glazed Pecans for Best Candy Non-Chocolate and Pecan Peanut Butter Meltaways for Best Chocolate; Stonewall Kitchen’s Mango Lime Salsa for Best Salsa; Captain Rodney’s Jezebel Sauce for Best Condiment and Boucan Glaze for Best Snack; Grits Bits/Strawberry Patch’s Sweet Cream Butter Cookies for Best Dessert; Fat Mama’s Tamales’ Fire & Ice Pickles for Best Pickled Product; Robert Rothschild Farms’ Hot Pepper Peach Preserves for Best Jam; Old World Gourmet’s Instant Mulling Spices for Best Beverage; and ZuZu’s Joy’s Tennessee Farm Country Gourmet Enchilada Soup Mix for Best Soup.
For the first time this year, AmericasMart buyers cast their votes for the Fan Favorite Award by posting a photo of their favorite product on Twitter, on Facebook and on Instagram with the hashtag #BOAatlmkt. Wine-A-Rita’s Peach Bellini took home the title of Fan Favorite.
In addition to top gourmet products, excellence in visual design was celebrated by the Atlanta Fall Gift & Home Furnishings Market and the Atlanta Gourmet Market Best of Show award, given to Ele & Honey Co. LLC. The natural handmade bath and body products line’s booth treated buyers to a multi-sensory experience with beautiful rustic displays and wonderful scents wafting from them.
AmericasMart Atlanta is the nation’s only global wholesale marketplace housing the world’s single-largest collection of home, gift, area rug and apparel merchandise. The largest of AmericasMart’s 14 annual markets and shows, The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market and The Atlanta International Area Rug Market in January and July draw buyers from every state and more than 90 countries with more than 1,400 showrooms and more than 2,500 temporary exhibiting companies.
