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2006 New Zealand
Ice Cream Awards
 The
tenth New Zealand Ice Cream Awards were announced
at the annual NZICMA Conference in NELSON on Thursday, 18th May
2006.
A
record number of 185 entries (compared with 155 entries in 2005)
were submitted by 19 manufacturers for judging by four expert judges
(above), Ms Kay McMath, Ms Joanna Boese,
Mr Garry Baker from Sydney, and Ms Christine
O’Sullivan of Auckland.
This year the Awards judging
was held for the first time at Massey University, Albany campus in
Auckland and students of the 4th year of the B.Technology (Food)
ably acted
as stewards. This enabled the judges to focus on the judging of the
entries and to get through the large number of entries over a two
day period.
International judging guidelines were followed with each ice cream being
awarded the maximum possible marks of 100 and from this points were deducted
for various imperfections in each of 4 areas:
 Appearance
defects
Body
and texture
Flavour
defects
Melting
defects
Entries were in 9 categories which included an Export Category (to include/exclude packaging) and a category for Kids
Choice.
A new category was established
for the first time this year to separate the gelato/gelati and sorbet products
from ice cream products in the Open Creative Category ensuring that like
entries were considered against products with similar composition.
The Kids Choice is judged by children – this year,
6 students from a new school, Oteha Valley School on the North Shore, were
selected to judge. The children were aged from 5 ½ years to 10 and
despite being young in age they all managed to differentiate between the
samples and
determine clearly their likes (“yummy”) from their dislikes
(“yukky”). The 3 boys and 3 girls took their role as ice cream
judges very seriously – to the extent that the appearance of the
media went entirely unnoticed.
The 4th year students acted as mentors for each child guiding them through the
process and at the same time learning something of children’s persuasive
powers when it comes to food (especially ice cream) choice.
The Supreme Award is given to the ice cream with the highest
score across all categories. This year the Award went to the winner of the Premium
Category with a score of 99 points.
The Supreme Award for 2006 went to Kapiti Fine Foods Ltd for
their Kapiti
Lemon Meringue Pie.
The Export Category was sponsored by Allberry House and consisted
of two sections – one to include packaging and the other to exclude packaging.
While there was little originality in the packaging that was presented – the
winner of the export section to include packaging was a superb product with a
flavour profile ideally suited to its target market of Japan. The winning product
in the Export Inclusive of Packaging Category was Emerald Foods Ltd’s
Vanilla Ice Cream. Green Tea Ice Cream made by New
Zealand Natural was the winner of the Export Exclusive of Packaging
Category. While the flavour was not everyone’s “cup of tea” – the
flavour of this ice cream was so true to character it was hard to envisage you
were eating the sample not drinking the beverage.
In the Open Creative Category there were joint winners, Deep
South 2007 Ltd for their Coffee and Walnut Ice Cream and Prolux
Pty Ltd for their entry Comprital Italian Hazelnut Praline Gelato.
Entries in this Category were not eligible for the Supreme Award as the products
do not have to be commercially available. This is to encourage entries from hotels,
restaurants, food institutes and other catering establishments.
The Gelato/Gelati/Sorbet Category attracted an impressive 31
entries. Apple, berries, lemon and lime and even a champagne flavoured sorbet/gelato-gelati
continued to excite the judges. The quality of the products was exciting with
some wonderful natural, authentic fruit flavours being captured in these frozen
treats. The Category is growing fast with consumers enjoying the superior quality
of fruit flavours possible in these formulations.
The showcase of quality of New Zealand ice cream is no more evident than in the Standard
Vanilla Ice Cream Category. The quality of raw ingredients – especially
dairy, and the control of processes is very evident in these ice creams. Deep
South 2007 Ltd’s French Vanilla continued its winning run of four
consecutive Best in Category Awards in this class.
The record number of entries this year, and the increasing numbers of products
in the Gelato / Sorbet and Low Fat categories may be a reflection of the changing
market trends to more natural, healthier products with consumers being able to
enjoy more of these guilt free products.
The New Zealand Ice Cream Awards is growing from strength to strength with new
players entering the field, creativity abounding from our food technologists
and new processes constantly challenging old methods. The first competition was
held in 1997 and had 61 entries. The Ice Cream Awards will continue to promote
excellence and innovation in the industry.
 A
full list of the 2006 Awards is here.
Photos
of the 2006 Awards presentations and winners here.
 Back to
the Awards page |
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