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2009 New Zealand
Ice Cream Awards
 The
13th NEW ZEALAND ICE CREAM AWARDS were announced
at the special Awards Dinner held during the NZ Ice Cream Manufacturers'
Assn. Conference in Palmerston North on Thursday, 28th MAY 2009.
" You could definitely eat more than a spoonful of this" was the verdict of the
Judges when they awarded the 2009
New Zealand Ice Cream Supreme Award to Takapuna Beach Café & Store for
their Licorice Gelato.
The Supreme Award for 2009 went to Takapuna Beach Café & Store for
their Licorice Gelato
This Gelato, with the highest score overall, was described by the Judges as near
to perfect with its delicate aniseed type flavour and smooth creamy texture.
Not only did Takapuna Beach Café & Store win the Supreme Award and
Gelato Best in Category for their Licorice Gelato, but they also won
the Sorbet Best in Category for their Mango Sorbet.
In its 82nd year the New Zealand Ice Cream Manufacturers' Association (Inc.)
is continuing to diversify with the membership of smaller boutique operators
who are contributing new ideas of flavours and products. "Small" is proving to
be as good as "big" in terms of the ideas generated and the quality of products.
The main judging of the New Zealand Ice Cream Awards was undertaken during the
first week of May at the Massey University campus, Food Technology Department
in Albany, Auckland. Food Technology students acted as stewards enabling the
Judges to focus on getting through the large number of entries - a record of
211 ice creams/gelatos/sorbets split over 11 categories. Some changes to the
Rules enabled the gelatos and sorbets to be separated for judging and this encouraged
many small manufacturers to enter resulting in large increases from last year
in both these categories.
Judges (Mrs Kay McMath, Ms Joanna Boese, Mrs
Susan Crowhen and Mr Aaron Pooch of Auckland, and Mr
Garry Baker from Sydney) used international judging criteria 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
While the regular favourites were entered - hokey pokey, cookies and cream, strawberry
and chocolate - there were some new variations on the themes. New Zealand fruits
such as feijoa, figs and guava were among the entries along with lavender, Manuka
honey and lemon
curd.
Open Creative entries - for those ice creams, gelatos and sorbets not available
in the retail market - included some more savoury flavours such as salmon, pear
and blue cheese, and strawberries,
cracked pepper and nasturtium flowers.
Judges noted the increasing quality and variety in the Gelato and Sorbet categories.
The range of flavours in the Gelato category was not restricted to fruits, but
included such flavours as carrot cake, licorice, Easter bun, honey and date.
The texture of many of the entries was superb with the creamy smooth "mouth feel" giving
maximum flavour release.
By comparison, the ice cream entries did not show the same degree of innovation
with old time favourites being re-entered. The Premium Ice Cream numbers have
remained static over the past two years maybe reflecting market demands for great
tasting lower fat products.
The task of selecting the overall winner was made easier this year by some regulation
changes sorting ice creams according to their formulations (premium vs. standard)
and separating the gelatos from sorbets.
The Award for the Best Premium Vanilla Ice Cream went to Deep
South 2007 Ltd for their Deep South French Vanilla.
"Divine" was how one little boy from Three Kings School described the ice creams
he and his fellow classmates had to judge as their role in deciding winner of
the Kids
Choice category in this year's Awards. They all considered they had
the "best job in the world" and judging ice cream sure bet doing maths or reading
for a morning. The favourite
among the children was Killinchy
Gold Chocolate Fudge Brownie manufactured by Emerald Foods.
The Premium category is where the higher fat and solids content (11%) results
in indulgent ice creams. While the classics of chocolate, coffee, hokey pokey,
strawberry and cookies and cream were entered, the winner was Limonata
Cheesecake, a delicately flavoured lemon cheesecake ice cream with
lemon curd ripple and biscuit pieces manufactured by Kiwi Ice Cream Co
Ltd.
By contrast, the Low Fat category does not have the luxury of
adding fat for that indulgent flavour, but the industry can be proud of the increasing
quality of low fat frozen desserts which do not have the stickiness and gumminess
associated with earlier entries. The winner of this category was Chateau
Strawberry Yoghurt made by Emerald Foods. This
was not only low in fat, but had the added health benefits of pre and pro biotics
with bifidus and acidophilus.
The New Packaging category (for new packaging introduced in
the last 12 months) included both shippers, outers and product containers and
it was pleasing to note the high quality of graphic design from small manufacturers
such as Orgasmic Organic Ice Cream and Blue River Dairy Products. The Best
in Category for New Packaging was awarded to Emerald Foods.
 A
full list of the 2009 Awards is here.
Photos
of the 2009 Awards presentations and winners here.
 Back to
the Awards page |
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