Waffle with bacon and bourbon ripple; blue cheese, pear, walnut and honeycomb; and rockmelon and prosciutto — are just a few of the innovative entries in the 21st Annual New Zealand Ice Cream Awards. But in the end, exquisitely crafted green tea and chai latte ice creams scooped the two Supreme Awards – for flavour, body, texture and appearance – at the Awards held by the New Zealand Ice Cream Manufacturers’ Association in Auckland on 26 May.
A panel of judges, including acclaimed Chef Geoff Scott, assessed a record number of entries across 12 categories. Two of these Best in Category winners were elevated to Supreme Awards to acknowledge the best ice cream from both large and boutique producers.
Talley’s Group Ltd took home the Supreme Award for Large Manufacturer with its Talley’s Export Green Tea Ice Cream, the best Standard Ice Cream. It stood out for having a good “creamy texture and green tea flavour with no astringency”.
The Supreme Award for a Boutique Manufacturer was awarded to Puhoi Valley Cafe, the winner of the competitive Premium Ice Cream category for their Chai Latte Ice Cream.
A record 340 entries from 31 companies and individuals entered this year. Newcomer to the Awards this year was the Non-Dairy category to reflect the growing consumer interest in this market. Kohu Road Ltd took the top spot in Non-Dairy for its Kohu Road Dairy-Free Strawberry product with a striking creamy texture and a well-balanced strawberry coconut flavour profile.
Joint Winners in the Sorbet category were Carrello del Gelato for Feijoa Sorbet and Tip Top Ice Cream – for Tip Top Top Notch Mango Sorbet.
The Standard Vanilla Ice Cream award went to Much Moore Ice Cream Co Ltd – Much Moore Wonders Vanilla Ice Cream. The Premium Vanilla Ice Cream award went to Talley’s Group Ltd – for Talley’s Premium Export Vanilla Ice Cream. This premium ice cream has been designed for export to Korea. However, the Export Ice Cream Award went to Emerald Foods Ltd for Killinchy Gold Chocolate Fudge.
Low-Fat Award Joint Winners were Much Moore Ice Cream Co Ltd for Much Moore Awesome Strawberry Yoghurt Low Fat Ice Cream and Tip Top Ice Cream for Tip Top Light Vanilla.
This year’s ‘Best of’ category was Coffee, with 33 entries from ice cream, gelato and sorbet manufacturers. The judges selected Matakana Roasted Affogato Yoghurt Ice Cream made by Puhoi Valley Café as the winner of this year’s Best of Coffee category.
Did you know?
The New Zealand Ice Cream Manufacturers Association was incorporated in 1927 and membership is made up of Manufacturers and Associate Members, who are suppliers of products and services to the ice cream industry.
