The Association for Dressings & Sauces (ADS) hosted the ADS Technical Meeting on October 10-12 in Scottsdale, Ariz. During this meeting, ADS awarded a handful of members and member companies its prestigious Tech Awards and awards for Dressing, Sauce, and Packaging of the Year. The full list of winners is noted below:
• Dressing of the Year: Brooks’ Bottling Co., Inc. for its Abby’s Kitchen Organic Balsamic Vinaigrette
- The Dressing of the Year award is presented by ADS to recognize and celebrate truly innovative and delicious products. Nominations for the award were received earlier in the year and a judging team from the ADS membership voted via blind taste tests, based on the dressing deemed to have the best overall taste.
• Sauce of the Year: Chelten House Products, LLC (Chelten House) for its Sweet and Spicy Pineapple BBQ Sauce
- The Sauce of the Year award is presented by ADS to recognize and celebrate truly innovative and delicious products. Nominations for the award were received earlier in the year and a judging team from the ADS membership voted via blind taste tests, based on the sauce deemed to have the best overall taste. This is Chelten House’s sixth win for Sauce of the Year.
• Packaging of the Year: Golden State Foods for its Sealed Air® and Golden State Foods CRYOVAC® brand FlexPrep® portion-dispensing pouches. Sealed Air CRYOVAC® was recognized as the supporting vendor for its contribution to the FlexPrep™ Pouch
- The Package of the Year Award is presented by ADS to increase the awareness of product packaging and to celebrate the accomplishments of the packaging industry for dressings, sauce and condiment-related packages. Nominations for the award were received earlier in the year and ADS members cast their votes for the package deemed most innovative.
• Technical Service Award: Allen Sass, President of Wisconsin Spice, Inc.
- The ADS Technical Service Award is presented annually to an individual who demonstrates dedicated service to the ADS technical programs. Nominations for this award are taken from the general ADS membership and voted on by ADS’ Executive Technical Board, the group that oversees the Association’s technical activities. At the Technical Meeting, members share their expertise on a variety of industry-specific topics including packaging, food safety, emulsions and quality.
• Technical Achievement Award: The award winners were Dorrie Francis, Litehouse, Inc.; David Horowitz, International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc.; Paula Klassen, TreeHouse Foods, Inc.; Suzanne Mailman, Golden State Foods; Mariana Manole, Golden State Foods; Tom McGirty, T. Marzetti Company; Dr. Ritu Mishra, The Clorox Company; Fran Moller, T. Marzetti Company; Allen Sass, Wisconsin Spice, Inc.; Theresa Upshall, TreeHouse Foods; Charlie Wind, Brooks’ Bottling Co.; and May Yeow, Ventura Foods
- The ADS Research Subcommittee was recognized for their expertise and contributions to two research projects – Buffering Capacity of salad dressings. The results of these studies are expected to provide critical technical knowledge for the manufacture of dressings and sauces.
