What does high-protein bread have in common with boba tea? Or what would you think of a breakfast of plant-based bacon and plant-based eggs? Tastes, trends, and teamwork helped seven new products earn top honors in Prepared Foods’ 21st annual Spirit of Innovation (SOI) Awards competition this summer.

Since 2003, these distinctive awards have honored entrepreneurs and food and beverage formulators for excellence in new product development. This year’s program considered as many as 180 items introduced from January 2022 through March 2023. A panel of nine judges then evaluated nearly 40 items for overall innovation, an R&D team’s problem-solution story, and sensory performance (including taste, appearance, texture, smell, etc.).

This hour-long special includes an expert “state of innovation” panel, followed by in-depth profiles of each winning company’s product + problem-solution storytelling straight from R&D team members.

This year’s award categories include:

• Retail Food
• Retail Beverage
• Foodservice / Front of House
• Foodservice / Back of House
• Alternate Channel (In-Store/C-Store)
• Judges' Selection / Most Innovative

The Spirit of Innovation Awards team is proud to acknowledge the critical operational/judging role of CBCI in this and past years' competitions.

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