We raise a glass, and a tasty morsel or two, to the medal winners of the 2024 Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards

A seriously high calibre of delicious delights earned a medley of medals at this year’s Outstanding NZ Food Producer awards.

With a remarkable 355 product entries from around the country, judges were spoilt for choice across the two-day judging panel at Homeland in Auckland.

The medal tally was 137 gold, 76 silver and 48 bronze, across a range of categories including paddock, free-from, earth, dairy and a new dedicated chocolate category, merging the NZ Chocolate Awards into the Outstanding Food Producer Awards.

Still to come is the highly anticipated Category Champion Awards on Thursday 18 April, which all high-scoring gold medal winners are in contention for. The Supreme Winner is also yet to be announced.

NZ food industry legend and Awards Head Judge, Lauraine Jacobs led 23 judges in assessing the products.

“Medals are a morale boost for producers affirming their hard work, while they give consumers a guide to locally made products that they can purchase with confidence,” she said.

“After eight years we’re seeing more new products entered each year and I believe producers have more imagination and show more innovation in presentation and taste as they develop new food ideas.

“There’s always a danger that new ideas can be over the top but this year there was plenty to stimulate the palate, which managed to provide flavour while retaining allowing real, natural to shine without being over-processed.”

Find a full list of winners on the Outstanding New Zealand Food Producer Awards website.