I attended #FlavorOfGa as a member of Atlanta Food & Lifestyle Blogger Society. All opinions are my own
University of Georgia held its 2018 Flavor of Georgia Event and it was a mouth watering good time! The Flavor of Georgia Food Product Contest is put on by the University’s Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Department.
Georgia is home to some of the best and most creative minds in the food business and each year the Flavor of Georgia contest helps to showcase that talent… ~Sharon P. Kane, Contest Coordinator.
Flavor of Georgia Food Product Contest: Meeting The Finalists!
Judges selected 33 Finalists who each passed the first round of judging. They all brought their products to Atlanta for the final judging and from there it was on! Judges included food brokers, and many other food industry experts who each judged on categories such as taste, innovation and market potential to name a few.
As each finalist displayed their entries we got to taste various sauces, condiments, meats, confections and seafood.
Here is a quick Periscope walk through to meet the makers!
#FlavorOfGeorgia The #UGA #Food Product Contest!! Here to taste!! #Foodie #Atlanta #AFLBS https://t.co/Bsnm1cEkvI
— The SistahChick (@TheSistahChick) March 20, 2018
I must say that i enjoyed tasting everything. I appreciated knowing that all of these products were created by Georgians and that it contributes to Georgia economically and agriculturally. Here are a few of the brands that stood out to me.
Sugar & Spice Cashews
In order to give back and help to support Georgia’s own I would like to highlight the folks over at Bread & Butter Bakery. This family owned business was established in 2013 and is run by a Mother and Son team, Kelley and Zac Johnston.
The item that earned them a spot as a finalist was their decadent Pecan Bar. OMG was it so good that I could have totally eaten an entire pan of them! These Pecan Bars were perfectly sweet and golden brown with a generous amount of pecans on top. They were melt in your mouth delicious! The ingredient label contained all natural ingredients and was easy to read. The packaging was neat and the Pecan Bar was wrapped in paper that had their elephant company logo on the inside.
Kelley explained that the elephant logo was basically a little doodle that she would use to sign the end of notes to her family. For her, the elephant symbolizes strength and mindfulness and she used it to remind her children to have strength and be mindful in all that they do. She incorporated the symbol into the logo for the same reason. I asked Zac what it was like working with his mom and he said that he loves working with his mom and helping to create a legacy for his own already growing family. Looking towards the future they would love to expand with more locations and become Fair Trade eventually. Click Here To Find Out More About Bread & Butter Bakery + Cafe
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal was in the house to discuss the importance of Georgia Agriculture. As a Central Soya Agricultural Scholarship recipient I really appreciated his words. Agriculture IS very important to Georgia. The winners were named for each category and each received a commemorative Silver Platter and a pic with Governor Deal.
The Winners!
It was my pleasure to attend Flavor of Georgia Food Product Contest and it was fun meeting the finalists. Everyone was super friendly and I had a great time tasting everything and hearing great stories of how each product came to be. Congratulations to all the winners and participants for this event. I am looking forward to a new list of competitors, finalists and winners next year!
What’s the name of your favorite Georgia made/grown product?
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