For the second year in a row, Belle Chevre’s Goat Cheese Cheesecake has taken the gold at the Fancy Food Awards in New York City. In 2013, Belle Chevre’s Goat Cheese Cheesecake was awarded the sofi™ gold for Best Baked Good. This year, the cheesecake won sofi™ gold for Best Dessert.
If you haven’t tried the Cheesecake, you must! It is a delightfully, lighter version of a classic cream cheese dessert. This versatile treat can be sold frozen, refrigerated, or in the bakery case.
This year’s contest was the largest in its 42-year history, with specialty food makers submitting 2,737 products across all 32 awards categories. A sofi™ Award is the top honor in the $88.3 billion specialty food industry. Belle Chevre’s Goat Cheese Cheesecake is a lighter, delicious alternative to a cream cheese-based cheesecake because goat cheese is both higher in protein and lower in calories and fat than cream cheese. They are made fresh and with all natural ingredients, including Belle Chevre’s very own handmade Alabama goat cheese. Belle Chevre’s Goat Cheese Cheesecake was released in 2012 to acclaim from the likes of The New York Times and has won several national and international specialty food awards to date. Belle Chevre has previously won sofi™ Silvers for its Fig and Belle & The Bees Breakfast Cheeses, as well as sofi™ Golds for the Belle & The Bees Breakfast Cheese and Goat Cheese Cheesecake.
“A sofi™ Gold is the highest honor in the fine food industry,” said Tasia Malakasis. “The fact that a small goat cheese creamery like ours has been recognized as one of the best in the nation is something I am very proud to say. ” This year’s sofi™ judging was done by a national panel of specialty food professionals along with votes from more than 150 buyers at the Summer Fancy Food Show.
The sofi Awards are open to members of the Specialty Food Association, a not-for-profit trade association established in 1952 for food artisans, importers and entrepreneurs with more than 3,000 members throughout the U.S. and abroad. “sofi” stands for Specialty Outstanding Food Innovation. For more information on the Specialty Food Association and its Fancy Food Shows, go to www.specialtyfood.com.
“Winners of the sofi Awards represent the best of the best in specialty food,” says Specialty Food Association President Ann Daw. “Each winner reflects the creativity, craft, and joy the food maker brings to their work producing great food.”
