The Gourmet Selection Best Of competition rewards, since 2013, products and services that offer real added value. It is an opportunity for exhibitors to promote themselves and the quality of their work.

Forecasting trends, participating in the Best Of

Are you an exhibitor on Gourmet Selection? You can enter your product in the competition via your exhibitor area immediately.

Key dates:

  • Registration opens: May 2024
  • NEW! Pre-selection of products by tasting: July 2024
  • End of registration: August 18, 2023
  • Date of the jury meeting: August 30, 2023
  • Award ceremony: September 10, 2023

The Best Of distinction is a guarantee of quality that allows the winners to distinguish their products and establish their reputation in the sector. At the end of the competition, the winners receive a media kit with different logos to be used on their communication supports and product packaging and thus highlight their prize throughout their marketing.

New in 2023:

A pre-selection of products, in the form of a tasting, will be made by Vincent Ferniot, president of the Jury;
For the products registered later, the preselection will still be possible but will be done only on the basis of the file and the product description.

 

Best Of competition product selection charter

The jury's choices are motivated by five main criteria, rated according to their importance to reach a total /100:

 

Taste & Quality: /40

While highly subjective, the taste criterion is the first judging criterion.

To be as objective as possible, the Best Of judging panel accompanying the chairman is made up of sector professionals hailing from a wide range of backgrounds, chosen by the panel chairman and the exhibition’s management team. The collegial nature of tastings is a guarantee of independence and honest choices among the products entered.

 

Innovation: /20

With a constantly evolving market, fierce competition between producers, and pressing demand from the media, new products are another need in addition to quality. To assess this quality, the judges draw on the selections of previous years and the wide-ranging market knowledge of the judges, all of whom are capable of judging the impact on the public and, most importantly, whether the product is innovative or not.

Having said that, “Concentrate on making it taste good before making it different” remains the guiding principle to earn a place on the winners’ podium.

 

Singularity: /15

A product can stand out and earn visibility due to many factors that go towards making it unique or, in any case, different. This criterion differs from the previous one in that it is unnecessary to innovate to make a product singular. It must merely stand out from the crowd through a criterion or set of criteria that make it unique and easily identifiable at first sight.

 

Naturality: /15

A set of criteria touching on consumers’ desires to eat natural and healthy foodstuffs, both through the ingredients and raw materials used and in the choice of the packaging and its resulting environmental impact. All consumers are increasingly conscious of the need to have the lowest possible impact on the environment, and this translates into keener environmental awareness when purchasing their food.

 

Packaging: /10

Packaging is also important when considering a product as a whole. Beyond the protection of the product itself against heat, cold, humidity, etc., the choice of packaging must also be consistent with the positioning and commitments of the brand. If this criterion is not a determining factor, it is important and should not be neglected!