All the Fancy Groceries That Just Won Specialty Food Awards

Want to make sure you’re getting the best of the best? Then you need to check out the Sofi Awards. For decades now, the Specialty Food Association has been giving out garlands in its very own in-house awards, which have become a byword for quality. And this year, we’ve just received the latest run-down of the groceries that you need to get. Here’s what took the top spots in the 2026 awards. 

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Sofi Grand Honor Award Winners:

Joe’s NY Style Lemonade

This year, the Beverage Product Of The Year award was given to Joe’s NY Style Lemonade. Produced by Red Jacket Orchards, this gorgeously simple cold-pressed and unfiltered lemonade is made by pressing apples and lemons, with no added sugar or sweeteners. 

Bake-At-Home Seed Crackers: Sea Salt

Food Product Of The Year at the Sofi Awards went to Top Seedz’ bake-at-home sea salt crackers. Well, this is technically a cracker mix, which you combine with olive oil and boiling water, before popping it in the oven to make a dynamite snack. No, your mouth is watering. 

Za’atar & Spices Soft Cheese

UMYUM’s Za’atar & Spices Soft Cheese took home the Outstanding New Product trophy. This is actually a plant-based cashew cheese, and this totally vegan product managed to edge out a couple of the other dairy-based cheeses in the running. Honestly, that’s quite impressive, and we need to try it right now. 

Hot Smoked Salmon

We’re delighted to reveal that there’s an award for Outstanding Packaging at the Sofi Awards, and we’re equally delighted to reveal that Angel Oak Smokehouse’s Hot Smoked Salmon won it. And what packaging it is. A simple, sleek design that profiles a fillet of smoked salmon right in the center. White on pink. A gorgeous typeface. We can appreciate aesthetics like the rest of ‘em, folks. 

Creamed Clover Honey

Airbourne Honey’s Creamed Clover Honey took home the Timeless Taste gong this year, which we can only assume is for products that taste, well, timeless. We get it. This New Zealand honey is as classic as they come, and it’s produced by a company that’s been making honey for well over a century. 

Gold Star Brands

As well as the top spots, there were a bunch of other products that received gold awards in the Sofis. Among them were Clementine’s Ice Cream Gooey Butter Cake, New Canaan Farms Olive Rosemary Dijon Mustard, Cafe Spice LLC’s Coconut Rice, and Janet’s Finest Compotes. The full list of winners can be found on the Specialty Food Association’s website. 

How Were the Winners Decided?

Well, it’s rigorous. The Sofis are judged by a panel of industry experts and two days of blind tasting, and only a handful of products won out of well over 1,200 applications. They take this all very seriously, and we do too.