The Naturally Good Awards were held at Sydney’s ICC, and featured an impressive list of top exhibitors who were nominated across 13 categories, with Proper Crisps winning Best Food Product, and Teaesk Best Beverage Product.
Teaesk also took out Best New Brand, in addition to Best Beverage Product. Co-founder Melissa Di Marco said she and her co-founder husband were over the moon with their double win.
“To be awarded not only for the quality of the product, but to be applauded on all other aspects such as packaging, and potential of our business is incredible.
“In Australia there’s no other brewed iced tea in a can so we’re really proud of the product. We’ve had incredible interest at Naturally Good and had about 15 to 20 leads by the end of the first day, so it’s been an amazing experience,” Di Marco said.
Unique Health Product’s Dale Parkes was awarded the Trailblazer award for his contribution to the industry.
“It’s a great honour, as I’m so passionate about the healthy living space. I was 19 when I became a vegetarian and my personal principles have always stayed within the business which I started 27 years ago. We now carry 250 brands and have 187 staff on the Sunshine Coast. Our longevity is a testament to our dedicated staff,” said Parks.
See the full list of winners and nominees below:
Best Food Product
Nominees:
• Meru Miso – Chilli Miso Soup
• LoveRaw – M:lk Choc Nutty Choc Balls
• TLKC Fry Family Food – Fry’s Chick’n Pieces Peri-Peri
• Health Guru – Cauliflower Puffs
• Proper Crisps – Cheeza Peno Tortilla Chips
• La Petite Fauxmargerie – Rebel & Rascal Marinated Feta
• Elato Ice Cream – Vegan Dark Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream
Winner: Proper Crisps – Cheeza Peno Tortilla Chips
Best Beverage Product
Nominees:
• H2coco – H2juice Pineapple
• Refresho – Exotic Soursop
• Four Sigmatic – Think Organic Coffee
• Bega Daily Juice – Mango Juice Blend + Protein
• SunJuse – Sparkling Mandarin & Passionfruit
• Soulfresh – Los Bros Not Soda
• Teaesk – Black Tea & Lemon Iced
Winner: Teaesk – Black Tea & Lemon Iced
Best Functional Food or Beverage Product
Nominees:
• Buderim Bioactive – Ginger + Shots
• Berkelo – Sourdough Pasta
• Yacon New Zealand – NZFOS+ Yacon Prebiotic
• Nutra Organics – Captain Calm
• Nutra Organics – Veggie Hero
• Bragg – All Purpose Seasoning
Winner: Buderim Bioactive – Ginger + Shots
Best Free From Product
Nominees:
• Jomeis Fine Foods – Hoodles
• Elato Ice Cream – Vegan Dark Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream
• Natural Approach – Bicarb Free Rosalina & Honey Myrtle Natural Deodorant
• Buddee – Chocolate Spread
• Chocolate On Purpose – Walking On Country Chocolate Bar Vegan Milk Chocolate with Guwandang
• Continental Taralli Biscuits – Mediterranean Savoury Crackers Fennel & Olive Oil
• Fiji Fire – Native Bongo Chilli Hot Sauce
Winner: Elato Ice Cream – Vegan Dark Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream
Best Australian Manufactured Product
Nominees:
• Swift Grow – Organic Fertiliser
• Double ‘D’ – Smart Sweets
• Yeppoonie Smoothie – Smoothie Powder
• SunJuse – Sparkling Mandarin & Passionfruit
• Elato Artisanal Ice Cream – Vegan Dark Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream
• Solid Teknics – AUS-ION™ cookware range
Winner: Solid Teknics – AUS-ION™ cookware range
Best Socially Conscious Brand
Nominees:
• The Kind Harvest Co.
• Little Ripples
• Whole Earth & Sea
• Soulfresh Lo Bros Not Soda
• Chocolate On Purpose
• Eat For You
Winner: Little Ripples
Best Organic Product
Nominees:
• Organic Times – Drinking Chocolate
• Meru Miso – Mushroom Miso Soup
Winner: Meru Miso – Mushroom Miso Soup
Best New Brand
Nominees:
• The Good Farm Shop
• Meia
• Blaze HFS Fierce
• Teaesk
• Sensoriam
Winner: Teaesk
Trailblazer
Nominees:
• Tammy Fry – Livekindly Collective
• Dale Parkes – Unique Health Products
Winner: Dale Parkes – Unique Health Products
Naturally Good product manager, Sinead Kavanagh, said the quality of entrants this year had exceeded all expectations.
“The standard of products and brands is phenomenal considering the natural health space has become such a competitive space.
“The level of dedication and innovation has been so impressive that we included a number of new categories this year. Given it’s only the second year we have held the awards, we are anticipating even more categories and entrants next year,” said Kavanaugh.