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Innovative red espresso™ has earned top honour in the 2006 SA Food Review / Symrise New Product Competition.
“Putting a sophisticated spin on an old stalwart and taking Rooibos to a whole new level” was the unanimous response from SA Food Review’s adjudicating panel, who, after year-long deliberations, awarded café culture’s latest addition first prize in the competition.
Held annually, the competition aims to recognise and reward the “spirit and realisation of new ideas and invention” imperative to South Africa’s food and beverage industries – honouring not only innovation, but also the marketing skill essential to complete the product package and motivate consumer loyalty.
In the 14th year of the competition, 33 innovative entries were evaluated over three rounds, with ten finalists competing against each other in a final round for first place. The finalists were scrutinised by a panel of judges, which included experts in fields from marketing and packaging, through to the gurus in food technology.
Placing equal focus on technical innovation, marketing rationale and, ultimately, taste, judges agreed that red espresso™ met award-winning criteria by fusing health and café culture in a unique and great-tasting product offering. As impressed by the quality and design attention given to branding and overall packaging of the product, red espresso™ exceeded their expectations by taking Rooibos and turning it into something never thought possible: trendy.
With Rooibos’ recent evolution to an increasingly popular tea around the world, the red espresso™ team was congratulated for conceptualising and realising this innovation on home ground and for essentially creating a new beverage category.
Who would have thought Rooibos could be the New Product of the Year?
The Top 3 New Products – red espresso™, Farmer Brown EasyServe and EasyBraai Chicken and Olli Organic Baby Food – competed against impressive innovations from industry heavyweights and household brands, including Enterprise's Like It Lean Range, Clover's SealFresh Milk, Bakers Jambos Jam Tarts, Jungle Energy Bars, Spar's ESL Milk (Extra Shelf Life), Sugarbird Savoury Spreads and Heinz Microwaveable Pies.
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