The Specialty Food Association is unveiling the finalists for its 2026 sofi Awards, celebrating products across 25 categories including meats, charcuterie and seafood. Announced in advance of Winter FancyFaire taking place Jan. 11-13, 2026, these finalists serve as a forecast of trends that will shape the specialty food industry in the year ahead.

Since 1972, the sofi Awards have selected winners through a panel of top industry buyers based on taste, ingredient quality and innovation. This year, the level of competition is increased by SFA's introduction of just 25 Gold Award categories.

Out of 1,284 total applications, 75 Gold and three Outstanding Packaging Design finalists were selected, including:

Charcuterie Meats 

• Elevation Charcuterie and Artisan Meats – Cecina
• Fra' Mani Handcrafted Foods – Rosemary Ham
• True Story Foods – True Story Heritage Breed Prosciutto

Meats 

• Lottie's – Everyday Ground Pork Sausage
• Meat The Veggies – The Original Pulled Oxtail Meat
• Texas Iberico LLC – Texas Iberico Oak-Smoked Uncured Bacon

Condiments 

• Elephant Green Chili Chutney – Elephant Green Chili Chutney
• New Canaan Farms – New Canaan Farms Olive Rosemary Dijon Mustard
• Roland Foods – Roland Tamarind Concentrate

Sauces 

• Buddha Baby – Banyan Thai Panang Thai Curry Sauce
• Fischer & Wieser Specialty Foods, Inc. – Hot Peach & Honey Sauce
• Wozz Kitchen Creations – Middle Eastern Shawarma Sauce

Savory Snacks 

• Milton's Craft Bakers – Milton's Meat Lover's Trio Pizza Snack Bites
• Beefy's Own – Beefy's Own Sea Salt Beef Tallow Potato Chips
• Oh So Healthy Corpo. – OSH Kimchi Crisps Cabbage & Natural Spices

Seafood 

• A Priori Specialty Food & Distribution – Gueyu Mar Chargrilled Sardines Loins
• Calvisius Caviar – Calvisius Essentia caviar
• Seabear Smokehouse – Wild Alaskan Smoked Weathervane Sea Scallops

Seasonings & Sweeteners 

• Madison Park Foods – CRIMBERA - Fused Haiku Blend - By Madison Park Foods
• Pom Pom Popcorn by Bessou – Bessou Furikake - Umami Sprinkle Seasoning
• Airborne Honey USA LLC – Airborne Pure New Zealand Clover Honey

Angel Oak Smokehouse was an Outstanding Packaging Design Finalist for their Angel Oak Hot Smoked Salmon

"The sofi Awards set the tone for what we expect to see when it comes to innovative ideas in food and beverage, and Winter FancyFaire acts as a guidepost for what's trending in the year ahead," said Leana Salamah, SVP of marketing and communications at SFA. "Every finalist received top scores from our team of experienced buyers, who have invaluable insight into what's hot in specialty food today and what will be popular in 2026. Congratulations to all of our finalists, and we look forward to revealing all of the winners onsite at the show in January."

sofi Award winners will be unveiled at Winter FancyFaire to a live audience of buyers, investors, press, manufacturers and more on January 12 from 4-6 p.m. following SFA's "Trend of the Year" announcement on Jan. 10. Five Grand Honors winners will be announced alongside 25 Gold Awards that will be presented as the top-scoring product in each category. Finalist products will also be available for select attendees to sample at the First Taste Table on-site.

As with all SFA trade shows, Winter FancyFaire will be open only to qualified members of the specialty food trade, industry affiliates, and media.

Source: Specialty Food Association