Every year, the Good Food Foundation awards culinary-related businesses around the country that represent the highest standard of both social and environmental responsibility, and craftsmanship and flavor. The awards are given as part of the Foundation’s mission to, according to its website, “build widespread support for the growers, ranchers, makers and merchants stubbornly swimming upstream to create and share the kind of food we all want to eat: tasty, authentic and responsible.”
The winners are announced each year in January, with the group of finalists named a few months prior. The Good Food Foundation just released its list of finalists for the 2019 Good Food Awards, and we are excited to see five forward-thinking companies from Pennsylvania among the finalists! Congrats to each of these businesses, all more than deserving of this wonderful recognition:
apoidea apiary
https://www.instagram.com/p/BiFu3u7nEfH/
This Pittsburgh-based beekeeping company “seeks to deepen understanding of this amazing process cultivated by deep mutualism between flora + bee and bee + beekeeper.” Through tending to between 50 and 80 hives in the city, apoidea‘s principle beekeeper, Christina Neumann, a Carnegie Mellon-trained architect, is able not to just harvest incredible honey and beeswax, but to also naturally breed bees and strengthen their numbers in the state. apoidea’s honey won Good Food Awards in both 2015 and 2018, and this year is nominated for its Damiana Rose Elixir.
Elixr Coffee
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn9hFRgDJlF/
This growing coffee company is nominated specifically for its El Injerto Pacamara, sourced from one of the most highly recognized coffee farms in Guatemala. Like all of Elixr‘s coffees, these exquisite beans are responsibly sourced, and then perfectly roasted at its headquarters in Philly’s Spring Arts neighborhood. 207 S. Sydenham St., Philadelphia; 315 N. 12th St., Philadelphia.
New Road Brinery
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTHycV6D_cW/
Owners Patrick and Kay Gigliotti carefully craft their wares, mostly in classic flavors, in Delaware County. However, it’s their Local Lime Tarragon Pickles that earned them a spot on the Good Food Awards Finalists list. These pickles bring a citrusy burst of flavor, followed by the sweet flavor of licorice and the bracing acidity of the brine. Check out this list to find out where to buy all of New Road’s offerings.
Small Batch Kitchen
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjvR8uAh-lJ/
Sheila Rhodes of New Road Brinery hand makes small-batch pickles from local fruits and veggies that are low on sugar and big on flavor. We think all of the flavors of this Harleysville-based preserves brand are crave-worthy, but it’s the Cardamom Rhubarb Fruit Spread that made the GFA list. The peak-season rhubarb in this jam travels less than 40 miles from the farm where it was picked to Small Batch’s kitchen, and though this limited-edition flavor is currently sold out, we have high hopes that it will return this spring. Don’t worry, there are plenty of other preserves, both sweet and savory, to sample before then! Shop online or find Small Batch’s products at any of its retail partners’ locations.
Vibrant Coffee Roasters
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpwtMz1jP0S/
Vibrant Coffee Roasters is a relative newcomer to the Philadelphia coffee community, the sister company of Function Coffee Labs (the place to go if you love to nerd out on coffee) in Queen Village. It roasts coffees from all over the world, but it’s the Ethiopia Idido Washed that earned the nomination from the Good Food Awards. While it’s not currently for sale on its website (coffee is, after all, seasonal), there are plenty of other gorgeous single origin coffees to explore on Vibrant’s list. See here for where to find Vibrant’s coffees in and around Philly.
We’ll be rooting for all of these homegrown brands to bring home an award this January!
- Feature photo: Small Batch Kitchen
