2011 Scovie Awards Rules and Regulations
The Official Contest of the Fiery Foods
& Barbecue Industry
Call For Entries!
The 2011 Official Entry Form is here.
Contents (click on link to read section)
Judging Criteria For Tasting Divisions (Fiery Foods and Barbecue)
How To Submit a Tasting Division Entry
How To Submit a Marketing and Advertising Award Entry
Entries accepted between July 1 and September 5, 2010.
Early Bird Special July 1-31:
$10 off each entry
Special 15th Anniversary Bonus Entries
On the online form, enter four products or categories into the contest and pay for only three–the fourth entry is free. Enter seven and pay for only five–2 entries for free. These bonus entries can either be additional product(s) or the same product(s) in additional categories. Note: If you plan to enter more than five products, call Emily DeWitt-Cisneros for special pricing at 505-873-8680.
“Winning the Grand Prize of the 2006 Scovie Awards has put my company (Ashburn Sauce Company) and myself into another league in the sauce world and has opened a lot more doors.” –Willard Ashburn, Ashburn Sauce Company
There Are Now Four Divisions To Enter
We have added a separate Barbecue Division for products related to barbecue (smoking) and grilling, including condiments and prepared meats. These products do not have to be hot and spicy. Please see the entry form for more information.
Judging the Scovie Awards is serious business!
• A free full listing in the printed Scovie Award Winner’s Guide, running in the Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show Program, distributed at the National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show.
• A free listing in the online Scovie Award Winner’s Guide published through the Fiery Foods & Barbecue SuperSite at www.scovieawards.com via www.fiery-foods.com.
• National promotion through our public relations firm, Shiroma Southwest.
• A personalized certificate of achievement.
• A winner’s logo in digital format that can be used on labels, ads, websites and more.
• A 2011 Scovie logo for use in publicity or on labels.
• Each winning company will receive 100 free gold Scovie winner stickers (additional stickers may be ordered at a reasonable rate).
• Winners can order Winners’ Medallions for an additional fee.
• Upon request, we provide a boilerplate press release that you can customize for your own use.
• Our public relations company, Shiroma Southwest, can assist in getting you media coverage in major markets.
Grand Prize Winner (highest overall score) receives a full-page ad in the Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show Program and a personalized color 2’ x 3’banner for display in your booth, etc.
First Place Winners will receive a personalized color 2’ x 3’banner.
Second and Third Place Winners will receive a personalized 1’ x 2’ foot banner.
Draw attention to your win with a Scovie Award Medallion.
1. You always need something to write about in your public relations, your newsletters, and your advertising, and a Scovie win can give you a push in the right direction.
2. If you are searching for funding or for partners, a Scovie Award will prove that you have a superior product.
3. Use your win to gain product placement in shops, supermarkets, and even in online catalogs.
4. If you’re doing a label redesign, consider putting the Scovie logo on the new label to promote your winning product.
“It was almost like that first kiss; the anticipation was nerve wracking and the results were beyond my wildest dream. It was a great experience and I can’t wait to try it again.” Jeff Shepherd, Lille Belle Farms, 2008 Scovie Grand Prize Winner
Judging Criteria For Tasting Divisions (Fiery Foods and Barbecue)
Product tasting entry scores will be judged for: Appearance, Aroma, Spice Blend, Originality, Flavor (most heavily weighted), and Overall Impression.
The judging panel will be made up of food industry professionals, including executive chefs, restaurant owners, culinary instructors, food writers, and other food industry leaders. All product sampling will be conducted using fair, impartial, and blind judging standards.
All products entered in the Consumer-Ready Contest will be judged “as is.” All products entered in the Cook-It-Up Contest in each division will be prepared by a chef to manufacturers’ directions, using like ingredients, under controlled supervision.
A category must receive a minimum of five entries to qualify for judging. Contest management reserves the right to create or delete categories based on the number of product entries. If five entries are not received in a subcategory, the remaining products will then be judged in the main product category or combined into a separate category.
There will be 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes available for each category. All staff members of Sunbelt Shows, Inc. will be excluded from judging. The decisions of the judges are final and in no way reflect the opinions of the sponsoring organizations.
A full list of winners will be released to all participants on or before November 15, 2010.
All Scovie judging is done by blind tasting by qualified judges.
TASTING DISQUALIFICATION STATEMENT
All entries must be manufactured in a professional, inspected food facility. No homemade products are allowed. All entries must be correctly canned and sealed according to standard food and health safety procedures. Contest management reserves the right to discard and disqualify any entries that are not properly canned or sealed, according to food and health safety procedures.
How To Enter the Scovie Awards
Submitting your Scovie entry is easy: just complete the entry form online, then print it out and send it in with the following:
• FOUR product samples (TWO for the Marketing and Advertising category)
• Completed entry form print-out
• Appropriate entry fees if they were not paid online.
How To Submit a Tasting Division Entry
You may enter as many products as you like. If you want to enter the mild, medium, and hot versions of your salsa, you must pay for three separate entries. Products such as nuts that come in various flavors, must have one entry per flavor. It is permissible to enter the same product in both a tasting category and the Marketing and Advertising Division, but a separate fee is required for each entry.
• For each tasting category submission, please send FOUR product samples, along with the appropriate completed entry forms and fees.
• Please carefully package all entries, as Sunbelt Shows, Inc. cannot be held responsible for any damage incurred during shipping.
• We will accept complete entries only (product samples accompanied by printed entry forms and fees). Please do not attempt to phone, fax, or e-mail entry forms.
• Winners agree to allow Sunbelt Shows, Inc. to use their product name for promotional purposes.
Please see the entry form for categories.
Judging Criteria For Marketing And Advertising Division Categories
All judges for these categories are seasoned professionals from the marketing, advertising and Web design/Internet fields. All entries will be judged on the basis of design, creativity/visual impact, originality, quality and content. In addition, Web sites will also be judged for navigation and use of technology.
There will be 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes available for each category. All staff members of Sunbelt Shows, Inc. will be excluded from judging. The decisions of the judges are final and in no way reflect the opinions of the sponsoring organizations.
A full list of winners will be released to all participants on or before November 15, 2009.
How To Submit a Marketing and Advertising Award Entry
YOU ONLY NEED TO SEND TWO COPIES OF EACH MARKETING AND ADVERTISING ENTRY.
All logo, label, and print ad materials must be mounted on white art board, with the company name, entry category, address and phone number clearly marked on the back of each sample.
Catalogs, Product Packaging, Gift Baskets/Boxes, Point of Sale, and Direct Mail Materials/Brochures may be entered as free-standing pieces. The company name, entry category, address and phone number must be clearly marked on the back of each sample.
The Web Site category will be judged on design, creativity/visual impact, originality, quality, content, navigation, and use of technology. Judges will also look for pertinence and timeliness of information as it applies to the site. All Web Site entries will be viewed during the period of September 20-26, 2010.
Please see entry form for categories.
Want to know how your product measures up? Request a Scovie Analysis Report
As an additional benefit of entering the Scovie Awards competition, companies can request an Analysis Report of their entries. The report will include a breakdown of the judging sheets, including high and low scores, average scores by judging criteria, full comments and a professional review of the product’s packaging. The cost of the reports is $75 each and they will be available once the results are announced.
“The Scovie Analysis Report gave me professional feedback that allowed me to fine tune the flavor and heat level of our CrispyFire Gourmet Spicy Popcorn. Thanks to the judges’ feedback, we have a product that tastes great and gives you a good burn.” Chris Murdock, owner CrispyFire
“Those reports provided a lot of valuable information about the products we entered into the competition. I especially found the detailed comments interesting and will probably make some strategic changes to our entries next year!” Melanie Yunk, Melanie’s Fine Foods
1. Obviously, in a contest with 700+ entries, not every one of them can win. There are a lot of factors, including judges (which change from year to year), trends (sweet is in, then chipotle, then habanero, etc.), and simply luck.
2. Learn from your loss. Order a Scovie Evaluation Report to see if this was bad luck or if there is some serious problem. One contestant found that her co-packer had changed the recipe. Another found that too much salt was the problem.
3. Get serious about your product. If you finished dead last in a category with 20+ entries, you may want to reformulate your product.
4. Don’t give up. Some products are entered several times before they win anything.
The 2011 Official Entry Form is here.