2025 Scovie Awards are now CLOSED for Entries
About the Scovie Awards:
Four Reasons to Enter the Scovie Awards
Judging Criteria For Tasting Divisions
How To Submit a Tasting Division Entry
How To Submit a Marketing and Advertising Award Entry
Shipping Address:
NEW shipping address:
Scovie Awards,C/O Sunbelt Shows
300 Menaul Blvd NW Ste A
PMB 252
Albuquerque, NM 87107
There Are Four Divisions To Enter
We have added a separate Savory Division for products related to barbecue (smoking) and grilling, including savory (not hot and spicy) condiments. 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 and online Scovie Award Winner’s Guide, running in the Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show Program, distributed at the National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show and www.FieryFoodsShow.com
• A free listing in the online Scovie Award Winner’s Guide on this site, ScovieAwards.com.
• A personalized certificate of achievement for each award.
• Upon request, a winner’s logo in all digital formats that can be used on labels, ads, websites and more.
• A 2025 Scovie logo for use in publicity or on labels.
• Each winning company will receive 100 free Scovie winner stickers (additional stickers may be ordered from Columbine Labels at a reasonable rate).
• Upon request, we provide a boilerplate press release that you can customize for your own use.
Grand Prize Winner (highest overall score) receives a Disc-It 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.
Stand out with medals: Available for purchase.
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
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 (Divisions I, II and III) will be judged “as is.”
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.
What are the XXX categories? How are they judged?
- Any product containing oleoresin capsicum or super hot peppers should be entered in the XXX Hot category. You may enter your super hot product in other categories. However, the product will be pulled and judged in the super hot judging under your category that you enter. The judge will be told under which category you have originally entered.
- The super hot judging is held after the second session of judging. The judges have volunteered for this special duty.
A full list of winners will be released to all participants on or before November 25, 2024.
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 (with no refund) any entries that are not properly canned or sealed, according to food and health safety procedures.
How To Enter the Scovie Awards
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 THREE product samples, along with the appropriate completed entry forms and fees. For example if you have two entries with the same product, six products are required. Please note: some products may be used for promotional purposes and prizes in contests promoting the Scovie Awards and The National Fiery Foods and BBQ Show.
• 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).
• Winners agree to allow Sunbelt Shows, Inc. to use their products for promotional purposes.
NEW shipping address:
Scovie Awards,C/O Sunbelt Shows
300 Menaul Blvd NW Ste A
PMB 252
Albuquerque, NM 87107
Please note: There are no refunds. Please have your completed entry in by the deadline that is set by Sunbelt Shows.
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 25, 2024.
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 matching product line must be mounted on white art board, with the company name, entry category, clearly marked on the back of each sample.
NEW shipping address:
Scovie Awards,C/O Sunbelt Shows
300 Menaul Blvd NW Ste A
PMB 252
Albuquerque, NM 87107
Product Packaging, Gift Baskets/Boxes, two of each entry is required. For example if you entered your gift box, two gift boxes are required
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.
The Social Media category will be judged on activity, content, engagement, salability and media.
Please see entry form for categories.
Please note: There are no refunds. Please have your entry in by the deadline that is set by Sunbelt Shows.
DISQUALIFICATION STATEMENT
If products are not received by or are damaged in shipping by the deadline set by Sunbelt Shows, Inc. you will be disqualified with no refund. Please do not enter unless you can get your product entries in on time. There are no drop off for products. All products must be mailed to the new address:
Scovie Awards,C/O Sunbelt Shows
300 Menaul Blvd NW Ste A
PMB 252
Albuquerque, NM 87107
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 $50 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 900+ 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.
2025 Scovie Awards are now CLOSED for Entries