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PRESS RELEASE:
until 9.00pm on Thursday, 22 May 2014
THE EIGHTEEENTH NEW ZEALAND ICE CREAM AWARDS
HELD IN BLENHEIM, THURSDAY 22 MAY 2014
Flavours of English Toffee and Maple Walnut reign Supreme in the 18th year of the
New Zealand Ice Cream Awards. This year there was a total of 302 entries, and while the
major manufacturers continue to be the backbone of the industry – there continues to be
increasing participation by smaller gelato and boutique ice cream producers. This year there
was a total of 32 companies and individuals who entered products.
The awarding of two Supreme Awards recognises the best ice cream from a Large
Manufacturer and a Boutique Manufacturer.
The Supreme Award for a Large Manufacturer this year went to:
New Zealand Natural
for New Zealand Natural English Toffee
This ice cream was Best in Category for Premium Ice Cream and its flavour description of
“smooth and luscious with connotations of old fashioned Werther's Originals” was exactly the
flavour profile the judges experienced.
The Supreme Award for a Boutique Manufacturer this year was also awarded to an entry in
the Premium Ice Cream category. The winning entry was made by:
Rush Munro’s of NZ Ltd
for Maple Walnut Ice Cream
The judges were impressed with the freshness of the walnuts and the balance in maple and
nut flavours complemented by a smooth creamy texture.
The individual categories which attracted the largest number of entries were Premium Ice
Cream with 44 entries, Gelato with 50 entries and Sorbet with 50 entries. These numbers well
and truly surpassed the Australian competition held at the Royal Easter Show, so well done to
our New Zealand Ice Cream Industry.
J.R de Lisle – SECRETARY
8 TENNYSON STREET
WELLINGTON
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22 May 2014
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In the large Gelato and Sorbet categories, the Gelato Best in Category winner was Zuzu’s
Gelato Ltd, with their Turkish Delight.
The winner of the Sorbet Best in Category was Carrello del Gelato with their Feijoa Sorbet.
Emerald Foods Ltd, winner of the Supreme Award for a Large Manufacturer, also won Best
in Category for the Export Ice Cream category with their Private Label Japanese Vanilla
Ice Cream.
The flavour for this year’s “Best of” category was Chocolate. Who would have thought that
New Zealand could produce a total of 28 very different chocolate flavours, complete with
inclusions such as peanut butter, cookies, truffles and carob. This category has continued to
attract large numbers of entries from both gelato/sorbet and ice cream manufacturers. A
Dutch Chocolate Gelato made by Gelatiamo was the winner of this year’s Best of
Chocolate category.
The winner of the “Best New to Market” category was Zuzu’s Gelato Ltd, with their Turkish
Delight. Entries new to retail in the last 12 months were eligible for this award, and 83 of the
302 entries (28%) were eligible! This is positive proof that the ice cream industry is innovative
and constantly on the move developing new products for its consumers.
Twelve children aged 7–11 years from Mt Albert Primary School were presented with 21 ice
creams to determine the winner of the Kids Choice Category. The “Yum” to “Yuk” scale was
used with the boys having their clear favourite as well as the girls. Tip Top Candy Floss Ice
Cream made by Tip Top Ice Cream was the winner of the Kids Choice category.
Tip Top Ice Cream also won Best in Categories for Standard Vanilla Ice Cream, and the
Low Fat category with their Tip Top Creamy Yoghurt Ice Cream Strawberry. Their
Boysenberry Ripple Ice Cream also won Best in Category for Standard Ice Cream, and
this product has won this category consecutively for the last five years.
To challenge the judges, the Open Creative categories in ice cream and gelato/sorbet
included some clever and different flavours. In the ice cream category these included pandan
and coconut meat, red bean and rose flavoured tea, sour cream and peppercorn and chill
flake flavours. Equally as creative were the Open Creative Gelato/Sorbet entries with Sage
and burnt butter, watermelon and cucumber, kale, mint and apple and Bourbon and smoke.
The winner across the two sections of the Open Creative category was:
White Chocolate and Wasabi made by New Zealand Best & Pure T/A KK New Zealand
The main judging of the New Zealand Ice Cream Awards was undertaken during the third
week of April at the Food Innovation Centre, Verissimmo Drive, Auckland Airport. The Chief
Judge, Kay McMath and her team of seven judges took two full days to judge the large number
of entries split over the 11 categories.
Judging involved awarding points for a number of key attributes in different properties.
Appearance was worth 10 points, Body and Texture – 30 points, Flavour – 50 points and
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Melting properties – 10 points. Gold Awards were given to entries with more than 95 points,
Silver Awards to those between 90 and 95 points.
A full list of the Awards follows. Any further information is available from:
Mrs Jenny de Lisle
NZICMA Secretary
Mobile: 027 4946664 (on Friday 23 May)
Office: 04 385 1410
Mrs Kay McMath
Chief Judge
Mobile: 021 88 1643