OUTSTANDING FOOD PRODUCER AWARDS ENTRY TERMS AND CONDITIONS
2025 TERMS AND CONDITIONS
The Outstanding Food Producer Awards (the Awards) celebrate the excellence of Kiwi food businesses that harvest, grow and make food and drink in New Zealand. The Awards are assessed impartially by judges selected by the Head Judge and the Awards organisers Marvellous Marketing.
The following terms and conditions apply to the 2025 Outstanding Food Producer Awards. By submitting an entry you are agreeing to these terms and conditions.
Definitions
Product: A unique food item that is entered into the New Zealand Food Awards.
Variant: A version of a product that exhibits only slight differences – e.g. flavour.
Product Eligibility
1. Products must be manufactured in New Zealand.
2. All entries should be as per a normal production run.
3. A producer may enter products packaged by a third party.
4. All primary produce such as fruit or vegetables or meat must be New Zealand-grown or reared.
5. For value-added products ingredients can be sourced from further afield if not readily available in New Zealand.
6. Both product and packaging entered must meet the requirements of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, Food Act and Fair Trading Act.
7. Products must be commercially available in the New Zealand marketplace (retail outlet, online or farmers’ market at the time of judging). If there are any doubts, the Awards judging team reserves the right to require evidence and/or refuse entry into the competition.
8. Each entry must consist of only one single product. If you want to enter more than one type of product they can’t be judged unless they are entered as a single product line and an entry fee is paid for each entry.
Exclusions
9. Alcoholic products such as wine, beer, cider and spirits are not eligible.
10. Coffee is not eligible for entry.
11. All Products and Variants entered must be food products and fit for human consumption. e.g. dog food is not eligible.
12. Products with special medicinal benefits are not eligible for entry.
Chocolate Category Only
All products entered must include chocolate as an ingredient and contain all-natural ingredients. All chocolate used in submissions, whether bars or a coating, must meet the following definitions of fine chocolate:
13. Only real/natural vanilla is allowed (Open Category excluded). Real/natural vanilla can be in the form of real vanilla seeds or extract, or natural vanilla flavour – provided that this can be proved on the application.
14. Vanilla is not permitted in the plain Bean-to-Bar category as it is considered a flavour ingredient. Bars containing vanilla can be entered into the Flavoured Bars category. Chocolate made with vanilla can be included in entries into the other categories. Only natural sugars such as refined or unrefined cane or beet sugar can be included in Bean to Bar Chocolate Bars. For Flavoured / Inclusion bars, coating chocolate for filled chocolates, truffles and other chocolate products, or the fillings in all such categories, other ‘alternate natural sugars’ are allowed.'
15. Lecithin is allowed, either soy or other sources such as sunflower.
16. Dark chocolate must contain a minimum of 55% cocoa solids.
17. Milk chocolate must contain a minimum of 30% cocoa solids.
18. White chocolate must contain a minimum of 25% cocoa butter.
The quality of chocolate used for filled chocolates/bonbons/pralines will be a consideration when judging.
Chocolate Ingredients
19. It is required to state the chocolate and ingredients used for each entry. For bean-to-bar chocolate bars, or entries using bean-to-bar chocolate - where the entrant is a bean-to-bar maker - entrants must state the farm or supplier the cocoa beans are from, providing contact details where relevant.
20. Entries where ‘couverture chocolate’ (the finished solid chocolate product) has been used, then the type/origin of that chocolate and the chocolate producing business or company you bought your couverture chocolate from must be listed in full.
21. Ingredients, cocoa % and origin of cocoa bean will be revealed to the judges. All other specifics relating to the entry will be kept strictly confidential from judges.
General
22. By entering the Outstanding Food Producer Awards 2025 you permit your details to be shared with Outstanding Food Producer Awards and their partners.
23. Entry forms must be accurate and complete, failure to complete the form correctly may disqualify the entrant.
24. Early or late entries will not be accepted.
25. Entrants must provide information in accordance with the Outstanding Food Producer Awards Official Entry Form. It is the responsibility of entrants to provide relevant information to support each entry.
26. All completed entries will become the property of Marvellous Marketing.
27. Producers may enter multiple variants of the same product but each variant requires a separate entry.
28. Entries will be accepted through the Award’s entry portal accessed via www.outstandingfoodproducer.co.nz
29. All entrants in the Outstanding Food Producer Awards must agree to take part in reasonable marketing, advertising and publicity.
30. Personal information provided in entries will not be passed onto any third parties, other than to judge the competition for use as outlined above.
31. In entering this competition entrants confirm there is no actual or perceived conflict of interest relating to the entry. If an actual or perceived conflict of interest exists, entrants must disclose it to the Marvellous Marketing team.
Fee and payment terms
32. There is no limit to how many products you can enter.
33. Each Product or Variant for an entry fee of $130 (exclusive of GST).
34. Payment must be made via credit card through the secure online portal, please contact hello@marvellousmarketing.co.nz if there are any issues.
35. Online entries are due by Wednesday 5 February 2025.
36. Entry fees will not be refunded.
Product samples
37. All valid entrants into the competition will receive an email with clear instructions on the requirements and process to be followed to get the Products judged.
38. Please send TWO samples of each product.
39. It is the responsibility of the entrants to ensure the prompt delivery of all Products and to ensure the integrity of the Products.
40. Marvellous Marketing does not accept responsibility for Products that are not delivered correctly or are delayed or misdirected.
41. Products received after the closing day for entries may not be judged.
42. Winners may be asked to provide further samples for use in publicity purposes.
Category rules
43. While every effort is made to ensure product eligibility is correct the Head Judge retains the right to transfer the product to a more suitable category or to withdraw the product if it is deemed unsuitable or entry at any time. The Marvellous Marketing team will seek to communicate with entrants and resolve uncertainty before deferring to the Head Judge.
44. Specific category and judging criteria are available on www.outstandingfoodproducer.co.nzr.
Selection of Medal and Category Winners
45. The Judges will select gold, silver and bronze medal winners for each category.
46. Out of the top gold medal winners, the Judges will appoint one category champion for each of the 14 categories.
47. From the category champions, Judges will appoint one supreme champion.
48. The decision of judges about any aspect of the competition is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
Outstanding Food Producer Awards Quality Mark
49. The Outstanding Food Producer Awards quality mark is available only to winners will be provided in digital format by the Outstanding Food Producer Awards team. Medal stickers can be bought from Label & Litho.
50. All winners agree to adhere to the Outstanding Food Producer Awards Brand Disciplines and Medal Licensing Conditions.
51. Use of the logo on any product that has not won an award is expressly forbidden.
Privacy Act
52. Marvellous Marketing will collect, store, use and disclose the information entrants to administer this competition by the provisions of the Privacy Act 2020.
53. By entering these Awards you permit your details to be shared with Outstanding Food Producer Awards and their partners.
