CONTACT: Diane Baedeker Petit
617-626-1752
Diane.Baedeker@state.ma.us

DOVER, Mass. - Food industry executives and VIPs attending this year's Massachusetts Marketplace, held August 24th at Elm Bank Reservation in Dover, voted for the event's first-ever "Best of Show" awards.

Awards were presented for seven categories: Most Unique Product, Outstanding Product Line, Outstanding Packaging or Design, Most Distinctively-Massachusetts Product, Outstanding Fresh Product, Outstanding Packaged Product and Outstanding Salesmanship.

The Massachusetts Marketplace is a two-day outdoor exhibition of new, unusual and traditional Massachusetts produced agricultural, horticultural and specialty food products. Friday the Marketplace is open for the food trade to meet exhibitors and sample their products. Saturday the Marketplace is a public festival also featuring entertainment, gardening information, and children's activities.

The Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society sponsor the Massachusetts Marketplace.

"This year we instituted the 'Best of Show' awards to recognize exhibitors who display exemplary products and enthusiasm for the event," explained Jonathan L. Healy, Massachusetts Commissioner of Food and Agriculture. "The awards program also encourages buyers to evaluate and later recall the products they have sampled."

The 2001 Massachusetts Marketplace "Best of Show" award winners are:

Massachusetts Marketplace Best of Show Awards/p.2

· Most Unique Product: Aisha, Roslindale, for products made from Termis, a legume with a unique nutty flavor including flavored Termis beans and dips.

· Outstanding Product Line: Warren Farm and Sugarhouse, North Brookfield, for their line of products including various grades of syrup in decorative glass bottles, maple mustard pickles and fruit spreads and jams.

· Outstanding Packaging or Design: G&G Specialty Foods, Wakefield, for their Ipswich Ale Mustard, a premium stone-ground mustard.

· Most Distinctively Massachusetts Product: Carlson Orchards, Harvard, for Carlson Orchard's sparkling cider.

· Outstanding Fresh Product: Hillman Farm, Colrain, for their aged natural rind and raw milk goat cheese.

· Outstanding Packaged Product: Echoes of Summer, Marlborough, for their certified organic and kosher fancy fruit spreads, fruit butters, conserves and chutneys.

· Outstanding Salesmanship and Enthusiasm: Myron's Fine Foods, Orange. Chef Myron Becker makes Asian style cooking sauces.