World Plant-Based Awards 2022: What are the judges looking for? (Part One)

The World Plant Based Awards 2022, in association with Plant Based World Expo North America, is a celebration of innovation and excellence across the global plant-based industry. We asked the first half of our judging panel what they are hoping to see from this year’s entrants.

There are 17 trophies to be won in total, and being shortlisted provides a hallmark of success that will prevail long after the awards draw to a close.

These judges’ criteria points will hopefully offer inspiration and help in crafting the winning entry.

The deadline for entries is Friday 22 July.

Dr. Ritu Chhatwal

Founder, GreenGourmet Foods

As an unabashed advocate of high quality, delicious plant-based foods, I am constantly looking for new products that have a unique perspective in terms of ingredients, nutritional density and techniques used to create the end product. I am honoured to be back to be a part of the judging panel for the World Plant-Based Awards 2022!

Key attributes that I am looking for are:

Sustainability & Planetary Impact Ingredients – New or unfamiliar ingredients? Locally procured or imported? Organic? Non GMO? What is the impact on the environment in terms of inputs like water, fertilisers, pesticides; How are farmers and their communities positively impacted? Manufacturing processes – what is the carbon/water footprint? Any plans to progress towards a circular model that champions concepts like reuse, recycle and repurpose waste and other by products. Packaging – is the packaging eco-friendly, bio-degradable, recyclable or reusable?
Nutrition: What is the quality of the nutrition provided i.e. nutritional profile? Does the product provide higher/better nutrition than what is available in the market? Is it using clean ingredients with transparent claims? Does the product cater to specific health issues or allergies?
Taste (Delish quotient): Is it a new taste sensation? How can you convince me that it tastes good? Mouth feel and texture as well as appearance are important.
Uniqueness: is it a gamechanger? How is this product different from others in its category? Or does it stand alone and warrant a new classification?
Story: what is the brand story? What is the inspiration for the founders, company and choice of products? A strong story with compelling values is key for todays’ consumers.

Guillaume Millet

VP Danone Plant-Based Iberia

It´s a great honour to be a part of the judging panel in the World Plant-Based Awards 2022. I take it as a recognition of the leading role Danone is playing in making plant-based products more visible, more exciting and accessible to consumers all over the world.

I am looking forward to discovering a lot of new exciting products and brands that will make the food industry part of the solutions to tackle the climate change emergency.

I will pay special attention to some specific points:

Health: Plant-based offers can be really great allies of a healthier diet if they bring high nutritional profiles fitting true local needs, with high nutritional density. I will pay special attention to proposals that have a strong and holistic point of view on how plant-based can integrate in everyday diets.
Clean Labelling: I read some criticisms emerging on processed food and long ingredient lists. I will be very interested to look at proposals that address the topic, especially with transparency at heart. Especially the ones valorizing their processes or supplementation, and investing in keeping it to the strict necessary level.
Inclusive: Food is instrumental to uniting people, gathering them around tables, triggering discussions, and building common cultures. I will promote progressive plant based offers, that are looking to unite people in the full value chain (from farmers to consumers), helping all people to rebalance their diets or our production model, not just blaming the previous model.
Sustainability: Of course, sustainability is a key driver and reason to exist for most of plant based offers. Here I will pay special attention on ingredient sourcing quality, and food waste management. Plant-based need to go beyond CO2 / water and land footprint given benefits.
Taste: Taste is one of the obvious barriers to address to have more consumers adopting plant-based diets. Bringing tasty products should go beyond just mimicking, but bring new exciting experiences. I will be very interested in looking at proposals that go beyond copies of Animal based products.

Mitch Lee

Development Chef, Heura Foods

You may have the best product or idea – but how you talk about and sell it is key.

Do you think your product is good? Or is it THE BEST product in the market and the one that customers NEED to know about?

Personally, the five key areas that I’ll be looking for from founders and brands to communicate are:

Does your brand/product make your heart sing?: What’s the story behind how the brand/product started?: The product itself of course needs to be amazing – but don’t underestimate the power of storytelling. Humanising the origin story, the gap it fills, the inspiration behind the name, the design, the flavour etc.
Who is your product for?: Who is your ideal customer, what do they look like, what are they into – do you know this?
What does your product deliver that other brands don’t? (What’s your USP?): This is one of the most important areas to focus on. The plant-based market is tough and new products are coming out every week. What is it about your product that will make it stand out head and shoulders above the competition? Have you spotted an untapped market? A unique opportunity or ingredient that no one knows about? How much resource or impact does this have on the planet? I’d love to see some new super innovative products unlike anything I’ve seen before.
Where do you see your product being sold – retail, food service, D2C?: If you are a retail product, which supermarket is your main mission to launch into or where can we find your products? Also, where in the store would you like to be located?
What else would you like us to know about?: If we’ve missed any questions, now is the time to share your elevator pitch and really shout about what you do.

Alok Prakash

R&D and Innovation Manager – Greater Asia, Roquette

Plant-based food has the challenge of providing similar taste and texture as their animal-based analogue at a market accepted price. If the product can achieve this taste & price target, the chance of success is high. Having said that, taste and price is not the only criteria to be successful in the plant-based segment for a long-term. Following are the five points, I would like to study for the products presented in this conference:

Price of plant-based product vs. the animal-based analogue.
Sustainability in the value chain of plant-based product.
Carbon footprint generated in product lifecycle, including the packaging.
Support to farmers and agricultural ecosystem provided during the product lifecycle (e.g. localised sourcing, farming trainings, farmer’s upliftment, etc.).
Taste, structure, and texture of plant-based product vs. the animal-based analogue (any sensory report would be highly appreciated).

The entries may be described based on the above five points with detailed explanation on relevant points.

Jeremy Johnson

R&D Manager (Plant Based Beverage, Packaging Engineering & Innovation), SunOpta

I am excited to be part of the ongoing growth of plant-based food and beverage. While the last several years in the category have been exciting, it continues to be more and more critical within the global landscape.

As the world continues to evolve and face multiple accelerating issues, providing the proper food source continues to be on the forefront of long term efforts. As new products and categories are developed, it is important to meet the demands of our consumers. While taste may win, it is important to think about the bigger picture. I am honoured to be part of this world changing category.

Next-Gen & Plant-Based Protein: As this category is ever-changing and growing fast, what does the overall product provide to make the world say “Wow!”
Consumer Forward: Are you meeting a new consumer need? Package structural design – What makes the consumer want to pick the package off the shelf? Does your product provide a game-changing taste/texture improvement? Are you offering a new health benefit (functional, allergen free, etc.)?
Uniqueness: What does the total offering provide to ensure it is not a me-too within your category? What sets your product or package apart? Are you “one foot in the familiar”, or completely launching into whitespace? Either is great, sell the world on the why.
Sustainability: Is your offering all-in across your entire product, package, and purpose? What makes your offering sustainable (i.e. environmental, social)? What values are you providing the consumer and world?
Ability for Growth: Does the offering provide an opportunity to sell through multiple channels (e-commerce/retail) and allow brand expansion opportunities?