The Health & Wellness Award finalists include Absolute Organic Chips, Certified Organic Balsamic and Caesar Dressings, Chocolistic Seed Bar, Dandaragan Estate Ultra Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Heinz Steam Fresh Mix & Match, Nutrient Secrets, Organic Bubs, Pitango Organic and Carbon Neutral Risotto Range and Fresh Curry Meals, Tick Approved Healthier Choice Pizzas and Wild Rocket, Baby Spinach and Salad Mix. FOOD Magazine congratulates all the finalists in this category.
Absolute Organic Chips
Eco-Farms’ Chips are made using Australian vegetables to produce a healthy snack without the use of pesticides or chemicals. The Chips are presented in colourful packages with a mat finish to create an environmental feel, and come in four organic flavours, including beetroot, sweet potato, sweet chilli & sour cream, and lime & cracked pepper.
www.ecofarms.com.au
Certified Organic Balsamic and Caesar Dressings
Providing healthy eating choices with fresh salads that are certified organic, gluten free, dairy free and egg free, Ozganics has developed original organic salad dressings that are fat free or low in fat, and delicious with any salad. Caesar Dressing is traditionally an egg and dairy-based dressing high in fat but Ozganics has created a tasty, visually appealing alternative, which is suitable for those on restricted diets and the health conscious. The Balsamic Dressing contains no added oil or fat and has a tangy fresh flavour.
www.ozganics.com.au
Chocolistic Seed Bar
A decadent cocoa and seed health bar which offers the public a truly unique and healthy snack that is free from all additives, fillers, hidden sugars, and other nasties, while, at the same time, being satisfying and delicious. The product caters specifically for a niche market of people with allergies and intolerances as well as those generally interested in health. With optimal health in mind, the bars are not cooked or heated. According to the company, the main ingredient is Lots of Love, giving the product its zest and delight.
www.chocolisticseeds.com
Dandaragan Estate Ultra Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil
This international award winning Extra Virgin Olive Oil, is a 100% natural product that is processed within six hours of harvesting. Having won the “Best Foreign Olive Oil in Italy” award, the Dandaragan Estate range of olive oils is endorsed by leading international five-star chefs as part of their culinary prowess. These endorsements, along with the unique bottle, label and complimentary pourer supplied with each bottle, highlight Australia as the country of origin and the Oil’s position as a top-of-the-range, 100% pure Olive Oil.
www.dandaraganestate.com.au
Heinz Steam Fresh Mix & Match
A range of frozen vegetable, rice and protein meal components sold separately, but which can be combined together to create easy steam fresh meals, the Heinz SteamFresh Mix & Match offer a complete finished meal solution without the need to add in other components. With Mix & Match, the steam technology allows for greater taste, texture and colour retention, larger serving sizes, and control over which components the consumer wishes to use to create their finished meal.
www.heinz.com.au
Nutrient Secrets
Multi-functional foods are set to be the next big thing in the marketplace. Lots of ingredients which are naturally better for you, put together in small packages are the way forward. As with the original Slim Secrets range where a niche market was successfully found amongst a highly competitive one, the Nutrient Secrets bars cater for those more interested in nutritional value. Nutrient Secrets Smart Vanilla and Almond is a delicious, chewy snack bar full of nuts, with added flaxseed, ginkgo and a hint of vanilla flavour.
www.slimsecrets.com.au
Organic Bubs
A range of ready-to-serve children’s meals made from 100% certified organic fresh ingredients, Organic Bubs’ meals are prepared by hand in small batches, using home-style cooking methods such as steaming, baking and slow cooking. Using the finest Australian-grown produce from certified organic growers and wholesalers, ingredients are cooked fresh and immediately snap-frozen to lock in all their natural flavour, colour and nutrients, and to avoid over-processing.
www.organicbubs.com
Pitango Organic and Carbon Neutral Risotto Range and Fresh Curry Meals
Pitango are the world’s first fresh meal manufacturer to become carbon neutral with carboNZero certification. Using premium ingredients grown in the New Zealand’s south island, and importing premium organic ingredients from hand-picked sites around the world, Pitango’s gourmet meals are made with the highest quality ingredients, and are presented in stylish packages with artwork to emphasise the products’ unique benefits.
www.pitango.co.nz
Tick Approved Healthier Choice Pizzas
Crust Gourmet Pizza Bars have created a range of take away pizzas which have earned the Heart Foundation Tick of Approval. Crust’s range of Healthier Choice pizzas are the only take-away pizzas to have earned the Tick. The range was developed in close association with the Heart Foundation to meet its strict standards in terms of fat, saturated fat, salt and fibre content. The pizzas come in six flavours, comprising of vegetarian — Bruscetta, Roast Vegetable, and Baby Spinach; and non-vegetarian — Chicken & Avocado, Roast Chicken and Roast Beef.
www.crust.com.au
Wild Rocket, Baby Spinach and Salad Mix
Ladybird’s organic, pre-packed salads were created to fill a void in the marketplace for quality, quantity and continuous supply of organic salad mixes. Because leafy greens absorb chemicals far more readily than other vegetables due to their surface-area-to-volume ration, the ingredients in these salads, which are organic and not sprayed with pesticides, are far safer to eat. The salads are packaged in a new compostable material, made from corn, and creating a perfect, healthy fusion – inside and out.
www.ladybirdorganics.com.au
The Health & Wellness Award is proudly sponsored by Amcor.
www.amcor.com
Lena Zak is the editor of FOOD Magazine.