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Two Newton-area entrepreneurs named finalists in UGA’s 2018 Flavor of Georgia contest
Flavor of Georgia

ATHENS, Ga. - Judges have chosen products by Covington's Bread and Butter Bakery and Newborn’s Rock House Creamery as finalists in UGA’s 2018 Flavor of Georgia Food Product Contest.

Flavor of Georgia
Preliminary judging for the 2018 Flavor of Georgia Food Product Contest is over, and 33 Flavor of Georgia finalists will bring their products to Atlanta for the final round of judging.

Representatives of Bread and Butter Bakery will showcase their Georgia Pecan Bar in the Confections Category in the final round of Flavor of Georgia judging at the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot in Atlanta March 20. Representatives from the Rock House Creamery will present their New World Chocolate Milk in the Dairy Category.

For more than a decade the contest has served as the state’s premier testing ground for both small, upstart food companies and time-tested products.

The finalists, who have passed the first round of judging, were selected from a field of more than 126 products in 11 categories.

Finalists will bring their products to Atlanta for the final round of judging, which will be held in conjunction with the Georgia Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Awareness Week celebration March 19-23. Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black has designated March 20 as Flavor of Georgia Day.

“Georgia is home to some of the best and most creative minds in the food business, and each year the Flavor of Georgia contest helps to showcase that talent,” said Sharon P. Kane, contest coordinator and economist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development. 

A food business development specialist, Kane and her center colleagues have organized the annual contest since 2007. 

Judges for the final round of the contest will include food brokers, grocery buyers, chefs and other food industry experts. They will judge each entry based on commercial appeal, Georgia theme, taste, innovation and market potential in each category.

This year’s finalists are listed below by product name, company and city: 

Barbecue Sauces:

  • Jamaica Me Sweat Soppin’ Sauce, Two Fat Chile Cats, Savannah
  • Original BBQ Sauce, The GrillMan BBQ Company, Cumming
  • Sorta White BBQ Sauce, Lane’s BBQ, Bethlehem

Beverages:

  • Blueberry Citrus Tea, Olympus Greek Mountain Teas, Lawrenceville
  • Ginger’s Bunkhouse Spicy Ginger Ale, Bunkhouse Beverages, Athens
  • Magnolia Green Tea, Biron Herbal Teas, Macon

Condiments and Salsas:

  • Georgia Gourmet Tomato Ketchup, The Sauce Company Inc., Lilburn
  • Sourwood (Honey) Balsamic Vinegar, Built By Bees, Atlanta
  • Vidalia Onion & Balsamic Vinegar Jam, A&A Alta Cucina Italia, Johns Creek

 Confections:

  • Brown Butter Crunch Gelato, Honeysuckle Gelato, Atlanta
  • Georgia Pecan Bar, Bread and Butter Bakery, Covington
  • Pecan Sandie, Watanut, Augusta

 Dairy Products:

  • BlackRock Cheese, CalyRoad Creamery, Sandy Springs
  • Feta Cheese, Bootleg Farm, Springfield
  • New World Chocolate Milk, Rock House Creamery, Newborn

Honey and Related Products:

  • Creamed Honey, H.L. Franklin’s Healthy Honey, Statesboro
  • Gourmet Vanilla Infused Honey Pot, Built By Bees, Atlanta
  • Southern Sriracha Spicy Honey, Bear Hug Honey Company, Athens

Jams and Jellies:

  • Datil Peach Marmalade, Emily G’s, Dunwoody
  • Hibiscus Jelly, Pride Road, Smyrna
  • Wild Elderberry Pepper Jelly, Fairywood Thicket Farm, Fairburn

Meats and Seafood:

  • Applewood Smoked Bacon, Pine Street Market, Avondale Estates
  • Grassfed Beecon Grind, White Oak Pastures, Bluffton
  • The Georgia Pie, Pouch Pies, Athens

Miscellaneous:

  • Honey Cinnamon Pecan Butter, Goodson Pecans, Leesburg
  • Laynee’s Walnut Butter, LWB, Cumming
  • Savory Pimento Cheese Cheesecake, Honey Catering, Millen

Sauces and Seasonings:

  • BBQ Rub, Joe Kem’s BBQ, Moultrie
  • Cajeta, Bootleg Farm, Springfield
  • Lane’s Qnami Rub, Lane’s BBQ, Bethlehem

Snack Foods

  • Georgia Fried Peanuts, Georgia Fried Peanut Company, Edison
  • Signature Champagne Pecans, Pearson Farm, Fort Valley
  • Sugar and Spice Cashews, High Cotton Company, Sandy Springs

The Flavor of Georgia Food Product Contest is organized by the UGA CAES Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development with support from the Georgia Center of Innovation for Agribusiness, the Office of the Governor, Walton EMC, Gourmet Foods International, the Georgia Department of Agriculture and the Georgia Agribusiness Council.

More information about the contest is available at www.flavorofga.com and by following the contest on Twitter @FlavorofGA or on Instagram at www.instagram.com/flavorofga.