WATCH: Winners of Gulfood Innovation Awards 2019 tell all about their triumphant innovations [PART 1]

This year’s awards received over 300 entries, and the judging panel comprised of 10 elite industry personalities such as Khaled Ismail (Tetra Pak VP Communications - Europe, Central Asia, Middle East & Africa Region),  Jochen Bischoff (Head of FMCG, Facebook) and Sunjeh Raja (Director & CEO, International Centre for Culinary Arts United Arab Emirates).

Although the awards this year saw familiar faces such as the UAE-based Global Food Industries (GFI) and Hunter Foods, many international brands from all over the world were also celebrated.

One of these was Eternitea from the United Kingdom, which won the Most Innovative Soft Beverage Award for its new collagen drink.

“[Our winning product] is like an iced tea with collagen in it, it has zero sugar, all natural ingredients, no preservatives. We’ve mixed it with moringa tea which is an antioxidant, and it only contains 30 calories per bottle. I think for most people in this market, it ticks every box,”​ said Eternitea Director Richard Horwell.

GFI won the Most Innovative Halal Food award for its plant-based Plant Protein Pea, Quinoa & Kale Burger.

“This product has 20% more protein than the normal chicken burger, 40% less fat and 50% less calories,” ​said GFI Managing Director Jacek Plewa.

“This makes it much healthier than [the burgers] we normally tend to consume, which are meat-based.”​

Both Eternitea and GFI are featured in this video, the first of two parts where we bring you insights into the winning products from all 12 categories. Of these 12 were two new categories that were introduced this year: Best New Product Development and Best Packaging (Design) Impact.

The full list of winners is as below:

Most Innovative Soft Beverage: ​Eternitea (Collagen Drink) ​by Eternitea

Most Innovative Hot Beverage: ​100% compostable pods, oxygen tight compatible with Nespresso Pro machine by Swiss Sustainable Coffee

Most Innovative Dairy Product: ​Choco Labneh by Pinar

Most Innovative Halal Food: ​Plant Protein, Pea,  Kale & Quinoa burger by Global Food Industries

Most Innovative Baked or Confectionary: ​Americana Bakery (Chocolate, Creme & Feta Cheese) by Americana

Most Innovative Condiment or Sauce: ​Truffle Powder by Giuliano Tartufi

Most Innovative Frozen or Chilled Food: ​The Beyond Burgers by Zandbergen World'S Finest Meat/Beyond Meat

Most Innovative Organic Product: ​Organic Crunchy Bites Oven Baked Snacks by Dr. Klaus Karg

Most Innovative Health & Wellness Product: ​Probiotic Wellness Balls by Health Lab

Most Innovative Meat Or Poultry Product: ​Griller Nat Verde by Grupo Vibra ​

Best New Product Development [NEW]: ​Hunter's Gourmet Mixed Tropical Fruit Chips by Hunter Foods

Best Packaging (Design) Impact [NEW]: ​Pure Honey Sachet by Rahmani Group (Mani Food Development Co.)

Watch the video for more.