Call for Submissions is Now Open for the 2021 National Restaurant Association Show FABI Awards

Applications are now being accepted for one of the industry’s most coveted honors—the 2021 Food and Beverage (FABI) Awards. As the premier event to learn about unique ingredients and emerging trends in the restaurant industry, the National Restaurant Association Show celebrates the year’s food and beverage products that are breaking new ground in taste, creativity, and profit potential. The FABI Award recipients will be recognized at the 2021 National Restaurant Association Show, which runs May 22-25, at McCormick Place in Chicago.

Food and beverage product innovators are invited to submit applications to be honored as developing the year’s most delicious products.

“The FABI Awards are a highlight of the National Restaurant Association Show each year and represent the trend-defining products that benefit restaurant operators and the customer,” said Tom Cindric, President of Winsight Exhibitions. “Given the obstacles we’ve faced, we are more eager than ever to showcase the year’s most inventive and impactful products that are positively disrupting our industry with their breakthroughs in flavor, craftsmanship, cost-effective solutions, and profitability.”

The FABI Award recipients will experience enhanced opportunities to reach attendees through increased awareness and booth traffic. Each of the recognized products will be featured at the Show, which gives attendees the opportunity to discover many of the products in one place. FABI Awarded products will also be identified throughout the Show floor with prominent signage, further driving attendees to visit their booths. Additional FABI Award benefits include:

• Prominent placement in pre-Show promotional efforts
• FABI Award logo and custom signage for use in marketing efforts for the life of the product
• High-profile exposure both on and off the Show floor
• Increased media coverage and visibility with influential customers
• Feedback from an esteemed panel of judges
• Recognition as an industry leader

"The FABI Award for Beyond Breakfast Sausage helps us communicate with operators the deliciousness and quality of our latest innovation in a time of COVID," says Tim Smith, Vice President of North American Foodservice Sales for Beyond Meat.

Each FABI Award submission will be evaluated by an independent panel of judges from across the foodservice industry who represent some of the most well-known brands and organizations. The award recipients are selected for their exciting new tastes, uniqueness in the market, appeal to the operator community, creative approach to operator challenges, or introduction of new opportunities and profit potential. The 2021 FABI Award judging panel includes:

• Zia Ahmed, Senior Director, Dining Services, Ohio State University
• Pat Cobe, Senior Editor, Restaurant Business & Foodservice Director
• Marion Gibson, Culinary Development Director, Aramark
• Aimee Harvey, Senior Managing Editor, Technomic
• Farley Kaiser, Corporate Executive Chef/Culinary Innovation Manager Fresh Foods, Wawa, Inc.
• John Li, Vice President Culinary Innovation, The Wendy’s Company
• Robin Rosenberg, Vice President, Chef de Cuisine, Levy Restaurants
• Cammie Spillyards-Schaefer, Vice President of Culinary and Menu Strategy, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
• Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor, Nation’s Restaurant News 

Application information for the 2021 FABI Awards is available online. The deadline to apply is January 20, 2021.