VAMIX is  a subsidiary of Belgian’s VANDEMOORTELE FOOD SERVICE.  This  department  commercializes  deepfrozen bakery products as well as edible oils & fats, mayonnaises and sauces for commercial outlets (horeca) and collectivity caterers.

This year, in 2011, they  harvested 5 Superior Taste Awards .

After the 4 awards received in 2010 and the 3 ones of 2009, this constellation of stars shows the  constant level of the quality of almost the totality of their range of products.

As many other food producers they show it on their website, they communicate it to their customers and they talk about it, which has proven successful in terms of gaining new customers and market shares.

Mary O’Callaghan, President of the Irish Guild of Sommeliers is one of our  “first-hour” jury members.   She has been member of iTQi’s Superior Taste Award jury since the beginning and makes sure to have no other obligations during the three days in May where the drink tests take place.

These obligations include sometimes   very important functions, like State banquets where she is in the company of Heads of State as depicted on the website of the Irish Guild of Sommeliers.

However, at the International Taste & Quality Institute, she joins fellow colleagues from 13 European  countries for a serious work of tasting drinks and beverages coming from all over the world:   some very well known like waters or teas, some unusual ones like soft drinks based on milk or unknown drinks coming from far away countries and which need a specific preparation.

Good show Mary, and thank you for your professionalism during our tasting sessions.

Three beers of the Belgian Haacht brewery received a 3 golden stars Superior Taste Award this year: Prior Tongerloo,  Charles Quint Blonde /Keizer Karel Goud Blond &  Charles Quint Rouge Rubis /Keizer Karel Robijn Rood

It is the second year in a row for the Prior Tongerloo,which means that this beer is eligible for a Crystal Taste Award if it gets again 3 stars in 2012.

Next to these products, Haacht brewery received also 2 Golden Stars awards for the PRIMUS Pils and the VAL Still mineral water, very nice results indeed as this means that these 2 products have scored between 80 and 90% at the testing session.  Congratulations!

2 stars for the Mayonnaise and for the Andalouse saus of Belgian company LA WILLIAM, now available in Belgian stores.   The Superior Taste Awards are clearly visible on the packagings and an explanation is given on  the website of the company.

In 2010 the Guylian chocolates received a three stars award for their Sea Shells Extra.  This year, in 2011, they received again a three stars award for their chocolate spread and a two stars award for the Temptations mixed giftbox.  These awards has been put on their packaging and they explain it on their website

Three stars (outstanding taste) for Guylians's chocolate-pasta spread at the 2011 superior Taste award

Good show

In this video, Juan Garro, President of the Spanish Milk company Lacturale, explains how winning  in 2009 and 2010 3 stars for its products,  helped him to become the leading brand in his region  and increased its national market share.

In the mean time , in 2011 his product received 3  Golden stars again which means that for achieving  the highest award 3 years in a row, he received officially a Crystal Award.

Mr Fermin Cilveti Vidaurreta, General Manager of Lacturale,  was very happy to  receive his Crystal Award from Mr Louis Frere, Managing Partner of iTQi.

see also

Since 2006, the Kyodoshoji Co Ltd has been testing many of the beers brewed at the COEDO brewery by the International Taste & Quality Institute.  They have been awarded each year with 1, 2 or 3 golden  stars Superior Taste Awards.  Specially the Coedo Beniaka brand, which has received 3 golden stars in 2007, 2008 & 2009 and has therefore been honored by a Crystal Award. In this video, the CEO of the company, Mr Shigeharu Asagiri, is explaining how he has used the Superior Taste Awards to build and increase  trust of the customers in the Coedo brands.

Getting bored of the so many competitions and awards one can register its products to without knowing exactly how serious they are?   Here is a easy to read, straight to the point, no frills  presentation of what the International Taste & Quality Institute is all about and how serious and neutral the jury’s act.  It explains eventually how worthful a Superior Taste Award can be for your Quality Manager (to improve your products), for the sales executives (fantastic sales argument) and for the marketing department (a great communication tool) .   Special thanks to our trainee Alexandra who, as a communication graduate,  was able to summarize all the wheareabouts of our organization in an enjoyable and attractive way .

An interesting interview of Mr Jean-Louis Sohet, International Marketing Manager which shows the main reasons why, after having had successful awarded products in the past years (see  here), the company decided to enter a wide range of products again this year.

This year, next to the usual presentation of the tasting sessions itself, we included escerpts of some conversations we had with producers form Japan, Spain and Belgium , who told us how a Superior Taste Award can bring lot of added value to their products.

This new video will be standard on our website from now on.   But here you can see it already in internet Premiere.   The world premiere showing of it took place at the Awards Ceremony of the 26th of May, in Brussels, Belgium.

Please do not hesitate to post your comments, to say waht you like and what you dislike, to give us some suggestions …  Have a nice time.