Breakthrough Products From France, Poland, and Greece Honoured at Yummex Middle East Innovation Awards 2021

Judges hail energy and future thinking in transformative sweets & snacks industry

Dubai, UAE, 8 November: Future-focused food producers from France, Poland and Greece were among an eclectic mix recognised for innovation and pushing product boundaries at the yummex Middle East Innovation Awards 2021.

An independent judging panel acknowledged the far-reaching contributions of industry innovators in keeping pace with the ever-changing consumer preferences and industry needs. The breakthrough products were honoured in a special ceremony at yummex Middle East, which is running at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) until 9 November. 

This year’s yummex Innovation Awards attracted strong participation from sharp sector professionals around the world hungry to show why their breakthrough products can make a difference.

“The sweets and snacks sector is arguably experiencing the biggest shift of the entire F&B ecosystem with manufacturers having to dramatically transform operations and product lines to meet increasing demand for health, wellness and sustainability. The result, however, is a hugely innovative, high-energy, forward-thinking industry. The judges for this year’s awards were greatly impressed by the entries and it was a tough challenge to single out just one breakthrough product in each category,” said Mark Napier, Show Director, yummex Middle East.

The award for Best Bakery Product was handed to France’s Biscuiterie de Provence for its gluten-free figs & grapes almond soft cake, which is made using only rigorously selected natural ingredients with no food colouring, preservatives, or palm oil. Made by a six-generation manufacturer specialising in traditional, organic and gluten-free cookies and cakes, the cake comes in a tin to preserve freshness. 

“We created a range of six gluten free cakes and nominated our most popular flavour – figs, almonds and grapes – for the award. All our ingredients are locally sourced from around our factory in France and we pride ourselves on being an Almond based company. All our cakes, biscuits and snacks are almond based and gluten free! This specific recipe took over 60 variations to nail the taste and we’re thrilled to have won this award especially in our debut year,” said Frank Dupont, Export Manager, Biscuiterie de Provence.

Poland’s Newtrition claimed the honours for the Best Chocolate Product for its peanut butter pralines, which health and wellness. The Peanut Butter Pralines are protein snacks (17 percent protein) coated with thick Belgian milk chocolate, which makes up half of the composition, and a peanut pulp filling – the nuts make up 29 per cent of the product.

“Our market research indicated that a combination of peanut butter and Belgian chocolate was popular amongst our audiences, hence we decided to create the product which contains 17g protein and is made of 100% natural ingredients. We aim to debunk the myth that healthy desserts cannot be tasty as well – our protein balls are nutritious as well as scrumptious”, said Anna Kozlowska-Rorat, the Marketing Manager of Newtrition. 

Best Hard & Soft Candy honours went to France. With Francois Doucet Confiseur taking the award for its Eclats de fruits - Fruit Jellies. 70 percent of the fruits used come from the region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur will all fruits harvested at full maturity.
“It took over three years of R&D for us to lock in on this version of the product. Our product is made of jelly and fruit and is coated with dried fruits with the final product being sugar-free and delicious! This was our first year at yummex and we look forward to return next year as partners,” said Monet Blanch, Marketing Manager, Francois Doucet Confiseur.

The prize for Best Snack Product, meanwhile, went to Greece’s Jannis for its Soft Nut bars with Honey Greek Yoghurt Dessert & Cranberry. The snack is high in fibre with no preservatives and is an attractive option for fitness enthusiasts. It is gluten-free, lactose-free, dairy-free and has very to very low sodium content. 
“Our bar is made of whole nuts and is bound by Greek yoghurt and honey and does not contain any palm oil. We have a range of six protein breakfast bars however, we nominated the Greek Yoghurt Dessert and Cranberry flavour for this category. Our aim is to provide an energising and nutritious bar to our audiences. We’ve previously participated in Gulfood Manufacturing however this is our first time at yummex and we love being a part of this segment of the show,” said Anastasia Panagiotidou, Marketing Manager of Jannis. 
yummex Middle East returns to DWTC from 8 – 10 November 2022.