Product of the Year winners announced

The 2022 Product of the Year winners, as voted for by over 5000 Australian consumers, have been announced. Thirty-seven winners were selected this year from across a range of categories such as coffee products, mattresses and ready-to-eat meals.

Retailers will likely be chuffed with the results, with supermarket-specific products accounting for 17 of the winners: Coles took home 11 awards and Woolworths six.

The pandemic evidently had an effect on the voting outcomes, as 12 of the winners were snacks, ready-to-eat products or frozen meals, suggesting that consumers highly valued the convenience that these sorts of products brought in a stressful, locked-down year. Research conducted by Nielsen for Product of the Year confirmed this, finding that consumers would be willing to switch to a product purely for its perceived convenience.

San Remo has received the accolade for Product of The Year in the Pasta and Rice Category for its Performance Range. The vegan-friendly range includes Pasta Pro, which has the same protein as 125 g of cooked chicken breast with 25% fewer carbs than regular pasta; and San Remo Fibre Fest, which includes prebiotic fibre into the ingredient, with 2x more fibre and 25% fewer carbs.

Roma Foods was awarded Product of the Year in the Vegan Snacking Category, for its recently launched plant-based Spliits crispbread. The gluten-free, vegan crispbreads are made with veggies and no added sugars.

Other winners included Goodman Fielder in the Plant Based/Ready Meal category for its Plantry Plant Based Meal; Simplot Australia in the Sauces & Mayo category for its Leggo's Organic Sauces; and Dilmah Australia for its Dilmah TEA Organic Range 20s (8 Variants) in the Tea category.

In order to select the eponymous products of the year a panel of judges, composed of industry experts, tested products that had been entered into the running for the awards. The finalists that were selected by the judges were then voted on by 5000 consumers. The products were judged according to several criteria including the product’s uniqueness, how much excitement the product evokes and how innovative it is.

This marks the 13th year of the Product of the Year Awards. The full list of winners can be found on the Product of the Year website.