Pink Grapefruit Sprint Named Outstanding Dessert or Dessert Topping of 2009

Winners were announced June 29, 2009 for the 37th sofi™ Awards for the outstanding foods and beverages of the year. PreGel AMERICA’s Pink Grapefruit Super Sprint took top honors in the Dessert or Dessert Topping Product. Prevailing over three other silver finalists in the category, the delicately flavored grapefruit sorbetto received a glowing review from presenter and noted chef, Ming Tsai, who described the powdered, two-process product as innovative.

“Winning this award is very special to us. Our company has been producing great specialty dessert ingredients and products in industry for over 40 years,” said Dr. Luciano Rabboni, president and founder of PreGel. “Our Pink Grapefruit Super Sprint produces a spectacular sorbetto that has always been a PreGel favorite and we are thrilled to have won sofi’s highest honor in a Gold Award.”

Presented by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) the awards honor the outstanding specialty foods and beverages of the year. “sofi” stands for Specialty Outstanding Food Innovation.
The awards were presented at the Summer Fancy Food Show at a red-carpet event at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York.

With nearly 1,500 product entries the competition was very strong this year. More than 550 buyers at the Summer Fancy Food Show cast their votes to select the Gold winners.

“Gelato and sorbetto ingredients are PreGel’s core business and to see the increased popularity and demand for these products in the United States is great,” said Casol. “In Italy, the perfect end to a good day is a cup of gelato. This is our goal for the U.S. as well.

Casol says PreGel is excited about the opportunities the sofi Gold Award presents. PreGel offers free samples to those interested in trying out the company’s many products before purchasing them. Casol hopes the exposure the award brings will encourage specialty dessert makers to sample PreGel’s Pink Grapefruit Super Sprint and its many other great flavors.

“Our products offer time-tested, innovative solutions for the specialty dessert world,” Casol said. “We hope this is the first sofi of many as we continue to provide the highest quality ingredients and service in the industry.”
About PreGel AMERICA. PreGel AMERICA is the U.S. subsidiary of PreGel, a global ingredient company headquartered in Reggio Emilia, Italy. PreGel develops, manufactures and distributes natural ingredients, toppings and fillings of the highest quality from Italy, including flavors, powders and pastes used in gelato, frozen yogurt, pastry and other specialty desserts. Based in North Carolina since 2002, PreGel directly sells to restaurants, gelato cafes, coffee shops, frozen yogurt shops, bakeries, pizzerias, hotels, resorts, grocery stores and universities, as well as a few distributors in the United States. The company headquarters is in Concord, N.C., just northeast of Charlotte. For more information, visit www.pregelamerica.com.