SCAA announces 2015 Best New Product Winners

The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) has announced the 2015 Best New Product and People’s Choice Winners at its event in Seattle on 11 April. Open to SCAA event exhibitors, the awards recognise products introduced to the market after 28 April 2014. Exhibitors are required to have the products on display at the show, as judging takes place on the expo floor during the event. Sustainable Harvest’s Tastify App was awarded Best New Product in the Open Class category. To use Tastify, cuppers enter coffee data, flavour and aroma descriptors, into the app using any web-enabled device. Tastify then generates a custom flavour wheel, spider graph, and word cloud that create a unique picture of each coffee. “If you like a specific coffee Tastify can help you pair that profile with similar coffee from all over the world – we want people to identify the region with the coffee as confidently as in the wine industry,” said Oscar Magro, Sustainable Harvest’s Chief Technology Officer. “We want to create a common language for coffee to elevate the level of discussion among cuppers and groups.” La Marzocco’s Linea Mini was awarded the Best New Product in the Coffee or Tea Preparation & Serving Equipment – Consumer (Electrical) category. “We consider our products like our own children, especially those of us who are designing it, then following its development from one stage to the next,” said Roberto Bianchi, Research and Development Director at La Marzocco, in a statement. “To earn recognition through these awards from both coffee specialists and end users, whether professionals or not, provides real satisfaction and delight.” The Linea Mini is based on La Marzocco’s commercial espresso machine, the Linea Classic. It is designed for home use with a 2.5 litre self-contained water tank. The 2015 Best New Product winners include, Coffee or Tea Preparation & Serving Equipment Consumer (non-electrical); Espro’s Travel Press for Coffee, Coffee or Tea Preparation & Serving Equipment (Commercial); Poursteady’s Poursteady 1.0, Coffee Accessories; OXO’s Good Grip Travel Mugs, Specialty Beverage; Torani’s Ginger Lemongrass Syrup, Sustainability; Mother Parkers’ EcoCup Capsules, Packaging; Torani’s Purée Blends, Specialty Prepared Tea or Chai Beverage or Beverage Mix; David Rio’s Tea Frost Premium Tea Frappe, and Food; Theo’s Peanut Butter Cups.