“Skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” This iconic quote, frequently misattributed to hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, originated with his father and original coach, Walter, and embodies the intuition he cultivated in his sons on their backyard rink in Ontario.
Wayne Gretzky developed into one of the most intuitive—and innovative—hockey players of all time. I personally witnessed his uniquely dazzling spectacle of dexterity and on-ice smarts in the 1980s, pressed to the glass at the old Chicago Stadium, and he skated circles around my hometown Blackhawks. It was breathtaking—and a bit magical.
When food and beverage innovators approach the R&D bench, they’re trying to skate to where the puck—where the market opportunity—will be. And then they’re taking their shot. When everything aligns, the results—an exhilarating goal, the roar of the crowd—are a bit like magic.
The annual Spirit of Innovation Awards, established by Prepared Foods in 2003, annually honor the food and beverage development teams behind today’s most inventive products for retail and foodservice distribution. They encompass the entire product innovation pathway to market, from consumer insights to R&D, formulation, and full-scale market launch, coming together in cross-functional unity. The awards spotlight the trends, people, and products shaping the future of our global food and beverage industry.
The 2026 Spirit of Innovation Awards offered many glimpses of formulation magic—shots taken by brand teams, small independents and industry giants alike—that squarely hit the back of the net. The 2026 Spirit of Innovation winners are:
• Judges Selection, Most Innovative: Gluten-Free Filled Pretzel Sticks, Quinn Foods
• Best Retail Food: MULU High Protein Cottage Cheese, Dairy Farmers of America
• Best Retail Beverage: mōcean Adaptogenic Energy Drink, mōcean drinkwerx
• Best Alternate Channel/Deli Product: Fermented Chickpea Salads, wildbrine
• Best Foodservice Front-of-House Product: Egg Clouds, Cuisine Solutions
• Best Foodservice Back-of-House Product: Pillsbury Mini Pancake Puffs, General Mills Foodservice
The Foodservice Front-of-House Award addresses consumer trends, while the Back-of-House Award addresses foodservice operator needs.
These stars of the 2026 awards had good company, with several other highly innovative products qualifying for the final round of evaluation:
• Dubai Chocolate Style Ice Cream Bars, The Magnum Ice Cream Co.
• Gimme K-Crisps Seaweed Topping, Gimme Seaweed
• Issei Dark Chocolate Covered Cherry Mochi Gummies, The Stardust Co.
• Jumex Hydrolit +Advance, Jumex Group/Vilore Foods
• Mango Chamoy Twist Bars, Alden’s Organic Ice Cream
• Plant-Based Salmon Fillet, Oshi Technologies
• Regenerative Organic Einkorn Pancake & Waffle Mix, Jovial Foods Inc.
• Sourdough Buckwheat Tortillas, Live Pacha LLC
• True Lemon Wellness Beverage, True Citrus Co.
During November, Prepared Foods, along with fellow BNP Media publications Beverage Industry, Candy Industry, Dairy Foods, The National Provisioner, and Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery, will feature profiles and interviews with the teams behind the award winners, as well as those that qualified for the final round of evaluation. Prepared Foods will also spotlight videos of the award winners during its “Spirit of Innovation” webinar, which will also include expert analysis and perspective on the state of innovation in the food and beverage industry today.
The 2026 Spirit of Innovation Awards featured multiple rounds of evaluation performed by a wide range of industry experts:
• Chef Charlie Baggs, President & Executive Chef, Charlie Baggs Culinary Innovations
• Chef Zal Taleyarkhan, Corporate Research Chef, Charlie Baggs Culinary Innovations
• Chef Bryce Danner, Research Chef & Kitchen Manager, Charlie Baggs Culinary Innovations
• Ashley Kraus, Ph.D., Manager, Consumer Insights, Imbibe
• Michele Scott, Ph.D., Director of Insights, Innova Market Research
• Jenni Spinner, Chief Editor, Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery, BNP Media
• Nick Roskelly, Executive Editor, Prepared Foods, BNP Media
• Doug Peckenpaugh, Director of Content Strategy, Prepared Foods, BNP Media
• Mike Leonard, Executive Director, BNP Media
• Bob Garrison, Director of Industry Engagement, BNP Media
The panel evaluated each product for overall innovation, sensory qualities, and the product’s R&D story. Prepared Foods received over 100 submissions for the 2026 Spirit of Innovation Awards, spanning every category of food and beverage. As part of the application process, the brand teams are asked two key questions related to its R&D story:
• How does the product address a consumer or operator customer need?
• What were hurdles in development? How did the R&D team overcome those challenges?
Prepared Foods and BNP Media are grateful to Charlie Baggs Culinary Innovations, a third-party food and beverage product development firm headquartered in Chicago, for hosting and guiding the evaluation sessions for the 2026 Spirit of Innovation Awards.
The annual Spirit of Innovation Awards program is free and open to all prepared foods and beverages developed for sale into US retail grocery and foodservice channels. For details about previous winners, see the Spirit of Innovation page on PreparedFoods.com.