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Most of the questions people commonly ask about ChefsBest and our website are answered below.

ChefsBest
Judging Process
Contacting ChefsBest

 

ChefsBest

• Q: What is ChefsBest and what do you do?
• A: ChefsBest® is the private independent judging organization for the food industry dedicated to recognizing and honoring the best food and food-related products in America. We use expert judges who are professional chefs that have been sensory certified as Master Tasters®. In all judging sessions, we utilize the Sensory Attribute Quality Analysis (SAQA™) judging methodology that has been developed by ChefsBest and leading food industry and sensory experts to determine America’s best products. We judge the best products among America’s leading brands in totally unbiased conditions. There is only one winner in a category, so when you buy a ChefsBest Award winner, you know you are buying the best.

• Q: How can the ChefsBest Award help me?
• A: There are over 35,000 different products in the average grocery store today, a number that increases every day. Also, the time we have to select which product to buy has gotten shorter with our busier lifestyles. Food is one of the largest expenditures in our household budget. Yet we have little time and information to make the best buying decisions when we shop. Finally, the average American is exposed to over 4,000 advertising messages daily. With all these distractions and choices, it can be hard to know which products are the best to buy.
  
  The ChefsBest Award makes it easy. By finding out the ChefsBest Award winners here on our website, you can go to the store knowing the best products. When you get to the store, you can also look for the ChefsBest Award on the package of several hundred products to help you buy the best. Let us help you shop smarter and faster using the ChefsBest Award.

• Q: What are the ChefsBest Awards?
• A: To help you buy the best food and food-related products, ChefsBest has three types of Awards:
  
  ChefsBest Award for Best Taste – This award is for a food product has been judged the highest quality among leading brands in a competitive judging. It is the most common ChefsBest Award. The ChefsBest Award for Best Taste lets you know that a product has been judged best among leading brands throughout America. Because of widely differing opinions, ChefsBest does not make any judgment on a product’s stated nutritional claims.
  
  ChefsBest Award for Performance – This award is for a non-food product that is used in the kitchen and is judged the best performing product in its category among leading brands. From paper towels to small appliances, the ChefsBest Award for Performance helps you buy the best appliances and products for the kitchen.
  
  ChefsBest Certified Award – This award is an endorsement of product quality by ChefsBest. The ChefsBest Certified Award is awarded to a product in category that has only one qualifying product, like a new product category, and we are unable to have a qualified competitive judging. In such a case, we judge a product on its own merits and against benchmark standards. The ChefsBest Certified Award tells consumers that a product has the high standards of quality held by ChefsBest.
  
  To learn more, visit About ChefsBest.

Judging Process

• Q: Who determines which products win the ChefsBest Award?
• A: Expert judges on judging panels determine the ChefsBest Award winners. All products are judged at the ChefsBest Center for Taste in San Francisco where there are over 60 professional chefs that are sensory certified as Master Tasters to judge the products. Judging panels are moderated by certified professional moderators that utilize the Sensory Attribute Quality Analysis (SAQA) judging methodology which was developed by ChefsBest and leading food industry and sensory experts.
  
  To learn more, visit About ChefsBest.

• Q: Can I trust your judging results?
• A: The credibility and integrity of our judging process is critical to the mission of our organization. To produce reliable, unbiased results, we have developed a scientific sensory judging process to determine the best products in America.
  
  First, our Master Tasters have a refined, trained palate and high sensory assessment skills. To become a Master Taster, a chef must be an experienced degreed professional chef who is initially able to pass a palate acuity test that measures the ability to taste very minor differences. Next, he or she must undergo extensive training in our ChefsBest SAQA judging methodology and be able to pass the qualifications to become a Master Taster.
  
  To make sure our judges are not influenced by brand loyalty, our judging sessions are done as “blind judging,” meaning that all products are presented to the judges in unmarked numbered containers with no brand identification. Also, all judged products are bought from grocery stores, as a consumer would, and stored in secure climate controlled facilities until judging day.
  
  Once a judging session is completed, we review all of the judges’ comments and data from the judging session. We perform a computerized analysis with statistical software to determine if there is a significant statistical difference between the first and second place. Only a clear winner is a ChefsBest Award winner.

• Q: Are the manufacturers involved in the judging process?
• A: No. ChefsBest is an independent judging organization and we are committed to the integrity and independence of our judging process. Through extensive research, ChefsBest determines which categories to judge and which products will be judged in that category. We then procure the products for judging from stores as a consumer would. The products are then judged, and if a product wins by a statistical margin, only then is a winner announced.

• Q: How does ChefsBest choose the products it judges?
• A: The ChefsBest Research Department determines the products that will be judged in each category. The categories chosen are the ones that are most important to consumers. The products judged in those categories are the leading products in that category according to industry research sources and must be available to most consumers across America.

• Q: How often are products rejudged?
• A: All product categories are judged every one to three years to make sure that you are always buying the best.

• Q: Why hasn’t one of my favorite product categories been judged?
• A: While we endeavor to judge every category that is important to consumers, we haven’t gotten to them all yet. Check back often to see if your favorite category has been judged.

• Q: Why wasn’t my favorite product included in your judging?
• A: If your favorite product was not included in a category, it is likely that it was not readily available in most stores across America. We are as inclusive as we can be, but we feel that everyone in America should be able to find and purchase the products that are judged best by ChefsBest. This is why we only include national brands in our judging.

• Q: One of my favorite products is a ChefsBest Award winner, but the ChefsBest Award is not displayed on its package. Why?
• A: If a ChefsBest Award winner does not display the ChefsBest Award on its package, it means that the manufacturer has not entered into an agreement with ChefsBest to use the ChefsBest Award on its package or marketing materials. However, all the ChefsBest Award winners are available on this website. Visit our website often for new winners before you go to the store, so you will always be buying America’s best.

Contacting ChefsBest

• Q: I have questions or comments. How can I contact you?
• A: We welcome your questions and comments. Click Contact Us.