Winners announced for 2020 Galliova Awards

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay.

The 31st annual Galliova Awards took place virtually and was attended by entrants, judges and representatives from the South African Poultry Association (Sapa). The winner of the inaugural Digital Food Influencer category was also announced.

Top honours

Arina du Plessis of Landbouweekblad took top honours as the Galliova Food Writer of the Year, while freelance writer, Glynis Horning, was honoured for the second consecutive year as the Galliova Health Writer of the Year.

The runners-up in the Food Writer of the Year category were Amy Hopkins of Women’s Health (2nd) and Louisa Holst and Hannes Koegelenberg of Ideas Magazine (3rd), and in the Health Writer of the Year category, Caitlin Geng of Your Family (2nd) and freelancer Jandri Barnard (3rd).

Esther Malan of Huisgenoot and You was awarded the title Galliova Egg Champion, followed by Herman Lensing of Sarie Kos (2nd) and Jessica Spiro of Taste, Eat Out and Food24 (3rd).

Jessica Spiro was also the winner of the Galliova Broiler Champion, while Johané Neilson of Home and Tuis and Liezl Vermeulen of Fresh Living Magazine were placed second and third respectively.

Chad January of Fresh Living Magazine took top honours as Galliova Up & Coming Writer of the Year, with Your Family’s Caitlin Geng taking the second place.

The pilot Digital Food Influencer category – which was open to invited food influencers who host a popular digital food platform via a blog, Facebook or Instagram page, was won by Georgia East of food and travel blog, East After Noon. In second and third places were Alida Ryder and Sam Linsell of Simply Delicious and Drizzle & Dip respectively.

Challenging year

This year’s judging panel included acclaimed magazine food stylist, author and cooking TV show host, Dorah Sitole; renowned food writer, recipe developer and blogger, Anna Montali; former Sarie and Sarie Kos food editor, author and head of culinary development at JAN Innovation Studio, Barbara Joubert; qualified chef, author and judge on various local and international cooking shows, Lesego Semenya; registered dietitian and Emeritus Associate Professor of the University of the Free State, Professor Marthinette Slabber Stretch; consulting dietitian for Sapa and PhD candidate at the University of Pretoria, Monique Piderit; MD of El-Azaar Poultry Farm and a Sapa member (representing the egg industry), Marco Torsius; and poultry farmer and a Sapa board member (representing the broiler sector), Jake Mokwene.

The Galliova Awards are sponsored by the South African Poultry Association (Sapa), which represents the country’s broiler and egg producers. Sapa’s chairperson, Aziz Sulliman commented: “Despite 2020 being a really challenging year for us all, Sapa wanted to continue to show our appreciation for the country’s media by continuing to sponsor the Galliova Awards.

“We also know that the media landscape has changed dramatically since the inception of the Galliova Awards, over 30 years ago, which resulted in the new Digital Food Influencer category being added this year. We are hoping that this category will continue to grow in the future. On behalf of Sapa, I would like to congratulate all our worthy winners in all categories,” he concluded.