Nourish Food & Drink Awards 2026 - USA
16 Specialized Categories
- Hot Drinks
- Drinks and Juices (no alcohol)
- Salty Snacks
- Sweet Snacks & Chocolate
- Pantry Essentials
- Meat & Dairy
- Convenience & Frozen Meals
- Protein & Workout
- Functional Food & Drink
- Baby & Toddler Food, Snacks & Drinks
- Kids Food, Drink and Pantry
- Vegan Food & Snacks
- Vegan Pantry
- Keto Food & Snacks
- Keto Drinks
- Keto Pantry
Timeline and entry fees
- Entries close: September 18, 2026
- Send samples: September – October
- Judging: October
- Results: November
Entry Fee / SKU
Micro: Annual revenue under $2.5M – Entry fee is $160 / product
SME: Annual revenue over $2.5M – Entry fee is $320 / product
Enterprise: Annual revenue over $20M – Entry fee is $540 / product
Volume discounts
6-9 products 5%
10-14 products 10%
14-24 products 12%
24 or more entries 15%
Entry process
- Complete the registration form – provide your contact details, select your products and categories.
- Complete the PIF – product information form. You will be asked to give details about your product for our team and the judges. You will receive the link to the form following your entry. If you’d like to see the form before, please email support@nourishawards.org for a preview.
- Send your samples. We request 3-5 units of each product entered in September.
- Results will be published in November
ALL ENTRIES WILL BE PROVIDED WITH A NOURISH EVALUATION REPORT, RELEVANT BADGE AND CERTIFICATE (IF APPLICABLE)
The Nourish is not just another award
The Nourish Food & Drink Awards USA recognise the most innovative food and drink products on the US market, that provide a healthier option to consumers. Evaluated by a panel of qualified nutrition professionals, products are assessed for nutrition, ingredients, flavor, texure and innovation.
- Products are not judged against each other but are awarded based on individual merit. They may be given 1, 2 or 3 stars based on the scores
- All entries receive an evaluation report from Nourish
- Awarded products receive the prestigious Nourish badge – free to use for 2 years
- Awarded products feature in our online directory with a link to your website
Judging criteria include:
- nutrition
- ingredients
- flavor
- texture
- innovation
Why leading brands enter the Nourish Awards each year?
Mom’s Garden® is a German brand of premium food supplements for the whole family. We attach particular attention to efficacy, but also to the high compliance of our consumers and develop scientifically-backed products in an innovative form, that could be pleasant and easy to consume for the long periods. To boost our sales and to more efficiently promote our supplements we searched for specific and authoritative awards. Nourish Awards was a perfect match, because it offers multiple award categories for supplements at reasonable price, furthermore it provides a very accurate and relevant feedback on product’s pros and cons, that is useful for the future improvement. Nourish Awards also supplies many other accessory services, such as Nourish Gala award ceremony with the following professional event pictures, award certificates, trophies, quick and always very helpful replies to all our questions during the application and afterwards. We really greatly appreciate the professionalism of this award organization and an excellent service they provide.
“We joined the Nourish Awards because they value brands that focus on science and honesty in their work. As a high-quality nutraceutical company, we respected the detailed judging process and the insightful feedback provided by experienced nutritionists, which is something uncommon in other places. Winning a Nourish Award has boosted our reputation in the industry and reminded us to stay dedicated to creating innovative and top-notch products for health and wellness.” – Jordi
We have 3 award chapters: supplements, food & drink and skincare. You must enter your product into the correct one. If you make supplements as well as skincare or food, you can enter each into the relevant section. Each Award chapter has its own categories.
For the purposes of the award, edible food and drink where flavour is relevant is judged in the Food & Drink awards – functional foods & drink category. This includes hot drinks or snacks with adaptogens, magnesium or products with added vitamin or nutrition boost. To be classed as “functional” there must be a significant amount of active ingredient in the product, so it provides the same benefit as a supplement would.
Once entries have closed, we send out the sample delivery window and address where you can send your samples. Receiving large volume of samples from all over the world is a huge logistical challenge each year, so we must ensure that our storage facilities and packing teams are ready to receive and and safely store your samples until they needed for judging.
Yes, you can enter them in the food and drink categories but not in Supplements or skincare. If you have a chilled supplement this will be judged in the functional food / drink category however, it will be judged in line with all other supplements. We have a dedicated delivery window for all chilled and frozen products. Fresh products receive a specific date to deliver samples based on their individual judging day. If you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch to discuss your individual requirements.
Food and drink are judged on location by a panel of 5-7 judges. All samples are prepared by our catering team and served to the judges fresh. Supplements and skincare are judged remotely – our team distributes all samples to the judges, with the process taking place over several months and includes research and sampling. All entries are scored, ranked and feedback is provided by judges.
You can use the winner’s logo for 2 years. After that time, we ask that you re-enter the product. Outdated logos are not a good look, in addition trends, technology, scientific understanding and competition changes greatly over time so we recommend you re-enter the product after 2 years to ensure the evaluation is kept up to date.
This question is asked on our PIF – so it is essential that your complete the form as soon as possible so the correct delivery window can be allocated.
We are not able to accept food from outside of the US in the US Awards, but you can enter them into our UK programme.
Yes, if you have it, although it is not a problem if you don’t. We receive many products each year without retail packaging, simply because products are not on the market yet. If you do not have your finished packaging yet, please make sure that you give full information on your PIF and send us a mock-up or photo of your packaging. We do not deduct points for this and we do not judge packaging however, it helps the judges understand your product fully and make recommendations.
We are still able to give you the judges’ feedback, which can provide crucial information on why the product did not achieve recognition. This is very valuable for refining your recipe or formulation and for all NPD.
Supplements: 7 units | Skincare: 6 units
Food & Drink: Minimum 2 units and enough quantity for 10 people to try. Baking mixes – 3 units. For second categories we need additional samples but not double. Note, we do not need 10 units as food and drink samples are shared between judges. More detailed information will be provided when we request the samples. If you are unsure, please contact us prior to shipping your sample.