The National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show is calling on the year’s top food and beverage innovators to submit applications for the 2023 Food and Beverage (FABI) Awards. As the industry’s most prestigious award program, FABI Awards honor products that revolutionize food and beverage with their creative flavors, ingredients, and tastes. FABI Awardees will be prominently featured at the 2023 National Restaurant Association Show, which runs May 20–23, 2023, at McCormick Place in Chicago. 

“Our FABI Awards program is the year’s most anticipated and a must-see feature at the National Restaurant Association Show and we are eager to see the latest flavor creations and unique products that are impacting and advancing the foodservice industry,” said Tom Cindric, president of Winsight Exhibitions. “This year’s FABI Awardees will receive more exposure than ever before, with enhanced efforts to drive additional traffic to their booths and increased publicity for their winning product.”  

FABI Awardees receive industry-wide exposure before, during and after the show. Further, awarded products will be acknowledged throughout the show floor with prominent signage, and priority placement in on-site media opportunities with broadcast media.  

Specific exposure opportunities include:

  • Recognition in a wire-distributed press release announcement to national and trade media resulting in significant traditional and social media coverage.
  • Promotion to event attendees through the show’s website, marketing emails and social channels.
  • Feature on The Show To Go, the Show’s digital marketplace where the operators connect directly with the suppliers to learn more about each product.
  • Extensive coverage via show public relations efforts, which includes pre-show pitches, daily show media alerts, on-site press events, and priority placement in on-site media opportunities with broadcast media.
  • Crystal award and portable standing banner promoting the innovation

Carol Devine, vice president of Taste It Presents, shares the importance of the FABI Awards as the gold standard of the industry. “We've won not one, not two, but three FABI awards, and we were thrilled to have this experience. FABI awards give such recognition to these products and our company. We just could not be happier that we won such a respected award within this industry. The FABI Awards are a wonderful platform and venue to let people know about what's new, what's hot, what's exciting that they should really be taking advantage of.”

Each FABI Award submission will be evaluated by an independent panel of judges from across the foodservice industry who represent some of the most well-known brands and organizations. Recipients are selected for their exciting new tastes, uniqueness in the market, appeal to the operator community, creative approach to operator challenges, or introduction of new opportunities and profit potential. New this year, FABI Judges encourage all applicants to bring a personal touch to the application by submitting a 30-second video describing the “wow factor” of their product. 

The 2023 FABI Award judges are: 

  • Zia Ahmed (senior director, The Ohio State University)
  • Katie Belflower (associate editor, Technomic)
  • Pat Cobe (senior editor, restaurant business & foodservice director)
  • Becky Davis (director of culinary innovation, The Wendy’s Company)
  • Marion Gibson (culinary development director, Aramark)
  • Farley Kaiser (director of culinary and innovation, GetGo Café+Market)
  • Ana Maria Rodriguez (chief food innovation & quality officer, Pizza Hut International)
  • Robin Rosenberg (vice president, chef de cisine, Levy Restaurants)
  • Bret Thorn (senior food & beverage editor, Informa Food & Restaurant Group)

The deadline to apply is Wednesday, January 11, 2023. To qualify, all FABI submissions must have been introduced within 24 months prior to the 2023 show.  Application information for the 2023 FABI Awards is available online. 

As the global restaurant and hospitality industry’s premier trade show, the National Restaurant Association Show is the place to explore everything that’s happening in the hospitality industry, from the latest food and beverage trends to emerging technology. For more information, visit nationalrestaurantshow.com and connect with the show online on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.