San Diego-Based Company Awards Over 90 Church & Dwight Products with Taste Awards
SAN DIEGO, April 27, 2018 – ChefsBest, a San Diego-based company that guides consumers to the best-tasting foods in a category, announced today that after extensive testing by executive-level chefs it has expanded its partnership with Church & Dwight Co., Inc, which is proprietor of the no. 1 adult gummy vitamin brand, Vitafusion, and the no. 1 kids gummy vitamin brand, L’il Critters. As part of the expansion, ChefsBest has increased the number of Vitafusion and L’il Critters products under the license agreement, with two of the Vitafusion gummy vitamins and supplements qualifying for the ChefsBest Best Taste Award, including the Power C™ and Everyday Energy vitamins. All other products under the license have received the ChefsBest Excellence Award.
ChefsBest began working with Church & Dwight in August 2016, licensing L’il Critters Gummy Vites™. In June 2017, ChefsBest added four Vitafusion adult gummy vitamin and supplement products to the license agreement, and in February 2018, the company added six L’il Critters kids vitamins and 20 Vitafusion adult gummy vitamins and supplements, bringing the total licensed products up to 31. ChefsBest evaluations of Church & Dwight vitamins and supplements, which took place over a six-month period, were designed to identify and measure the sensory experiences across the five modalities of appearance, aroma, taste, flavor and texture and determine the impact of each attribute on the overall quality.
ChefsBest Sensory Director Janet Williams, who led the Church & Dwight sensory evaluation process said, “When designing the gummy vitamin and supplement sessions, we had to consider not only the total number of products in each category but also balance the amount ingested by the chefs with the recommended daily dose, while effectively measuring all sensory attributes.” Williams added, “Working with our panel of Master Tasters®, we evaluated hundreds of products and were pleased with the consistency of Vitafusion and L’il Critters gummy vitamins as related to flavor, aroma delivery, and textures reflective of gummy vitamins.”
ChefsBest uses a rigorous sensory evaluation process, known as SAQA® (Sensory Attribute Quality Analysis), and a panel of executive-level chefs trained as Master Tasters to identify award-winning food and beverage products. As part of ChefsBest’s proprietary process that determines qualification for a ChefsBest medallion, Certified Master Tasters blindly evaluate products against a quality definition. At the end of the evaluation, the data from the Master Tasters is analyzed and an overall quality rating is determined. This score decides qualification for the Best Taste and/or Excellence Award.
“Vitafusion & L’il Critters Gummy Vitamins continue to work with ChefsBest to showcase that we take taste seriously,” said Carly Catalano, Senior Associate Brand Manager at Church & Dwight. “We strive to bring a fusion of the best tasting and most nutritious gummy vitamins to our consumers in order to help them vitamin better. Through our partnership with ChefsBest, we are able to provide the stamp of taste approval our consumers crave.”
“It’s been an honor to work with industry-leading Vitafusion and L’il Critters for the past few years and we look forward to evaluating more of their products with our rigorous methodology to determine whether they may carry a ChefsBest medallion and unlock the many coveted ad claims our process substantiates,” said Lisa Liguori, ChefsBest President and CEO. “Our mission is to connect consumers to the best food and beverage brands in the marketplace while helping brands standout from competition, build trust, and increase their bottom line. We’re looking forward to our continued partnership.”
ChefsBest provides national brands with the ability to substantiate ad claims and differentiate themselves through third-party endorsement, which ultimately leads to more sales and the ability to justify a price premium. A recent uSamp study determined 67 percent of consumers are more likely to purchase a ChefsBest award-winning product than one without the ChefsBest medallion on-pack. According to an A/B test, digital ads with the ChefsBest medallion on them experienced a 20 percent higher click-through rate than ads without the award present. The ChefsBest medallion is on millions of packages consumers place in their grocery carts.
Two of ChefsBest’s main awards include the Best Taste and Excellence Awards. When licensed, the Best Taste Award allows a product to claim it is the highest rated among leading brands, and the Excellence Award allows a product to claim it meets or surpasses quality standards established by independent, professional chefs.
For more information on Vitafusion and L’il Critters, visit gummyvites.com. For more information on ChefsBest, visit ChefsBest.com.
ABOUT VITAFUSION™ AND L’IL CRITTERS™
Vitafusion, the #1 Adult Gummy Vitamin Brand, has revolutionized the dietary supplement industry with five simple words: “We Make Nutrition Taste Good.™” Our introduction of a full range of delicious, gummy vitamins and supplements has provided consumers with an enjoyable and convenient alternative to traditional vitamin pills and tablets. Through our products, we deliver adult gummy vitamins to support healthy and active lifestyles. Latest additions to the portfolio include: Vitafusion™ Simply Good: A masterful fusion of the juice from delicious, crisp, Pacific Northwest pears and golden clover honey, balanced with essential nutrients—each vitamin is pure goodness. And with No High Fructose Corn Syrup, Gluten or Artificial Flavors. Vitafusion™ Everyday Energy: Contains nutrients to support energy production and alertness so you can confidently keep pace with your active life*. L’il Critters™ Fruit n’ Honey: A delicious gummy vitamin that is rooted in wholesomeness, nutrition, and a taste kids will love. Made with the golden goodness from honey bees, real pear juice and uses natural flavors—without any gluten, artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup or synthetic (FD&C) dyes.
ABOUT CHEFSBEST®
ChefsBest guides consumers to the best tasting foods in a category by identifying the best tasting and highest quality products through a rigorous proprietary sensory evaluation process. ChefsBest is headquartered in San Diego, Calif. and a Center for Taste in San Francisco, Calif. ChefsBest has completed more than 500 tastings for top national brands, bestowing its Best Taste and Excellence Awards on the highest quality products in the market. ChefsBest awards are a nationally recognized trust mark and are used by many national brands including Vitafusion, L’il Critters, Welch’s, Slimfast, Goya, and more. For more information, visit ChefsBest.com.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.