Every year, R&FF solicits entries from cold foods processors and manufacturers for their best and brightest new products.

After two months of online voting this spring, the top three were crowned. Our overall winner – Good Foods Group – also is featured on an upcoming episode of the From the Cold Corner podcast.

R&FF spoke with each of the winning companies about how their products and packaging fit into a crowded refrigerated and frozen foods marketplace and what being voted a Best New Retail Product means to them. These interviews have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Congratulations on placing first in our 2025 Best New Retail Products Contest! Tell us about the R&D process and how: Good Foods Group Dairy Free Nacho Cheeze Dip is made?

Thank you! We’re incredibly proud of our R&D team at Good Foods for how they used consumer trends to identify flavors that consumers love and turned them into standout products using real ingredients that can be broadly enjoyed. Our R&D team is best in class at delivering on flavor and truly brought this dip to life without the heaviness of traditional dairy. To strike the right balance between flavor and texture that consumers crave with a dairy-free formula, our R&D team harnessed the power of plants — including cauliflower — to test and make this creamy ballpark nacho cheese style dip.

What innovative features does Good Foods Group Dairy Free Nacho Cheeze Dip have that helped it finish first?

Our R&D team has helped Good Foods push the boundaries of what’s possible in the refrigerated dips category. Our Dairy Free Nacho Cheeze Dip is designed for flavor enthusiasts that’s safe for more to enjoy — it’s made with real ingredients and just 50 calories per serving, while also being free from dairy and suitable for a variety of dietary needs. In addition, our team’s unique formula for this offering uses real ingredients that retain freshness and maximizes flavor without the need for artificial preservatives using our High Pressure Processing (HPP) technology.

How does the packaging design promote and protect the food?

Nacho Cheeze dairy free dip is available in 8-ounce and 24-ounce cups and made using high pressure processing technology for ultimate flavor, freshness and food safety.

How does Good Foods Group incorporate sustainability into its production process?

Good Foods is committed to reducing our environmental impact and supporting sustainability in our operations. We are taking actions to achieve that commitment such as reducing overall landfill waste, promoting eco-friendly transportation solutions, and reducing our overall carbon footprint.

What type of distribution model does Good Foods Group use? Does Good Foods Group have a direct-to-consumer/e-commerce strategy?

We support customer pick-ups, shipments direct to physical and digital retail partners and distribution centers. We do not have an active direct-to-consumer or e-commerce strategy at this time. To find Good Foods products available near you, check out our store locator.

Where can Good Foods Group products be purchased? (list approximate # of storefronts and major retailers/regions)

Good Foods guacamoles, salsas and dips are available at more than 9,000 stores nationwide. We are in national retailers like Kroger, Target and select Costco regions including the Midwest, Southeast, Northeast, Los Angeles and Canada as well as also available in major regional grocers like Publix, Sprouts and Food Lion.

What is on the horizon for Good Foods Group?

At Good Foods, we’ve always been focused on doing things the right way — with real ingredients, real flavor and real joy. That commitment is driving us into our next chapter, as we continue connecting with consumers in meaningful ways to create products that help them bring more good to more shareworthy moments. There’s more exciting news to come this year, so stay tuned for what’s next from Good Foods!

Congratulations on placing second in our 2025 Best New Retail Products Contest! Tell us about the R&D process and how New York Bakery Gluten Free Texas Toast is made?

This product is the result of more than a decade of dedicated research and innovation. Our team set out to solve a key challenge in the gluten-free space: how to deliver the signature chew and texture of traditional bakery-style bread without any gluten. Most gluten-free breads use batter-based formulations that don't rise or bake like classic bread. Our R&D team pioneered a patent-pending dough-based formula that proofs and rises like conventional dough, delivering a crisp exterior and soft, chewy interior.

The bread is produced in a dedicated gluten-free facility, ensuring safety and quality. Each slice is topped with our signature garlic or five-cheese seasoning. It's a carefully choreographed blend of science, culinary craft and passion.

What innovative features does New York Bakery Gluten Free Texas Toast have that helped it finish second?

There are three standout innovations.

Patent-pending dough technology: Unlike most gluten-free products, our bread is made with a dough—not a batter—that rises and bakes like traditional bread and achieves a texture that consumers say they can’t believe is gluten-free.

Dedicated gluten-free facility: The entire product is made in a facility built to eliminate cross-contamination concerns, providing peace of mind to those with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.

Mass accessibility: We’ve distributed this product to be widely available so it's easy for any shopper to find and enjoy.

How does the packaging design promote and protect the food?

Our packaging was designed with two key goals in mind: protection and clear communication. Each carton securely holds six slices of toast, preventing breakage or freezer burn. The interior packaging is designed to maintain freshness while minimizing excess material, using recyclable materials where possible.

Visually, the design clearly communicates the Gluten Free callout, flavor (Garlic or Five Cheese) and New York Bakery’s signature brand cues, ensuring consumers can instantly recognize the product in freezers and understand its benefits at a glance.

How does New York Bakery incorporate sustainability into its production process?

Sustainability is embedded in both our product design and manufacturing approach. Our packaging uses recyclable materials where possible and is optimized for reduced waste. Our production facilities follow rigorous efficiency standards, minimizing water and energy usage.

What type of distribution model does New York Bakery use? Does New York Bakery have a direct-to-consumer/e-commerce strategy?

New York Bakery operates with a traditional retail distribution model, partnering with top national grocery chains to ensure widespread accessibility in the frozen aisle.

While our core focus remains in-store, we're also available through e-commerce platforms like Instacart, particularly as demand for frozen bread products online continues to rise.

Where can New York Bakery products be purchased? (list approximate # of storefronts and major retailers/regions)

Our products can be found in over 12,000 storefronts nationwide, including major retailers like Kroger, Walmart, Safeway, Meijer and Publix, to name a few. Our Gluten Free Texas Toast is merchandised in the frozen bread aisle alongside our classic Texas Toast, reinforcing that gluten-free shouldn’t mean less convenient or less delicious.

We've seen strong demand across all U.S. regions and are actively expanding into more chains and markets.

What is on the horizon for New York Bakery?

This launch marks an exciting new chapter for the brand and we’re continuing to explore new gluten-free flavors and formats that offer the same comfort, convenience and quality consumers expect from New York Bakery—whether gluten-free or not.

Our mission remains the same: to bring people together around delicious, satisfying bread that’s accessible to all. Innovation is at the heart of that, and we can’t wait to share what’s coming next.

The fact that all of our products are fresh and require refrigeration is what sets Greenridge apart in the meat snacking space. Our ingredients are high-quality, from the spices we source to the grass-fed beef, and we take pride in our production process. We never use liquid smoke – all of our products are hardwood smoked with natural wood chips which come through in the flavor of the sticks.

How does the packaging design promote and protect the food?

Our Grass-Fed Refrigerated Beef Sticks are individually vacuum-sealed to retain freshness and prevent exposure to oxygen, which maintains flavor and extends the shelf life without the use of artificial preservatives. We designed the label to ensure transparency and clear messaging to our customers regarding nutritional and ingredient information and the easy one-ounce size makes for a sleek grab-and-go design convenient for busy lifestyles.

How does Greenridge Naturals incorporate sustainability into its production process?

All of our production is done from start to finish, including packaging and shipping. Over the years, our production teams have been able to fine-tune and optimize our manufacturing process so there is very little waste, in both food and packaging. We have a production schedule that is a well-oiled machine, allowing us to minimize waste and focus on sustainability.

What type of distribution model does Greenridge Naturals use? Does Greenridge Naturals have a direct-to-consumer/e-commerce strategy?

We employ a multi-faceted distribution model. We leverage the logistics expertise of our sister company, a shipping brokerage that has a fleet of refrigerated trucks to deliver our product to both local and national markets. We also offer an e-commerce platform on our website, where customers can purchase our snack sticks, as well as our sausages and larger format sticks, which we ship weekly.

Where can Greenridge Naturals products be purchased? (list approximate # of storefronts and major retailers/regions)

You can find Greenridge at over 10,000 stores, including local grocers, c-stores, independent markets, and restaurants throughout the Midwest, Southeast, Pacific Northwest, and West Coast. Our top retailers include Costco, CVS, and various c-stores throughout the country.

What is on the horizon for Greenridge Naturals?

In addition to expanding the distribution of our refrigerated snack sticks, we are in the process of bringing to market our grass-fed shelf-stable snack sticks. The product introduction will feature unique branding and allow Greenridge to make a bigger splash across shelves nationwide. They will have the same clean-label and natural ingredients as our refrigerated meat sticks, with the bonus of a longer shelf life.

We are also preparing to launch our pre-sliced deli meats. We’ve been building a slicing facility and smokehouse as part of our manufacturing expansion, adding over 100,000 square feet to our current production spaces. We have plenty of plans in the works and are excited to bring customers more high-quality, Greenridge products across snacking, deli and beyond.

Congratulations on placing third in our 2025 Best New Retail Products Contest! Tell us about the R&D process and how Greenridge Naturals Grass-Fed Beef Refrigerated Snack Sticks are made?

For over seven years, our Original Beef Sticks have been a fan favorite, available nationally at Costco. It was a no-brainer to expand upon this top-seller, making it a one-ounce snack stick that is easy for on-the-go snacking. The meat snack category has seen huge growth in the last year and it made sense to adopt that with our current beef sticks.

With health-conscious snacking in such high demand, and consumers wanting transparency in where their food comes from, we opted to upgrade by using grass-fed beef and have remained committed to clean-label products, with no msg, soy, gluten, or artificial flavors or colors in all of our snack sticks.

What innovative features does Greenridge Naturals Grass-Fed Beef Refrigerated Snack Sticks have that helped it finish in the top three?