Judging the Food & Home Awards 2026
Meet the 2026 Judging Panel
I had the privilege of serving on the panel for the 2024 Food & Home Awards, and when the team reached out again this year, saying yes was an easy decision.
It is both a privilege and a responsibility to be a judge. On the one hand, it provides me with the opportunity to taste products from South Africa's top brands, but on the other hand it comes with the realisation that there are people behind every entry. Behind every brand is a dream, and there are people who have invested an enormous amounts of time, energy and belief in what they produce.
The Food & Home awards give South African brands meaningful recognition and help consumers discover products that may otherwise never find their way into their kitchens. By being a Food & Home judge I can hopefully help these exceptional South African products receive the attention they deserve.
What are the Food&Home Awards?
Various brands enter their products and the judges test and give their verdict of the cream of the crop among the various categories. Products are scored based on taste and appearance.
What products are part of the Food&Home Awards?
The products are delivered to the judges' homes and they are asked to try each product over about two months. The number of products that are entered definitely requires a bit of time! Winners and runners-up will be featured in the Summer print issue.
Who are the Food&Home Awards Judges in 2026?
We recently wrapped up the official PR photoshoot, which gave me a chance to connect with this year's panel. It is about time I introduce them to you, and show you some behind-the-scenes footage:
Zola Nene
I first crossed paths with Zola back when I was one of twenty hopefuls competing for the million rand prize on MasterChef South Africa. Sitting on the other side of the pass as a contestant while she judged my dishes was nerve-wracking, so sharing a judging table with her now feels like coming full circle. Zola is a revered cook, a charismatic media personality, and a trusted voice to her 219k Instagram followers. Her instinct for flavour profile balance is admirable and it is no surprise that her cookbooks sell like hotcakes.
Georgia East
Known to her 15.3k Instagram followers as East Afternoon, Georgia is a writer, cook, food stylist, and author of the cookbook Westcoast Wander. She brings a deep understanding of local coastal produce, storytelling through ingredients, and visual presentation.
Carey Erasmus
Operating under the handle Bits of Carey for her Instagram audience, Carey works full-time in commercial and editorial food styling. As a recipe creator and stylist, her eye for presentation and product execution ensures that every detail of a brand's delivery is thoroughly scrutinised.
Lila Lerie
Lila Lerie reaches 250k followers on Instagram through her channel, the big tasty bite. She brings a keen pulse on contemporary food trends and an energetic approach to evaluating how products resonate with home cooks today.
Shawn Godfrey Photo credit: Gareth van Nelson
Shawn Godfrey
And then there was me! Shawn Godfrey - serial entrepreneur and CEO of LED Lighting SA. When the pandemic meant my businesses were in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep me sane. To keep track of my recipes,I started my instagram account The Roasted Dad. My claim-to-fame however, is when I entered MasterChef South Africa on a whim. It was a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when I got selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, I decided to go all in and low-and-behold, the competition ended five gruelling weeks later with me winning the trophy.
What happened after that, you can read in the blog post that I wrote a year after winning MasterChef, but the truth is - it’s still happening - see the events page or the blog posts and join me on the wild rollercoaster ride that has now led me to being a judge alongside these South African foodies in the Food&Home Annual Awards.
How the Food & Home awards work
Over the last few months, dozens of packages arrived. After being a Food & Home judge in 2024, I had learned how tricky it is to keep track of what we received, so we kept a cupboard dedicated to the Food & Home deliveries. Each time we taste tested something, I took a photo of the packaging and sent my rating and comments on a WhatsApp channel my wife and I had set up. At the end of it all,it was fine for the arduous task of copying all scores across.
Evaluating dozens of products requires structure so that every entry gets a fair trial. Each product receives a score based on three weighted criteria using a strict 5-point rating scale.
The Weighted Criteria
Taste (50%): Flavour and overall enjoyment carry the largest weight. If a product fails on taste, no amount of clever branding or sleek packaging can rescue it.
Innovation & Uniqueness (25%): Is the product genuinely creative? We look for items that bring something fresh to the market, elevate a familiar classic, or showcase an inventive technique or ingredient.
Quality & Ingredients (25%): We evaluate ingredient sourcing (such as free-range, organic, or artisanal credentials) alongside the overall craftsmanship of the final product.
There is a 5-point rating xcale, and the final score is calculated using the following formula: (Taste Score × 0.5) + (Innovation Score × 0.25) + (Quality Score × 0.25) = weighted final score.
While I can’t say anything (yet) about the nominated and winning products, what I can say is how impressed I was by how confident and polished so many of the products were. There was real innovation, but it generally wasn’t innovation for the sake of being different. Producers are finding new ways to work with familiar flavours while still maintaining a strong sense of South African identity.
It was also encouraging to see smaller producers competing comfortably alongside established brands. The quality, thought and professionalism behind many of the entries show just how much talent and entrepreneurial energy there is in our local food industry.
Stay tuned to see which South African brands earn top honours in the Food & Home magazine's upcoming issue.
The 2024 Food & Home Awards judges
Read up about the 2024 Food & Home awards.
2024 Food & Home awards judges Lufuno Sinthumule, Bianca Muller, Dominique Fuchs, Jezza-Rae Larsen, Shawn Godfrey and Thilivhali Mash Mugwena
Photo credit: Gareth van Nelson
About Shawn Godfrey
Photo credit: Niki M Photography
Shawn Godfrey is an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw his business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep him sane. To keep track of his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join him, he starts his instagram account The Roasted Dad.
Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim Shawn (encouraged by his wife Lianne) enters MasterChef South Africa. It is a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when Shawn gets selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, he decides to go all in. Leaving his 7-month-pregnant wife to look after their then three and one-year-old children, he battles it out and comes back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in his pocket.
It all started with an Instagram account, but The Roasted Dad is so much more now. Shawn has stayed his entrepreneurial self and whilst he hosts Private Dinner Parties and Cook-with-Me Demos, does Restaurant Take-Overs, he still runs the lighting company and several other businesses.
On his blog, Shawn shares Restaurant Reviews and Accommodation Reviews, and gives an insight into the wild and wonderful life he leads together with his wife Lianne, and their three children Aiden (8), Olivia (6) and Harvey (4).
Sign up to the newsletter above to be kept up to date with events, new recipes and reviews, or contact Shawn to chat about recipe creation, restaurant takeovers and public speaking events.
