You see a product stamped with the Australian Food Awards seal and know that you are looking at premium Australian produce, but how do the AFA judges decide which products come out on top?
The judging of the Australian Food Awards (AFA) calls on Australia's most expert food palates.
AFA judges come from across the country to taste and assess more than 1,200 products from eight categories including Convenience Food, Dairy, Fresh Produce, Grans and Pulses, Meat, Pantry Goods, Poultry and Seafood.
In the first round of judging, the judges form panels and assess each product against a set of criteria. Each entry is assigned an anonymous tasting number and served to the judges 'blind' so that there can be no bias in the assessment.
Each product is scored out of 100 points based on taste, texture, aroma, appearance and scored to determine whether it is worthy of a gold, silver or bronze medal. The role of the judges is not to compare one product to another but to judge each on its own merits. The highest scoring product in each class is awarded a Best in Class medal.
The next stage brings together all of the Best in Class products which are for the first time judged against each other to determine the best in category which will be awarded a Champion Trophy.
Finally comes the ultimate title of Champion Australian Product/Produce. These products are already Best in Class and category winners, before they are submitted for a final round of judging in front of an esteemed group of judges.
With such scrutiny you can rest assured that when you take home an AFA medal-winning product, you can have confidence that it has been assessed by culinary masters and when you take that first bite, it's going to leave you hungry for more.