Companies from Jamesville, Rougemont and Elizabethtown were winners in the Product Awards Competition at the spring conference of the N.C. Specialty Foods Association.

Mackey’s Ferry of Jamesville won in the Pastry/Cookies/Cakes category for its Molasses Cookies. Fancy’s Candy’s of Rougemont won in the Confections/Candy/Chocolate category for its Sin in a Tin Milk Chocolate and Walnut Toffee. D’vine Foods of Elizabethtown was the winner in the Beverage category for its Muscadine Cider.

“We have a wonderful assortment of specialty foods companies here in North Carolina, and it’s great that we can take an opportunity to recognize their excellence,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “I’m proud of the work our North Carolina food companies do and the great products they represent.”

Twelve entries competed in the Pastry/Cookies/Cakes category, 10 competed in the Confections/Candy/Chocolate category, and eight competed in the Beverage category. Runners-up from each category, respectively, were Mediterranean Treats of Bakersville, Mackey’s Ferry and D’vine Foods. Products were judged by a panel of industry experts: Norma Miller, culinary instructor at Wake Technical Community College; cookbook author Foy Edelman; and Andrea Weigl, food writer for The News & Observer of Raleigh.

The NCSFA is a statewide organization of more than 60 manufacturing and retail companies involved in the production and marketing of a variety of specialty foods products. Elaine Fryar, of Fryar’s Sauce Co. in McLeansville, is president of the organization.

Tim Sperry of Wellesley, Mass., a nationally recognized specialty foods marketing specialist, was the keynote speaker at the conference, which took place at the N.C. State Fairgrounds. Sperry began his career in specialty foods with Wellspring Grocery in Chapel Hill. He was instrumental in the merger of Wellspring into the Whole Foods chain and the expansion of Whole Foods across the country and into London. He currently heads his own marketing and organizational consulting practice for the specialty foods trade.