Pizza Fusion Co-Founder Selects OTA's 2009 New Product Winners

Vaughan Lazar, president and co-founder of Pizza Fusion, judges the Organic Trade Association's 2009 New Product Competition; chooses winners at All Things Organic 2009

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (PRWEB) June 27, 2009 -- Vaughan Lazar, president and co-founder of Pizza Fusion (http://www.pizzafusion.com), recently returned from Chicago where he partook in the 2009 All Things Organic tradeshow, hosted by the Organic Trade Association (OTA). At the show, Vaughan was part of a distinguished panel of food professionals who gathered on site to judge the selected finalists for the OTA's 2009 New Organic Product Competition and choose the winners. Vaughan sat alongside Scott P. Silverman, category director (Natural & Organic) at Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. and Steve Schoultz, director contract manufacturing at Sara Lee Corporation on the panel.

"Getting to evaluate all the new products firsthand was a lot of fun", Lazar explains. "There really were a lot of interesting products making the judging process that much more difficult. However, in the end, Bethel Organics Inc. Real Organic Real Easy Seed Starting Kit seemed to stand out from the rest."

Products were rated on a point system where the products with the highest ratings placed ranked in overall. The 2009 winners were: The Organic Smokehouse's Elderflower Cured Gravadlax (Best Overall Organic Retail), Cloud Top Organic Functional Frozen Yogurt (Best Overall Organic Foodservice), SK Food International's Crimson Red Corn (Best Overall Organic Ingredient) and Bethel Organics Inc. Real Organic Real Easy Seed Starting Kit (Best Overall Organic Non-Food). One New Organic Product Grand Award was given to Bethel Organics Inc. Real Organic Real Easy Seed Starting Kit with an overall score of 296 points out of a possible 300.

About The All Things Organic™ Conference & Trade Show

The All Things Organic™ Conference & Trade Show takes place alongside the Organic Trade Association's Annual Meeting and Member Days, Expo Comida Latina and All Asia Food, and features a Health & Wellness Education Program, Health & Wellness Pavilion and Specialty Pavilion.

About Pizza Fusion

Founded in the best interest of the individual and the environment, Pizza Fusion combines a fresh, organic menu with an industry-leading environmental approach to restaurant service in chic dining destinations built to LEED certification standards. Pizza Fusion specializes in gourmet pizza, focaccia sandwiches, salads, and desserts, all in its purest form - untainted by artificial additives, such as pesticides, preservatives, antibiotics and hormones. With numerous franchises opening across the U.S., Pizza Fusion is well on its way to 'saving the earth, one pizza at a time.' For additional information, visit http://www.pizzafusion.com.

For editorial inquires, contact:

Eric Haley

Vice President of Communications

Pizza Fusion

2200 West Cypress Creek Rd., First Floor

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309

Office: (954) 449-7244

Fax: (954) 449-4957

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