Two Sacramento-area producers win gold medals at the Good Food Awards — again
Pistachio oil and tinned sturgeon brought praise to the Sacramento region’s farm-to-fork food production at the 2025 Good Food Awards.
Woodland-based La Tourangelle and Tsar Nicoulai Caviar — based in Concord but operating its sturgeon farm in Wilton, east of Elk Grove — each won a Good Food Award at the foundation’s New York Mercantile event at the end of June.
The Good Food Foundation’s annual awards acknowledge businesses that make high-quality food while upholding sustainable and equitable practices across all aspects of production, including within the workplace.
This year, 55 products were named winners across 18 product categories, and for the first time, all entries already had a Good Food Award gold ribbon from prior years. In honor of the award’s 15th anniversary, the competition was open only to existing winners as a way to reflect on its decade-and-a-half of recognizing responsible producers.
Tsar Nicoulai’s applewood smoked sturgeon pate earned its second Good Food gold ribbon after winning in 2020, marking the caviar producer’s seventh overall Good Food Award. The pate is made with fish meat harvested to reduce leftover waste from caviar farming, according to the company’s website.
As one of the largest caviar companies in the U.S., Tsar Nicoulai pushes environmental sustainability in the industry, developing the country’s only eco-certified sturgeon farm with an in-house smokehouse and fish hatchery.
Between 2017 and 2020, Tsar Nicoulai won six Good Food Awards for its reserve caviar, smoked sturgeon and smoked salmon offerings.
Artisan oil business La Tourangelle won its fifth Good Food Award for its roasted pistachio oil, which was last acknowledged in 2015. The company’s roasted walnut and hazelnut oils earned the accolade in 2015, 2016 and 2020.
La Tourangelle mills a range of nut oils at its facility in northwest Woodland, powered by a solar farm producing 350 kilowatt-hours of electricity. According to its website, the company sources ingredients from global farmers and supports regenerative agriculture in Sutter County. It also upcycles undersized or blemished Peruvian avocados that are unsuitable for retail.
California producers won a total of 11 awards — chosen by members of the Good Food community as part of the 15th anniversary festivities — with products spread across the state from Eureka to Los Angeles. Grass Valley-based Local Culture Ferments won a medal for its carrot-cilantro-jalapeno sauerkraut.
According to the foundation’s website, the 2026 competition, which will begin accepting entries on Monday, is returning to its standard format featuring a blind tasting test with a panel of judges.
This story was originally published July 6, 2025 at 11:08 AM.
