This accolade acknowledges the role that local bloggers play in South Africa's food industry. For most of them blogging is a labour of love undertaken in their spare time, yet thousands of consumers trust their favourite bloggers' opinions and follow their cooking and shopping advice.
"In order to recognise local bloggers that are doing their bit to uplift local produce and small producers, we decided to introduce a new category in this year's awards. We also hope to encourage more bloggers to support the little guys this way," explained Eat In editor Anelde Greeff.
After nominations were accepted from the public, the judges settled on 10 finalists for the blog award, as well as the winners of the other categories such as best new product, best small producer (in sub-categories like grocery, dairy and bakery) and best organic producer, among others. Appropriately, the blogger award is the only one determined by Eat In readers' votes. Members of the public can vote once each for their favourite blogger on Eat In.
The finalists are:
Betty Bake Blog
Browniegirl
Domestic goddesses
Drizzle and Dip
Food with a Story
Lavender and Lime
Live to Eat
My Easy Cooking
Sardines on Toast
Simply Delicious
All the winners of the 2012 Eat In DStv Food Network Produce Awards will be announced at the second annual Eat In market on Saturday 24 March 2012 at The Stellenbosch Slowmarket, Oude Libertas Estate, Oude Libertas Road, Stellenbosch.
