New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball (third from right) and Cornell AgriTech Interim Director Olga Padilla-Zakour (second from right) present Westfield Maid Cooperative with a first-place prize.

The Westfield Maid Cooperative was one of two grand prize winners at the New York Concord Grape Innovation Awards.

The awards ceremony was held Friday, December 9, at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva.

The Portland-based company won first prize in the Best New Concord Grape Beverage category. They were awarded a $20,000 cash prize, along with a package of expert support from Cornell University valued at $8,000.

Westfield Maid Cooperative’s winning product was the “Good n’ Grapey” Concord grape juice pouch, a four-ounce shelf-stable pouch containing 100% New York Concord grape juice designed for use in school cafeterias.

In addition to the prize packages, winning products will also be featured at the nearly 70 Taste NY markets and 10 welcome centers across the state.

Westfield Maid Cooperative Sales and Strategy Director Andy Putnam said the company will use the prize money and free consulting services toward a rapid launch of their new Concord grape beverage product for “NYS farm to school markets.”

The idea for the competition was born out of the 2018 Concord Grape Summit, held at the Grape Discovery Center in Westfield, and was funded by the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets.

The Lake Erie region of New York and Pennsylvania is home to over 32,000 acres of vineyard, of which nearly 98% is planted to Concord – making it the largest grape growing region in the U.S. outside of California, and the largest Concord growing region in the world.

The summit was held to revitalize and expand the state’s concord grape industry.

Farmers, researchers, and industry leaders met with state officials to discuss industry growth challenges and explore new opportunities for Concord grape growers in New York.

Among those on hand was Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, state senator Cathy Young, and assemblyman Andy Goodell, who said that Chautauqua County concord grape production involves over $20 million in annual sales and is ranked 1st in New York State and 13th highest in the nation.

During the summit, several initiatives were announced to help strengthen the industry, including expanding research, investing in new product and new market development, and expanding marketing and promotional programs to encourage increased growth in this sector.