A Bluffton eatery, the Juice Hive, was recently awarded two Good Food Awards from the Good Food Foundation for the fifth year in a row.
The Juice Hive’s winning submissions were Korean Pickled Elephant Garlic in the pickles category and Watermelon Rind Chutney in the pantry category. Leslie Rohland, the founder and owner of Bluffton-based businesses The Cottage Café and the Juice Hive said winning these awards is an honor.
“When you’re in this industry a long time like I’ve been, you don’t get a lot of the kudos, you don’t get a lot of the confirmation,” Rohland said. “So for me, that is confirmation that I’m on the right path, I’m good to be experimenting, these are good products. It’s confirming those things for me. I look forward to it every year.”
Rohland said her first submission to the Good Food Awards was five years ago after a friend suggested she submit her Lowcountry Kimchi. Rohland said the kimchi incorporated vegetables loved in the South and traditional Korean spices.
Her kimchi won that year, and since her first submission, Rohland has received 13 awards for the Juice Hive and The Cottage Café.
Rohland, who also founded a micro-roastery in Bluffton called the May River Roasters, said her success is due in part to the staff at her businesses.
“I have an excellent staff and management team. I couldn’t do it without my operations manager and the people that work for me. We’ve created a culture that people appreciate, especially now,” Rohland said.
The Good Food Awards is a national competition that “exists to celebrate, connect, empower and leverage the passionate and engaged, yet often overlooked, players in the food system.”
The Good Food Foundation was created in 2010 and at the time was known as Seedlings Projects. The competition began as a small event in San Francisco and grew over the years. This year the competition had more than 2,000 entries and just 244 entries were awarded the Good Food Award, according to the Good Food Foundation.
