Roiboo’s red espresso, Royco’s pour over sauce and Woolworth’s baby foods won top awards at the first International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) global food industry awards at a ceremony held in China.

IUFoST is a scientific organisation representing 200 000 food scientists and technologists, as well as national food service organisations worldwide.

Red espresso, South Africa’s unique Rooibos based espresso beverage, was nominated by SAAFoST (South African Association for Food Scientists and Technologists) for its technical innovation of turning traditional Rooibos tea into the world’s first tea espresso.

“Rooibos is a uniquely South African product and red espresso has added a truly original twist to the traditional beverage – and they’ve realised it on home soil" said SAAFoST President, Rose Maguire.

Carl Pretorius invented red expresso in his Paarl kitchen three years ago.

Royco’s pour over sauce won in the Packaging category and Woolworth’s baby foods in the category of communicating science-related knowledge with the consumer.