We applied for Gift of the Year in early 2023 with the Gaucho BBQ Grill Apron. Being shortlisted in the BBQ and outdoor category mattered — not as validation we needed to believe in the product, but as external confirmation that the Gaucho competed at category level against established brands.
What the Process Involved
The submission process required a product sample for physical assessment, documentation of quality and manufacture, and evaluation of retail readiness — packaging, pricing, positioning, and how the product sat within the category. The judges were retail buyers and industry professionals, not enthusiasts. Their evaluation criteria are commercial, not personal.
Being shortlisted alongside brands with years of retail presence and established distribution told us that what we’d built could hold its own in a commercial context. That’s a different kind of confirmation from a customer review — it’s the market telling you the product is credible at scale, not just liked by the people who already found it.
What the Shortlist Opened
Press coverage from the shortlist announcement opened conversations with two stockists we hadn’t approached directly. Both had seen the Gaucho in the shortlist coverage. That introductory context — placed among category-level competition — removed the early conversation about whether the product was serious. It evidently was.
The shortlist also reinforced that our pricing and positioning were correct. A product priced too low or positioned incorrectly doesn’t make a shortlist in a category judged by retail professionals.
The Outcome
We didn’t win. Making the shortlist was the objective we’d set at the outset — being listed alongside the established category players was the benchmark we wanted to clear. We cleared it. The conversations it opened were worth more than the award.
