Our Garlic Tempeh Chips Just Won Gold at Monde Selection 2026
Somebody in Brussels ate our garlic chips for a living
Monde Selection’s juries taste a limited number of products per day, across sessions that run over four months, specifically so the experts’ palates stay sharp. They assess each product on its own terms rather than ranking it against whatever else is on the table that day. Each judge scores independently, then the panel discusses and settles on a single result.
Our Garlic Tempeh Chips went through that process this year. They came out with a Gold Quality Award, granted by the Jury of the 65th World Selection 2026 of Food Products to Truly Gourmet Sdn Bhd.
What Gold actually means
Monde Selection doesn’t hand out a single trophy to one winner. It assesses each product against a fixed standard and awards a label based on where the averaged score lands:
- Nominee — 70% to 79%
- Gold — 80% to 89%
- Grand Gold — 90% to 100%
So Gold is not “best in category.” It means an independent panel of food professionals scored the product in the 80–89% band against international quality standards. We think that distinction is worth stating plainly rather than blurring it.
Six things the jury assessed
The evaluation form runs to as many as 25 parameters depending on the product type. They sit under six headings:
- Visual Aspect — presentation, colour, shape, size, structure, density
- Odour — the set of olfactory notes, complexity, harmony, intensity, off-notes
- Taste & Aromas — typicity, harmony, complexity, bitterness, sweetness, saltiness, acidity, umami
- Aftertaste — how long the taste persists, intensity of aromas, residual taste
- Texture & Mouthfeel — granularity, hardness, moisture, fracturability, chewiness
- Packaging — label information, protection of the product, materials, ease of use
The jury itself is made up of Michelin-starred chefs, members of the Mastercooks of Belgium, internationally recognised pastry and chocolate makers, university professors, chemical engineers and nutrition consultants.
That list matters for a product like ours. A tempeh chip is judged on packaging and label clarity as seriously as on flavour, and on how it breaks in the mouth as seriously as on how it smells.
Where the Garlic scored strongest
Our overall result was 83.2, and the single strongest parameter was Texture & Mouthfeel — the fracturability, the crispness, the way the chip actually breaks.
Which is the part we’d have chosen if we were allowed to choose. Garlic is an easy flavour to overdo and a hard one to balance, but texture is the thing a tempeh chip either has or doesn’t. A thin, properly fermented, properly fried tempeh chip snaps. That’s the whole point of the format, and it’s the parameter that carries the eating experience.
What this award does not say
Some housekeeping, because award language gets stretched in this industry and we’d rather not:
- This is a 2026 Gold for the Garlic flavour specifically. Our Sea Salt received its own Monde Selection Gold in 2025. Neither result transfers to the other six flavours in the range.
- Monde Selection is a quality assessment against defined criteria. It is not a consumer preference study, and it doesn’t say anything about how our chips perform against another brand’s.
- Different awarding bodies use different methods. Our Garlic also holds a Superior Taste 2026 result, assessed under a completely separate process by a different body. We report each one under its own methodology rather than merging them into one vague claim.
Try the flavour the jury scored
Garlic Tempeh Chips are gluten-free, vegan, suitable for vegetarians, cholesterol-free and a good source of fibre. Made with real ingredients, and manufactured in a FSSC:22000 FSMS certified facility. Halal by JAKIM.
If you’ve never tried tempeh in chip form, Garlic is a fair place to start. Aromatic without being aggressive, and it snaps the way the judges said it does.
Truly Gourmet. Indulge Without Guilt.