Recognition trophies are awarded in five categories:
- Going Green – operations embracing the ideas that support sustainability or environmental responsibility in a Gold Standard fashion
- Focusing on the Guest – operations delivering Gold Standard outcomes to customer operationally, and keeping guests’ experience consistently at a level of excellence
- Food Democracy – operations ensuring customers can get Gold Standard food as they want it, anytime and anywhere
- Health and Wellness – operations addressing health and wellness, food allergies, or other dietary needs in a Gold Standard fashion
- Financial Wizardry – operations meeting the Gold Standard of financial performance
For The Goldies, Bennett Awards designed a simple but distinctive and unique custom award design that featured a “golden egg”. The eggs were produced in gold-plated pewter, and mounted on black marble base. The marble bases were engraved on two sides. One side features the logos of The Culinary Institute of America and FoodService Director, and the other side featured the name of the award.