Credit: Food & Wine / ALDI
Key Points
The 2026 Product of the Year awards, voted on by 40,000 consumers, highlight innovative grocery items across multiple categories, from frozen entrées to wine and granola.
Aldi’s Elliot Cooper Chardonnay, priced at $9.65, earned the wine category’s top honor for its crisp, food-friendly flavor and outstanding value.
This year’s winners highlight key grocery trends, including protein-packed foods like Eggo Protein Waffles and convenient frozen options such as Butterball’s Cook From Frozen Whole Turkey.
No matter which grocery chain you shop at, stroll through its aisles and you’ll be faced with what seems like an endless array of options for almost every product you want to buy, from cereal to frozen pizza, chips, yogurt, granola, and more. In addition to the dozens of offerings you already recognize on supermarket shelves, every year brings more newcomers to each grocery category. So how are you supposed to know what to buy?
To help you decide which new items are worth adding to your cart, the 2026 Product of the Year award winners have arrived. As the largest consumer-voted product awards, Product of the Year polls 40,000 consumers to recognize recently launched items that showcase remarkable quality and innovation. The organization details on its website that the awards serve “as a shortcut for shoppers in the supermarket, saving them time and money.”
Each winner falls into a specific category, ranging from home cleaning to breakfast, frozen desserts, and cheese. Some of the top products earned their award for innovations such as an extra boost of protein, while others were recognized for the convenience they offer shoppers. One of the 2026 recipients stands out for its sourcing, flavor profile, and, above all else, incredible value.
How an Aldi bottle was named wine of the year
Credit: Food & Wine / ALDI
Picture a $10 bottle of wine, and something sweet, cloying, or low in alcohol (6% ABV) likely comes to mind. This year, Germany-based grocery chain Aldi, known for its affordability and private-label focus, wants to remind you that good wine doesn’t have to break the bank.
The store’s Elliot Cooper Chardonnay, priced at just $9.65, was named the winner of the wine category in the 2026 Product of the Year awards. Like its other groceries, Aldi’s wine is sold under a private label. The chain collaborates with suppliers worldwide to source and select wines that are only available on its shelves, placing its own label on these signature products. This means you will need to go to Aldi to try this Chardonnay, but luckily, the supermarket plans to open 180 new locations in the United States this year.
Its global supply chain and private-label strategy are crucial to Aldi’s ability to keep prices so low. This also means you’ll get wine produced by a real winery, not a grocery store, for a fraction of the price. As proof of the quality you’ll get for great value, Aldi was recently named the best discount supermarket for buying alcoholic beverages by the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC). The IWSC judges found that “at tasting, Aldi’s strength lay in its ability to deliver commercially astute wines at highly competitive prices.”
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Aldi’s certified wine specialist and director of national buying for adult beverages, Arlin Zajmi, tells Food & Wine that on the palate, this Chardonnay is “rich and beautifully balanced, offering bright fruit flavors layered with delectable brioche notes. Subtle hints of toasted almonds and spice add complexity, creating a smooth and well-rounded finish.”
Zajmi also notes that the wine was aged in French and American oak barrels, “which gives it subtle notes of toast, vanilla, and spice without overwhelming the fruit. It then undergoes malolactic fermentation to create a creamy mouthfeel and buttery richness.” Wondering what to pair it with? You can certainly enjoy a glass on its own, but this wine is food-friendly too. Zajmi suggests shellfish, salmon, chicken, linguini alfredo, aged cheeses, and roasted vegetables as options that would go well with a bottle.
The award-winning Chardonnay was produced in California, and Zajmi confirms it was made by the Napa Valley-based company Trinchero Family Estates. He details that “It’s a special wine because of the thoughtful sourcing from vineyards across multiple temperate coastal California regions. This helps the grapes develop ripe flavors while retaining acidity, creating a balance that gives the wine both brightness and depth.”
Fast Facts: Aldi’s Elliot Cooper Chardonnay
ABV: 13.5%
Price: $9.65
Production: Made by Trinchero Family Estates in California
Tasting Notes: This wine features bright fruit flavors and notes of brioche, in addition to hints of toasted almonds and spice. It has a smooth, well-rounded finish and a balance between acidity and depth.
What other items were named Products of the Year?
A total of 16 food, beverage, and kitchen products were among this year’s award winners. Aldi made an impressive showing, sweeping three categories. In addition to its wine win, the chain’s Ultra Filtered Milkshakes, with 30 grams of protein per serving, were named the best health and wellness product of 2026, and the store’s Simply Nature Granola Bites took the top prize in the granola category.
People who put off cooking until the last minute need to know about Butterball’s Cook From Frozen Whole Turkey, the winner among all frozen entrées. If you always forget to defrost your turkey for Thanksgiving, snag one of these pre-brined birds this year and just pop it in the oven on the big day without any thaw time. For an instant dessert that’s easy to keep on hand, pick up a box of Kinder Bueno Frozen Dessert Cones. This handheld treat turns the classic wafer candy into an ice cream cone with a hazelnut core.
Related: The Most and Least Expensive Supermarkets in the US, According to Consumer Reports
It’s clear that consumers are prioritizing protein when they head to the grocery store. Aldi’s protein-packed milkshakes are joined by macro-heavy winners in the breakfast and protein snack categories, including the Eggo Protein Waffles and Pancakes and the Tyson Chicken Cups.
From the center of your next Thanksgiving feast to late-night sweet treats, grab-and-go breakfasts, and a bottle of wine you’ll want to keep stocked, the Product of the Year award winners will help cover all your grocery bases as we keep shopping in 2026.
2026 Product of the Year Winners in Food and Drink
Breakfast: Eggo Protein Waffles and Pancakes
Cheese: Organic Valley American Cheese Blocks
Frozen Dessert: Kinder Bueno Cone
Frozen Entrée: Butterball Cook From Frozen Premium Whole Turkey
Granola: Aldi Simply Nature Granola Bites
Health and Wellness: Aldi Ultra Filtered Milkshakes
Healthy Beverage: Clearly Canadian Originals, Sunset Orange (Glass Bottle)
Hydration: Jumex Hydrolit +Advance
Kitchen Essentials: Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Cooking Bags
Meal Ingredient: Knorr Premium Flavor Bases
Plant-Based: Organic Valley Oat Beverage
Protein Snack: Tyson Chicken Cups
Rice: Ben’s Original Single-Serve Rice Cups
Spreadable Cheese: Rondelé by Président, Garlic and Herb
Wine: Aldi Elliot Cooper Chardonnay
Zero-Sugar Beverage: Clearly Canadian Zero Sugar (6-Pack Cans)
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