Changes to 2025 Galliova Awards inspire SA’s food and health content creators

The Galliova Food and Health Writers’ Awards, sponsored by the Egg and Broiler Producers of the South African Poultry Association (SAPA), has announced changes to this year’s awards to include a broader scope of South Africa’s evolving media landscape and to streamline entry into the awards.

The biggest change is that some existing award categories have been revised and others now allow for social media influencers to enter alongside print and online media. This move aims to support and encourage young content creators to participate in the awards, as well as recognise social media influencers’ important contribution to the country’s media landscape. 

Another change is the inclusion of discretionary spot prizes. This is where judges can select entrants that stand out from the other entries, simply because their content was unusual or highly creative, and honour them accordingly.

In addition to these category amendments, the names of some of the categories have been revised to make it easier for entrants to understand the focus of the award category and what the judges aim to recognise through that award.

The biggest logistical adjustment to this year’s awards is how to enter. This process has been streamlined and simplified significantly, with entrants only having to submit one entry via an online platform on the South African Poultry Association website. Entries will then be assigned to the relevant award category by the judges based on the content.

A dedicated FAQ section can also be found on the SAPA website that details the criteria, categories and rules, which is much more user friendly and less confusing than a lengthy Ts & Cs page.

The Galliova Awards (Galli = Latin for chicken, ova = egg) are awarded annually to the best food and health media in South Africa. Works can be published in print magazines/newspapers, digital magazines/newspapers, online magazines/newspapers or on social media influencer pages. The media titles or pages represented must have credible followings.

Aziz Sulliman, Chairman SAPA, says the programme changes being implemented this year aim to ensure that the Galliova Awards remain relevant to local media.

‘The amendments ensure that the awards are as inclusive as possible to encourage more entrants and more up-and-coming content creators to enter. The inclusion of chicken and eggs in content pieces remains paramount, as the awards continue to recognise excellence in the promotion of local food culture and locally produced poultry products,’ he explains.

Sulliman adds that today’s media has to perform a multitude of tasks, which were handled by entire teams in previous years. This has given rise to the term “content creator” being used in the Galliova Awards.

‘In recent years, we’ve seen different degrees of “content creators” emerging – some focused on writing, others on styling, others on recipes and others still on a combination of all of these.  Fitting this new breed of food and health content creator into one box has become extremely difficult. The Galliova judges, however, can easily recognise where one content creator outshines the rest in specific categories, and that’s what they will be looking out for this year,’ he says.

For a full breakdown of the awards categories, prize money and judging criteria, please visit https://www.sapoultry.co.za/galliova-awards/.