Following an intense global judging of 644 entries from 212 news media brands in 37 countries, Food For Mzansi walked away with no less than two prime placements in the 2021 Global Media Awards.
The winners were announced during a virtual ceremony co-anchored from New York in the United States and Kingston in Jamaica. Participants in the 84-year-old contest included newspapers, magazines, digital media, television and radio media brands.
Food For Mzansi’s native advertising campaign with Standard Bank was placed third best in the world. In this category, the Hindustan Times in India and Independent News and Media in Ireland was placed in the top two positions.
In their commendation, the judges said the Standard Bank campaign was a “very good template” for media organisations across the globe to follow. The publication maintained its editorial independence while providing relevant information to farmers.
Food For Mzansi co-founder Kobus Louwrens says, “The format that we pioneered in the 13-week Standard Bank campaign managed to strike a win-win balance between the needs of our client and that of our audience. We’re elated that it attracted so much international attention.
“The expertise that Standard Bank shared in video, podcast and other interviews provided invaluable information to farmers. Sharing this with our audience gave us the opportunity to maximise the potential reach of Food For Mzansi’s channels, including the website and social media, as well as the award-winning Farmers’ Inside Track newsletter and podcast.”
Also, Food For Mzansi received an honourable mention for its Farmer’s Inside Track podcast which is now officially the world’s top farmers’ news podcast. This category for was won by The Irish Times from Ireland.
Judges commended Food For Mzansi for its “innovative and flexible approach to a specific audience. The audio has a very nice sound while the brand creatively responded to listener demands and developed specific content for an underserved audience. The team did a powerful job of achieving multiple business goals at once.”
Keeping the listener in mind
Dawn Noemdoe, editor: audience and engagement at Food For Mzansi and podcast host, was completely taken aback by the announcement.
“How does one even put into words what it feels like to compete on a global stage and get an honourable mention! All I really hope for when producing the Farmer’s Inside Track podcast is that it would reach the listeners who needs it most.”
FOOD FOR MZANSI has a clear picture of the listener tunING into the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
Noemdoe says, “I imagine a farmer in a rural town listening to it, or a city dweller with a backyard farm. They’re hungry to get the latest news, info about how to grow their business and I truly hope that motivates them to keep on doing what they do best; to grow food to feed themselves and our nation.”
Africa’s top news brands
Meanwhile, Food For Mzansi journalist Duncan Masiwa, who is the co-host of Farmer’s Inside Track, says the awards inspire them to do even better.
“It’s really an honour being part of a podcast show providing South Africa’s food producers with a platform where they can access information aimed at advancing their growth.
“Although the many faces behind the Farmer’s Inside Track podcast put in a lot of time and work to produce an exciting episode every week, the show is nothing without its faithful listeners and guests. It’s really thanks to them that we are now the world’s leading farmers’ news podcast.”
Besides Food For Mzansi, the only other South African media brands who reached the final stage of the Global Media Awards were the Daily Maverick, News24, African News Agency and Independent Media.
Food For Mzansi was the only agricultural publication who was shortlisted for awards in the categories for national brands. Last year, the Farmer’s Inside Track podcast was also award in the African Digital Media Awards.
“We’re all a little teary-eyed,” said Food For Mzansi co-founder and editor-in-chief Ivor Price. “It certainly isn’t easy for a South African news start-up to compete on a global stage with big-name media brands, but somehow we did it. We are also quite honoured to be among the few African media brands recognised on this scale.
ALSO READ: ‘3 global media awards inspire Food For Mzansi to do better’
How to listen to Farmer’s Inside Track
Spotify: Click here to listen on Spotify (all mobile and other devices).
Apple Podcasts: Click here to listen on any Apple device.
Google Podcasts: Click here to listen on Google Podcasts.
Browser: Click “play” to listen right here.
