10 Product of the Year 2017 winners

By Special to MoneySense on March 22, 2017
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

New products that have pushed the boundaries of innovation

This is a sponsored post. Each year for three decades, Canadian consumers and a jury of industry experts look far and wide on store shelves to ask: Which new products pushed the innovation boundaries—including design, value, function and packaging—to successfully knock shoppers’ socks off? Winners are found this way: First, the Product of the Year Canada jury carefully selects the finalists—that is, products that meet or exceed innovation standards—which are then categorized and judged by an online survey, on behalf of Rogers Insights and conducted by TNS, of thousands of regular Canadian shoppers. Their feedback and opinions form each product’s Methodology Innovation Index Score (ISS), which accounts for and incorporates satisfaction, innovation, appeal and intent to purchase. This year, top product picks include gel nail polish you need not venture to the spa for, water that doubles as makeup remover and resealable disinfecting wipes to replace a cabinet full of spray cleaners. Shampoos were a big winner—including a dry shampoo “mist”, a dandruff shampoo with peppermint-flavoured “cooling symptom relief” and Garnier Whole Blends Honey packed with a hive-full of natural extracts—as were some tasty treats: Fontaine’s sugar-, fat-, lactose-, gluten-, and preservative-free sorbet made the list, as did Walmart’s new line of Kung Pau, Tikka Masala and Tandoori globally-inspired cooking sauces. View a selection of winning products in the gallery below.

Winning appliances

Of the 31 winners of the 2017 Product of the Year Canada award, 10 are appliances that innovate and modernize on the home front. But like all Product of the Year winners, a jury of industry experts first narrow down the year’s coolest gadgets to a short-list of finalists that excel at innovation, whether in design, function, value or even packaging. The judges’ picks then move on to the real test: a stamp of approval from consumers themselves, who were polled by the thousands by global market research company TNS on behalf of Rogers Insights. Feedback scores on satisfaction, innovation, appeal and intent to purchase are then crunched into each product’s Methodology Innovation Index Score (ISS). Cooling up your kitchen and laundry room this year are some cutting-edge appliances like the Hamilton Beach Blender, quiet enough to blend a morning smoothie while your partner snoozes; a convection oven that uses electromagnetic energy to keep perfect temperatures in separate baking compartments; and the KitchenAid Artisan Mini stand mixer—now 20% smaller and 25% lighter. Here are five more futuristic contraptions—and Product of the Year winners, of course—putting your old microwave to shame: Product of the Year is a program used under license by Rogers. Product of the Year is part of the Rogers Communications organization.