Honoring 34 of the country's top consumer goods and recognizing their efforts in offering innovative products, 'Product of the Year' (POY) hosted its 5^th annual awards ceremony at Music Hall on Wednesday March 25^th. The event was attended by hundreds of guests, prominent business people, as well as media partners.

This year's winners, divided into 34 main categories, originated from a wide range of groups including Consumer Packaged Goods, with an emphasis on Food and Beverage, Health and Beauty, Personal Care and  Household Products, to name a few.  Future categories can also be added to the list, based on innovation or new offerings in the market.

A representative panel of 1200 Lebanese consumers voted for the products based on a nationwide representative survey that was commissioned to Ipsos, the number one research company in MENA and third around the world. The research experts conducted face-to-face surveys with consumers tackling areas such as product innovation, usage, attractiveness, satisfaction and purchase intent.  These surveys are dealt with to derive comprehensive and transparent results, reflecting the most accurate consumer preferences.

"At Ipsos, we work with clients from different industries, to gauge consumer insights and aid them in tailoring their marketing and brand strategies to achieve more effective results," commented Janine Nassar, Research Director at Ipsos.

Commenting on the occasion, Dory Kfoury, CEO of 'Product of the Year', Middle East and North Africa stated that, "it is always exciting to be a part of something that will allow these well-deserved brands to feel exceptional, as well as offering an added value to their overall brand image.  Let us not forget that POY is celebrating their 5 year anniversary this year and has well-established itself in the market."

Kfoury went on to say that "despite the current political and economical situation in the country and the region as a whole, brands are still focusing on ensuring that they are innovative and realizing that this innovation does not happen by chance but rather by taking action."

The 'Product of the Year' stamp allows a consumer to easily identify the country's top innovative products and inevitably increases product sales by approximately 10 to 15 %.  Furthermore, past winners have noted positive changes in consumer behavior, as well as increasing brand awareness on their respective brands.

The award lineup and winners for 2015 are as follows: