Asked about her daughter Madeline Romo's recent selection as a member the Retailer Network Council of the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, Karen Keegan's excitement is still palpable.

"It's a really big deal," says Keegan, the elder half of the mother-daughter team that runs Savor the Flavor in Sierra Madre. "I nearly dropped the phone when I got the call and heard the news!"

Romo is one of seven new members asked to serve in the role guiding and mentoring the proprietors of other specialty food retailers across the country. The Retailer Network Council organizes programs, services and networking opportunities to help specialty and natural food retailers track consumer trends, adjust to new developments and continue to grow their businesses.

And the Association will be served well by the addition of Romo, who has been operating Savor the Flavor with her mother since they opened the store in 1998. Romo says that she and her mother have been attending the "fancy food shows" every year, from New York to Chicago and San Francisco. It's at these shows that the pair stays on top of the latest specialty food trends by sampled all the winning foods from all the chefs, restaurateurs and retailers that belong to the NASFT.

With Romo's new position comes great new responsibility. This year, She was chosen to be 1 of 9 food industry experts to judge entries to the association's annual competition called SOFI, or Specialty Outstanding Food Innovation.

"Our daunting job was to choose finalists in each category," said Romo of the three-day event in which she considered entries alongside judges from prestigious restaurants, gourmet food buyers, culinary professionals and food journalists from outlets such as Oprah's O Magazine.

In just two days of competition, Romo and the other 8 judges tasted and evaluated 1,122 different food products from eleven categories. Gift foods, jams and butters, vinegars, cheeses, crackers, oils and cookies were among the entries that were prepared by professional chefs for judging.

Romo remembers one of her favorite foods of the first day was sweet potato butter, which she called "the most memorable, indulgent product I tasted during the whole experience".

Now that the winners have been chosen, Romo and Keegan have sifted through the entries and chosen a number of the foods to sell through their Sierra Madre store. Many of the winners selected by the judges are available to sample and buy at Savor the Flavor, located at 11 Kersting Court in Sierra Madre. Specialty food and holiday shoppers can check out the creations both in the store and on the Savor the Flavor website.

"Most of these foods can't be found in mass market stores." That's why the SOFI awards as "critical to our business," says Romo.