Innovation begins when someone is willing to challenge the familiar version of a category. Peta Warby's Gold recognition for Most Innovative Women of the Year at the 2026 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards celebrates the founder behind SANAME's different approach to collagen and functional food.
The brand's proposition is straightforward to understand, even when the development behind it is complex: bring multi-collagens into food and drink experiences that people genuinely want to enjoy. That includes the savoury world of bone broth, not only the formats conventionally associated with collagen.
The recognition
- Programme: The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards 2026
- Category: Most Innovative Women of the Year — Peta Warby
- Result: GOLD
- Recipient: Peta Warby
Changing the question customers are asked
A conventional product introduction might begin with 'Which powder do you take?' SANAME opens a broader conversation: what kind of food experience fits your day? A broth, a brew and an unflavoured ingredient offer different answers.
That shift is important because a product category can become defined by habit. When every choice looks and sounds similar, customers may feel they are comparing little more than pouch size and flavour. A founder-led alternative can make the category easier to see differently.
Peta's innovation recognition belongs to that leadership story. It is about the person bringing the ideas together and giving them a clear direction, not only the individual products that emerge from them.
A brand built to be understood as food
SANAME positions its range as functional food. That identity affects the way the brand speaks about use: drinks, broths and kitchen routines rather than one isolated consumption occasion.
The familiar emotional language is part of the introduction. A Hug in a Mug communicates a savoury experience before a customer encounters the more detailed formulation story. It makes the first conversation human without removing the information someone may want to examine afterwards.
For a woman-led specialist business, that combination of clarity and ambition is powerful. The founder does not have to choose between a serious product proposition and a warm, relatable brand.
Gold recognition within an innovation-focused programme
The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards focus on innovation, giving this achievement a relevant international business context. SANAME's other 2026 recognitions in the programme include health-care-industry and consumer-products innovation, so the founder's result sits alongside recognition for the organisation.
The connection matters. It allows Peta's leadership to be seen through the work the business is doing, rather than as a personal accolade disconnected from the products. A founder and a brand can strengthen one another's credibility when their stories remain aligned.
Turning recognition into the next stage of growth
SANAME's 88+ global recognitions in less than two years form a concentrated record of achievement. The next challenge is to use that visibility well: help more customers discover the range and give prospective partners a clear reason to begin a conversation.
For Peta, that means bringing the award story back to people. The aim is not to make a visitor study a trophy list. It is to introduce a distinctive Australian food business, explain what makes it different and make the right first product easy to find.
Discover the founder's story: Peta Warby’s founder story. Explore the SANAME® range or start a partnership conversation at SANAME® Trade.
Why feature a founder award alongside product awards?
Because the products have a direction and a person behind them. A founder award helps explain who is building the business and why its approach is distinctive. Product-specific awards then give customers more detail about the food itself.
About the awards programme
The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards focus on innovation. They provide a business-awards setting for SANAME's work across consumer products, health-related industries and entrepreneurship.
Sources and further reading
Related achievement: SANAME earns Gold for innovation in health care industries.
