Summer Fancy Food Show: Day 3
The third day of the SFA Summer Fancy Food Show saw less foot traffic than Day 2, but many exhibitors were excited about the contacts they made the previous day. Somehow, I thought it was going to be a slower-paced day for me, but I still didn’t get to visit some booths I’d wanted to see.
Nancy Wekselbaum, aka The Gracious Gourmet, and I keep crossing paths! I interviewed her by phone last year for an article on Hatch chiles. Then at the Winter Fancy Food show, which she was attending but not exhibiting, she happened to sit at the table I was at between booth visits.
This time, I was invited to a scrumptious five-course seafood dinner and olive oil tasting sponsored by Onsuri and who should be seated next to me but Nancy! The next day, I stopped by her booth and finally got to taste a variety of her products. I love pesto, so there was no arm-twisting to get me to try her Roasted Tomato Pesto and Lemon Artichoke Pesto – I could eat a whole jar of those. The Strawberry Black Pepper Jam was outrageously good. She’s got a new Hatch product that’s delicious, too, White Balsamic Hatch Chile Jelly.
I was impressed with Yoele’s new chips, made with the ancient West African grain fonio. The gluten-free chips have the texture of tortilla chips, but not as crumbly. When I got home, I made nachos with them – yum! Fonio is a tiny grain and grown using regenerative farming. Yoele is planning to have more fonio products on the market.
Sweet Logic showed off its Mug Muffins and cake and brownie mixes. They’re keto friendly and just right for those of us who just need a quick, sweet snack. I’m told the Ultimate Carrot Mug Cake mix tastes just like carrot cake. I brought a packet home to test that theory (haven’t made it yet).
I met John Arnold and his family, who create small batch craft nut butter in Vermont as Mixed Up Nut Butter. I can’t say enough good things about the Mud Season nut butter, crunchy cacao nib and coffee with late-season maple sugar and vanilla bean. I also liked Maple Creemee with Vermont maple, cashew, pecan and vanilla bean. I learned that creemee is a rich, soft-serve ice cream, famous throughout Vermont. They had a large poster pairing nut butters with wines – these are my kind of people.
While we’re talking sweets, I got to chat with Eileen Gannon, founder and CEO of Sunday Night Foods. All of the premium dessert sauces were delicious and Eileen says they’re much more versatile than adorning ice cream. If you add powdered sugar, they can make frosting and with vodka and cream, chocolate martinis.
David Little promised me a chocolate food fight at this booth for Immunity Goodness, which didn’t happen, though he gave me handfuls of infused chocolates to take home with me. (I should have taken more Immunity Chocolates – Belgian Milk Salted Caramel Apple Chocolate bites with Vitamin C, zinc, elderberry extract and tetrahydrocurcumin from turmeric – with me because apparently, I brought a cold home.)
We’ll have a roundup of the Summer Fancy Food Show in the August issue of Gourmet News. Subscribe now so you don’t miss anything!
SFA Honors Gourmet News as Lifelong Member
2022 marks the first in-person Summer Fancy Food Show since the pandemic as well as the association’s 70th anniversary. SFA honored four lifelong members, including Gourmet News, in its award ceremony June 12.
“Founded in 1952, the SFA (formerly known as the National Association for Specialty Food Trade, represents members involved in the specialty food trade, according to the association.
Gourmet News Publisher Kimberly Oser accepted the honor after the first day of the Summer Fancy Food Show.
Other lifelong members honored were Chipurnoi Inc., Liberty Richter and Roland Foods, LLC.
The 100 sofi Award winners were announced in May, though the top two honors, Product of the Year and New Product of the Year were announced last night.
Sterling Caviar‘s Royal Grade White Sturgeon Caviar was named Product of the Year and Tait Farm Foods‘ The Original Shrub – Lime Mint was declared New Product of the Year.
Leadership Awards were given to Kathrine Gregory of The Entrepreneur Incubator Space LLC won the Business Leadership Award, Joe Hanni of PS Seasoning won the Citizenship Award and Tom Simmons of the Supplant Company won the Vision Award.
Since the Summer show wasn’t held last year, 2021 Hall of Fame inductees were honored: Becky Renfro Borbolla of Renfro Foods, Inc.; Sandra Jackson Ford of Ford’s Foods, Inc.; Lorenza Pasetti of Volpi Foods; Donato Cinelli of Universal Marketing SRI; Lou Foah of Foah International LLC, and Greg Hinson of O Olive Oil & Vinegar.
2022 Hall of Fame inductees honored were Marygrace Sexton of Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company; Pierluigi Sini of Forever Cheese; Ted Dennard of Savannah Be Company, Inc.; Caryl Levine and Ken Lee of Lotus Foods; and Dariuish Soofer and Jamshid Soofer of Sadaf Foods.
Lifetime Award winners for 2021 honored were Trish Pohanka of WaterBox LLC and Sotiris Kitrilakis of Big Picture Foods.
Lifetime Award winners for 2022 honored were G. Michael Grazier of Busseto Foods and Rex Howell-Smith of Central Market – Texas.
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2022 Summer Fancy Food Show, Day 1
The Specialty Food Assoociation’s Summer Fancy Food Show opened on Sunday, June 12, with many expressing how happy they were being back to the show in person. Here are some snippets from today’s floor:
SNAX showed up with its variety of Cookie Pops (I’m munching on the newest flavor, Nutter Butter, as I write this). It all started with a Butterfinger/popcorn combo and grew from there. I’m saving my bag of Butterfinger popcorn for the plane ride home. The packaging includes the logo of the Ryan Seacrest Foundation (soon there’s be a QR code) and there are several flavors especially made for the foundation and SNAX to give to kids who learn about broadcasting and new media in the Seacrest Studios set up in pediatric hospitals. SNAX donates to the foundation and encourages individuals to donate, too.
The snacking company also has gluten-free Penne Straws, made from lentils and white beans, in various flavors such as Marinara, Cinnamon Churro and Mac ‘n Cheese.
I stopped by O’Food‘s booth with its first frozen food offering, Mandu, Korean dumplings, and Jongga products. Jongga makes the most popular packaged kimchi in Korea and is breaking into U.S. distribution. They were serving up Kimchi Grilled Cheese Sandwhich. It was maybe a bit early in the day to be eating kimchi, but it’s delicious.
Keep an eye out for De Nigris‘ newest import, which ironically is its IGP certified Balsalmic Vinegar of Modena, honoring a strict tradition of quality balsamic.
I was honored to meet Julie Smolyansky, CEO of Lifeway Foods, and her daughter (and CEO in training) Misha. Julie has an extraordinary story of fleeing the Soviet Union (in what is now Ukraine) with her parents, going through Rome before landing in Chicago with little money, no home and speaking no English. With the help of refugee settlement groups, the family eventually settled into American life. Her mother began importing Slavic foods (and Nutella!) when she realized there were few homeland foods here. It was her father who realized that American had everything but kefir. He built a plant while Julie’s mom imported the kefir used to create Lifeway. I tasted the strawberry Lifeway Kefir (yum) and the company’s newest oat milk (the Peaches and Cream was delicious).
Julie has launched a special package of Charity Relief Kefir cultured whole milk in blue and gold packaging, to raise funds for Ukraine relief. You’ll be reading more about Julie and her amazing journey in the August issue of Gourmet News.
It was great to see our friend Patrick Ford of Ford’s Foods behind the counter at the Bone Suckin’ Sauce booth, dishing out the company’s newest sauces, Sweet Southern in original and (my favorite) hot. Later, he represented his mother, Sandra Jackson Ford, who was inducted into the SFA Hall of Fame, 2021 class.
Our friends at Stonewall Kitchen had many of its family of brands on display. I tasted ther Bloody Mary Mix — what a great way to fit all your veggies in (it was a “virgin” version).
I was eager to meet the sibling team, Diana Hecht and Tony Rabinovich, whose family has been making perogies for decades in Canada and now is launching Holy Perogy, frozen ready to heat packages of perogies. Diana swears they taste just as good as the family recipe served in restaurants. Unfortunately, due to all the restrictions on serving food at trade shows, they weren’t offering samples. Diana is the extroverted face of the product, too.
Chef Mario Carbone of Carbone Fine Food offered to show folks how he made meatballs and the booth quickly filled with eager students. I couldn’t hear him, but I got to taste the meatballs (melt in your mouth, which makes them a tad dangerous because that only makes me want to eat more) and … I got the recipe and coupon!
Crispy Filled, Inc. launched the rebranding of its Rösti brand of crispy filled potato products, under the new brand name, Rösti Stuft Spuds. The change in brand name, accompanied with a re-design of the carton graphics was made in response to market research data and consumer feedback received during the brand’s first full year in the market. I mean, hey, potatoes and cheese – what’s not to like? I loved them.
One of my favorite products so far is Jordan’s Skinny Syrups in the Mermaid flavor (it actually is tropical citrus and bright blue, like blue curacao). With no calories or sugar, it makes water taste like a cocktail. They encourage people not to be shy squirting the concoction from the plastic bottle, but not TOO enthusiastic like the poor guy in white pants who walked away from the booth with blue-streaked white pants. The company also makes no calories/no sugar mixes, too. I tasted the Margarita mix, which was lightly sweet and would be perfect with a splash of lime. I love the woman-owned company’s tag line, “Strong Drinks, Strong Women.
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