The Winter Fancy Food Show just wrapped up in
San Francisco. The show is one of the largest gatherings of specialty food retailers in the country, where they gather
to show off new products, highlight new trends and encourage the buyers from stores across the country to carry their
products. There were over 80,000 new products
and 1,100 exhibitors. "Specialty food" is a term that is usually applied to relatively rare foods, very
high quality ingredients and small production runs, but as consumers become more interested in health, nutrition and,
most importantly, taste, specialty foods are enjoying wider popularity than ever before.
One of the most obvious trends this year is the shift towards natural and organic foods, with many companies aiming to simplify their ingredient lists and use ultra high quality ingredients. Many products boasted the use of organic materials. Heidi noticed that "superfoods", like acai and green tea, were making a strong showing, while simmer sauces and relishes spiced things up a bit. There were many whole grain products, including whole grain baking mixes from King Arthur Flour. Another big showing was made by specialty salts and fleur de sel, which appeared in its pure form as well as in candies, like Fran's Grey Salt and Smoked Salt Caramels.
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