Every year in January, Favuzzi reps fly to San Francisco to attend the Fancy Food Show, the West Coast’s largest specialty food and drink trade fair. Over 80,000 trendy products among the best in their category – confectionery, cheese, coffee, snacks, spices, ethnic or organic products and many more – were showcased by more than 1,300 exhibitors from across the United States as well as 35 other countries and regions. We go there not only to meet our Californian, American and European vendors who are promoting their specialties, but also to discover new products and future trends.
New companies looking for their big opportunity join countless others who come back year after year to develop and strengthen their business relationships. Whereas American companies were showing a lot of interest in the Canadian market last year, it is now obvious that the American economy is recovering. The producers we met were keener to focus on developing local markets than to invest the money required to break into the Canadian market, such as investing to design bilingual packaging. With regards to trends, we noticed several new businesses offering artisanal ice creams of all kinds, cereal and protein bars (some refrigerated), many natural meat jerky products made from grass-fed beef, bison and chicken raised without antibiotics in humane conditions, gluten-free cookies and cake mixes, various brands of popcorn and savoury snacks as well as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, arugula, and kale! Finally, turmeric is the spice of the moment, used to season tea, rice, drinks, chocolate bars and chips.
It is no coincidence that the event is held in San Francisco: the city innovates in all areas and food is no exception. While Montrealers have to look far and wide for local, organic ready-to-eat food, in San Francisco, it is practically on every street corner. Supermarkets are chock-full of organic and ready-to-eat products that would make even the most demanding foodie’s mouth water. We are not talking about small sections in grocery stores, as we might find back home, but about large stores offering an incredible variety of distinctive products. Of course, the Californian climate gives San Francisco the advantage of a constant supply of fresh fruits and vegetables. However, if California really is the birthplace of food trends, we can hope that over the next few years, a variety of healthy food product offerings will make their way to us. We are already looking forward to visiting the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York next July to see what’s happening on the East Coast !
