Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo Wraps Up Annual Event

Tuesday marked the final day of the 76th annual Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center. During the first two days, thousands of restaurant and foodservice professionals packed the aisles to find new products and services from 500 exhibiting companies, attended dozens of special events including culinary demonstrations, and participated in the Ferdinand Metz Foodservice Forum, a dynamic education program. The event was co-located with Expo Comida Latina, the largest Hispanic food and beverage trade event in North America. The expo and conference was produced and managed by Reed Exhibitions, and sponsored by the California Restaurant Association.

Dozens of attendees listened in on “The Fine Dining Panel: The Death of Fine Dining?” presented by Brad Metzger of Restaurant Solutions. Panelists included Casey Lane, The Tasting Kitchen, The Parish, Itri; Matt Erickson, SBE; David Lefevre, Manhattan Beach Post; Donato Poto, Providence Restaurant; and Paul Hibler, Pitrife Pizza and Suberba Snack Bar.

Winners of the People’s Choice awards for the Innovative New Product Gallery were announced during the expo. Attendees voted for their favorite products.

The first place winner was Edibles by Jack for The Edible Asian Spoon. The second place winner was Stacked Wines LLC for its Stacked Wine Bottles. The third place winner was Rao’s Specialty Foods for its Rao’s Italian Pepper, Mushroom & Onion Cooking Sauce. Mary Bette Forte with CTI Foods from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., won a $250 shopping spree.

In the featured photo at top: Martita Jara, Season 8 finalist of “Food Network Star,” conducted a cooking demonstration and tasting at the Expo Comida Latina, which was co-located with the Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo.