The 2016 Winter Fancy Food Show ended on a high note this month with the strongest attendance and largest exhibit space in the show’s 41-year history. The show is owned and produced by the Specialty Food Association.
The sold-out exhibit halls were filled with new products, new brands and top-quality classics from 1,500 exhibitors from across the U.S. and 28 countries. The exhibit space covered 215,000 s.f., enough to fill more than four football fields with food. The trade-only event ran Jan. 17-19 at Moscone Center in San Francisco.
Amid record sales in the $109 billion specialty food industry, the show drew nearly 20,000 attendees, a 16 percent increase above 2015 numbers. Buyers represented top names in retailing, restaurants and foodservice—including Whole Foods, Kroger, Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, Williams-Sonoma, Alaska Airlines and hundreds of local specialty and natural food markets.
“The appetite for specialty food is stronger than ever across all sales channels. The success of our show is a clear indication,” said Laura Santella-Saccone, chief marketing officer of the Specialty Food Association.
Italy served as the show’s country partner, with more than 60 companies, a wine bar and gelato station. Special exhibits included Incubator Row featuring Northern California start-ups, and New Brands on the Shelf, with 34 emerging food entrepreneurs launching brands like bone broth in K Cups and birch tree “water.” Throughout, hundreds of new products were introduced that will land on store shelves and restaurant menus in the coming year.
Show firsts included “Party with a Purpose,” an opening night bash that supported the Specialty Food Foundation’s efforts to fight hunger and increase food recovery, and “Shelf Showdown,” a specialty food pitch competition for first-time exhibitors. The winner: Jack Kuo, founder of Fuller Foods, whose winning pitch was for Seriously Cheesy Puffs.
Other show highlights included:
• Top 5 Trends—An expert panel of trendspotters declared their picks of the top food trends at the show, including protein-packed products and Southeast Asia and Western fusions.
• Specialty Food Association Hall of Fame and Leadership Awards Ceremony.
• Future-looking seminars focused on snacking and single-serve trends, and innovations that will change how the world produces, sells and eats.
• An interactive presentation by Corby Kummer of The Atlantic on the terms used on specialty food labels.
• 100 first-time exhibitors.
• More than 1,000 pre-arranged one-on-one meetings with buyers and exhibitors.
• Exhibitor food donation of thousands of pounds of specialty food at end of show to Bay Area anti-hunger programs.
The Summer Fancy Food Show will be held June 26-28 at Javits Center in New York, and the next Winter Fancy Food Show will be held Jan. 22-24, 2017, at Moscone Center in San Francisco.
Find photos from the 2016 Winter Fancy Food Show here.
