East Coast, West Coast, and everything in between, as well as a multitude of countries North, West, South, and East of the U.S., all collected in one building to offer tastes from all over the industry.
If you didn’t get a chance to make it to the 2016 Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, don’t worry - we’ve got you covered.
Taking place at the Moscone Center on January 17-19, the show featured 15,000 exhibitors for its 41st year, according to the Specialty Food Association. Hundreds of new products were launched or featured by both new and experienced companies, with 30 specialty food producers making their show debut.
Check out the top five trends Specialty Food Association recognized among the crowd in the video below:
This year marks my second Winter Fancy Food Show, but though I was still as wide-eyed as my first encounter with the West Coast’s biggest deli show, I did at least remember to skip breakfast.
So as I sampled willingly, retailers walked the floor, engaging a number of exhibitors about their products and the story of their companies, valuable networking and connections being made from left to right.
Highlights for this deli news reporter included the wide array of new concepts and products, such as some of the tasty new offerings from the No-Bake Cookie Co. and my first encounter with mozzarella cheese made from buffalo milk by Deca & Otto.
There were also the exciting new launches from more familiar faces like those coming out from Laura Chenel.
And just as exciting are the fun people of the industry, such as Back to the Roots' Nikhil Arora and Alejandro Velez, who actually won the 2016 Leadership - Vision Award!
This only gives a small insight into the expansive offerings Specialty Food Association’s WFFS 2016 had to offer.
The show also presented educational segments, meet and greet events, and of course, a showcase of the 32 winners of the 2015 sofi™ award.
The show may be over, but we’re just getting started. Keep checking in for more coverage from the floor of the 2016 WFFS from DeliMarket News.
