by Ellen Curtis, Managing Partner
Last week, I attended the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco. Now that I have had time to digest (literally and figuratively) everything I saw at the show, one recurring meme has stuck with me – healthy. Be it vitamin infused waters or the abundance of gluten-free products, the Fancy Food Show got “healthified.”
Specialty foods are defined as foods of premium quality, and are often made by small or local manufacturers or have ethnic or exotic flavors. Healthy or good for you hasn’t been a part of that definition. Decadent bake goods and super high-end chocolate are fancy food staples. However, as health conscious consumer demand has grown so have the gourmet products to satisfy this craving.
The funny or interesting thing about this trend is a lot of new products featured were really a throw back to old products. Take Victoria’s Kitchen Almond Water, created from a recipe by the founder’s grandmother. This ready-to-drink, non-alcoholic beverage originated in France. It contains pure cane sugar and no artificial flavors or colors. In this everything old is new again vein, there were a plethora of ancient grains like quinoa, amaranth, chia, flax and other centuries-old grains popping up in everything from pasta to side dishes at the show.
Even companies that are known for their less than mindful offerings participated in this healthy trend. Like Lehi Valley Trading Company, a family owned and operated company specializing in delicious snacks for more than 25 years, who offered up a yummy granola made with stevia.
That’s not to say everything at the Fancy Food Show was a nutritionist’s dream come true. Bacon is as popular as ever. I had over-sampled by the show’s end and never had the courage or stomach to try Bacon Brittle. A reporter from the New Yorker recounted it as, “the holy trinity of flavors; salty, sweet, and smoky.”
Usually health conscious products are the domain of the Natural Products Expo shows. That’s where you’ll find the organic, non-gmo, gluten-free crowd. With fancy foods getting more healthy, will healthy foods get more fancy? We will have to wait until March at the Natural Products Expo West to see how “fancified” this group has gotten.