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 Post-Show Report

 
The 55th Summer Fancy Food Show drew a record crowd on June 28 – 30. More than 24,000 buyers and specialty food industry professionals from around the world attended the show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Attendance was up 4 percent above last year and higher than at any Fancy Food Show in the past decade.

More than 316,000 square feet of exhibit space was filled with 140,000 specialty foods and beverages from across the U.S. and 70-plus countries.

“This is a remarkable showing when so many trade shows are seeing drops in attendance and exhibit space due to challenging economy,” said Ann Daw, president of NASFT. “The attendance beat our expectations and shows the health of the specialty food industry.”


Post-Show coverage on our YouTube Channel and blog will continue, be sure to check it out. Talk about your show experience or find out what you missed by joining our communities on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Click here for a photo recap.
 
Show Programs: Record-Breaking Particpation
Numerous programs offered by the NASFT had strong showings. More than 550 buyers cast ballots to select Gold Winners for the 37th sofi™ Awards for the outstanding specialty foods and beverages of 2009, double the number last year. The Education Program included “Start-Up Saturday,” which attracted more than 100 start-up food companies, including participants in the NASFT’s Member Candidate program, and individuals interested in going into the specialty food business.

Other highlights included:
  • Opening address on entrepreneurship by Woody Tasch, author of Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms and Fertility Mattered.
  • 20 seminars including NASFT trends research and tastings of cheese and tea.
  • sofi Awards pavilion with 125 Silver Finalists.
  • Business Builders 1-to-1, a program matching buyers to suppliers.
  • New Brands on the Shelf, table-top displays with sampling from 30 participants in the NASFT’s Member Candidate program
  • What’s New, What’s Hot! Showcase This showcase featured hundreds of products following the hottest trends in new products, gift ideas, and natural and organics.
  • Focus on Diversity Showcase Featured 30+ companies that are part of the NASFT’s initiative that encourages and helps minority-owned companies to enter and succeed in the specialty food industry.
  • Press Office: More than 1,200 journalists (a record-breaking number) picked up their badges, and stopped in through-out the show.
140,000 Innovative Products on Display
Attendees were seeking hot new products, emerging trends, best-in-class classics, holiday gift ideas and more options for specialty foods and beverages with ethnic flavors. And our more than 2,300 exhibitors delivered. They presented the world’s finest foods and beverages, including chocolate, cheese, olive oil, spices, snack foods, tea, and ethnic specialties. Products that generated buzz included black garlic, miniature watermelons, bacon-laced lollipops and myriad honeys, cured meats, and confections topped with salt. Blood orange was a hot flavor, and gluten-free products abounded.

Click here to review the companies that exhibited in the Show.
Click here to use our Product Finder to search by category, geography and other criteria.

In the News
We welcomed a record number of press including TODAY Show, Good Morning America, The Early Show, New York Times, USA Today, Epicurious.com, Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, AOL Food, Oprah Magazine, and many others. Watch Bobby Flay's Fancy Food Show finds here and Sara  Molton's here.

Here’s a sampling of traditional media coverage of the show:

The New York TimesIn a Cold Economy, Fancy Food Is Hot
The Early Show on CBS – Bobby Flay Takes On Fancy Foods
Epicurious – Best of the 2009 Summer Fancy Food Show
Supermarket NewsSpecialty Food Products Honored
USA TodayPop Candy and Specialty-food makers hope to cook up some sweet deals
Pittsburgh Post Gazette‘Fancy’ food also can be homey

NPR's Planet Money - Hear: Fancy Food Economics

Here is a sampling of some of the coverage the Fancy Food Show received in the blogosphere
The New York Times, City Room Blog:
At Javits Center, Food Delicacies Dot the Menu
The Martha Stewart Living Radio Blog: What We Discovered at the Fancy Food Show
Slashfood.com: Fancy Food Show Favorites
ReMARKable Palate: Chef Mark’s Quick Bites
Inventorspot.com: 10 New & Exotic Foods Coming To NYC’s 2009 Summer Fancy Food Show
Jewlicious.com: What’s New In Kosher Foods?

 

Business Categories in Attendance
Buyers represented every major food channel. The retail side included supermarkets, mass
merchants, natural, gift and specialty. Foodservice buyers were represented by caterers, bakeries,white tablecloth restaurants, quick-service establishments and national chains. Distributors, importers and exporters rounded out the impressive buyer base. Most importantly, many of these buyers rely on the Fancy Food Shows exclusively to source global products. Buying organizations in attendance at the Summer Show boast an aggregate buying power well into the billions of dollars.

Strong Key Buyer Presence

Some of the most important names in retailing attended the show, including Whole Foods, Costco, Meijer, Sears, Harry and David and Saks Fifth Avenue in addition to countless regional specialty retailers, and even Delta Airlines. Click here for key buyer overview.


Happy & Motivated Buyers
The results were impressive from the NASFT’s post-show survey of attendees. Highlights include:

  • 85% of all Show attendees either authorize or recommend purchasing decisions.
  • 50% of buyers placed orders right at the show.
  • 93% of attendees said the Summer Fancy Food Show met or exceeded their expectations.
  • 90% said the show helps monitor the latest trends and stay up to date.
  • 89% said the show helped create new business contacts/relationships.
Attendees From Around the World
Eighty-eight countries and regions were represented at the show. International attendees
rely on the three-day event to source the best of the U.S., but also to spot trends from
the dozens of other countries whose displays fill the exhibit halls. Attendees hailed from:
ALGERIA
ARGENTINA
ARMENIA
AUSTRALIA
AUSTRIA
BAHAMAS
BAHRAIN
BARBADOS
BELGIUM
BELIZE
BERMUDA
BOLIVIA
BRAZIL
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
CANADA
CHILE
CHINA
COLOMBIA
COSTA RICA
CROATIA
CYPRUS
CZECH REPUBLIC   
DENMARK
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
ECUADOR
EGYPT
ENGLAND
FINLAND
FRANCE
GERMANY
GHANA
GREECE
GUADELOUPE
GUATEMALA
HONDURAS
HONG KONG
INDIA
IRELAND
ISRAEL
ITALY
JAMAICA
JAPAN
JORDAN
KUWAIT
 
LATVIA
LIBYA
MEXICO
MOROCCO
NETHERLANDS
NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
NEW ZEALAND
NICARAGUA
NIGERIA
NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS
NORWAY
PAKISTAN
PANAMA
PARAGUAY
PERU
PHILIPPINES
POLAND
PORTUGAL
RUSSIA
SAN MARINO
SAUDI ARABIA
 
SENEGAL
SERBIA
SINGAPORE
SLOVAKIA
SOUTH AFRICA
SOUTH KOREA
SPAIN
SWAZILAND
SWEDEN
SWITZERLAND
TAIWAN ROC
THAILAND
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
TUNISIA
TURKEY
UKRAINE
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
UNITED KINGDOM
UNITED STATES
URUGUAY
UZBEKISTAN
VENEZUELA
VIETNAM

NASFT Plays Matchmaker 

The NASFT arranged more than 1,500 meetings between buyers and exhibitors, our largest Business Builders 1-to-1 program ever. Click here to learn more.

Sofi™ Gold Award Winners Shine

Gold Winners for the 37th sofi Awards were chosen by a record-breaking 550 retail and foodservice judges. Winners announced on Monday, June 29 by noted chef Ming Tsai, who presented the coveted sofi Gold chef statues at a red-carpet event. For full coverage and a complete list of winners, click here.

Specialty Food Media: the Industry’s Key Source for Information
Specialty Food Media provides Total Market Access by connecting buyers and sellers year-round through a variety of channels. Specialty Food Magazine is the official Fancy Food Show publication. Launched at the Summer Show, the Foodspring Network links the websites of the world's best specialty food companies to create a marketing community. Learn more about all of Specialty Food Media’s marketing opportunities here.

Giving Back
The close of the show June 30 was a special success. For the 20th year, Fancy Food Show exhibitors donated their remaining specialty products to City Harvest, a leading anti-hunger organization. This year’s donation was almost even with last year’s record of 204,100 pounds. That is enough to fill five tractor trailers, and fill the shelves of scores of food pantries throughout New York City with high-quality food. To learn more about City Harvest visit www.cityharvest.org.
 

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