36th Winter Fancy Food Post Show Report

January 16–18, 2011 • Moscone Center, San Francisco

Best Ever!

The 36th Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco was a big success. The show, held Jan. 16 – 18, 2011, at Moscone Center, was the largest Fancy Food Show ever on the West Coast. The event drew a record 17,625 buyers from around the world, up 5 percent from 2010’s strong numbers. Attendees represented the top names in specialty retailing and foodservice, all looking to source the latest new products and spot the next hot trends.

The mood was upbeat and activity brisk throughout the exhibit halls. “There was a clear, ever-present positive vibe on the floor,” says Ann Daw, president of The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, Inc. (NASFT), the show's owner. “All the stars were aligned. It was a fabulous show. ”

More than 199,850 square feet of exhibit space was filled by 1,300 exhibitors, up more than 6 percent from 2010’s show.  There were 140 first-time exhibitors, plus 120 featured in a pavilion devoted to natural and organic producers. International exhibitors had their largest presence yet, with a 20 percent increase in exhibit space over 2010’s Winter Show. New pavilions included Mexico, Wales, Turkey, Jamaica, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

The show garnered extensive press coverage, including four live segments from Moscone on FOX 40 Sacramento featuring more than a dozen exhibitors.  The show was covered by journalists from important publications like Food & Wine; Bon Appétit, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and numerous web outlets including Conde Nast’s Epicurious.com and MSN’s Delish.com.

Show Programs: Breaking Records

Participation is soaring for the Fancy Food Show’s Business Builders 1-to-1, a customized match-making program that pairs buyers with exhibitors. There were 1,275 10-minute appointments in the space of six hours the day before the show, up 17 percent versus 2010’s program. A Texas exhibitor had nine appointments. “We’re going to end up doing business with nine new accounts,” he says. NASFT  also arranged for 219 additional private meetings connecting buyers and suppliers, a 53 percent jump over last year.

Other Show Highlights Included:

• Record attendance for “Start-Up Saturday,” the NASFT’s signature pre-show seminar series. Sessions included Learning the Lingo of Specialty Food, Understanding Pricing for a Beginning Manufacturer, and Top Ten Mistakes Beginning Manufacturers Make.

• New Brands on the Shelf, a pavilion showcasing 24 manufacturers in a special NASFT program for emerging food entrepreneurs launched in 2008.

• sofi™ Awards showcase of the outstanding products of 2010, with all 33 Gold Winners.

• What’s New, What’s Hot!, a display with hundreds of exhibitor products representing the latest in gift, holiday and natural and organics. The showcases sold out.

• Education Program covered five days and had 21 sessions, including two tours and a tasting of bacon and charcuterie, and a how-to on merchandising craft beers.

New and Innovative Products Filled Exhibit Halls

Attendees had plenty to choose from with 80,000 products from 33 food categories on display. The foods and beverages represented new ideas, new twists on classics, natural and organics, creative gift options, and emerging trends in international flavors. The NASFT assembled a panel of trendspotters to find the hottest trends at the show. They declared five top trends:

• Chocolate for Breakfast: Tea, Belgian waffles, granola and hot chocolate on a stick.
• Foods for Healing: Ancient healing teas, Blackwater with 77 minerals, aloe and cucumber drinks, plus micro-batches of healthful beverages.
• New Noodles: Yam, kelp, farro and spelt. 
• Heat with Flavor: Ghost peppers, yuzu-wasabi sauce and piquillo almond glop.
• Creative Chips: pinto bean, naan, peas, mung beans, kale and wild rice.
• Other trends included retro foods, classic cocktails, wine-flavored foods, mini servings and cured meats.

Food & Product Categories:

Find Winter Fancy Food Show exhibitors and products here.

Great Buzz

The 36th Winter Fancy Food Show was a media magnet. Some 375 journalists from top newspapers, magazines and web publications reported on what is new, hot, and up and coming in specialty food for 2011. Their stories reached 12.5 million+ readers. Covering the show were FOX News, USA Today, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, KQED, Sunset, the San Francisco Chronicle, Epicurious, Delish, Eater and Grub Street. Here is a sampling of the coverage:

• San Francisco Chronicle
  Winter Fancy Food Show in SF: Meet, Greet, Eat
• USA Today
  Small Companies Seek Publicity from Celebrities
• FOX40 TV
  Four live spots from Winter Fancy Food Show
• Delish
  Last Call at the Fancy Food Show
• San Jose Mercury News
  Top Ten Tastes from the San Francisco Fancy Food Show
• East Bay Express
  Fancy Food Show Reveals 2011’s Trends
• Bay Area Bites
  2011 Fancy Food Show: Emerging Food Trends
• Grub Street San Francisco
  Cat Cora, That Duff Guy Drop into Town for Fancy Food Show
• Slash Gear
  Techies Can Be Foodies Too

Business Categories in Attendance

Every major food channel was in attendance, including a growing number of foodservice buyers, up 7.7 percent from 2010’s Winter Show. The specialty retail side included more supermarkets, mass merchants and natural and organics companies than last year. Foodservice buyers represented caterers, fast-casual chains, independent restaurants and hotels. Attendance was robust for all categories:

• Retail: 5,451
• Specialty: 1,313
• Supermarket: 438
• Independent grocers: 284
• Natural, organic, health & Co-op : 314
• Foodservice: 3,096
• Distributors: 1900
• Importers/Exporters: 774

Key Buyers Start Year at Show

The Winter Fancy Food Show is the must-attend early-year event for key buyers. This year’s show drew big names from all sectors of the specialty food industry including A Southern Season, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble Café, Costco, Crate & Barrel, Lund Food Holdings, Macy’s, Mollie Stone’s Market, Sears Holdings, Wegmans, West Point Market and Whole Foods.

Attendees From Across the U.S. and Around the World

Buyers came from 61 countries and regions to source products and make connections at the Winter Show. Attendees hailed from:

Reaching the Right Buyers

The NASFT’s Specialty Food Media connects exhibitors to the right buyers before, during, and after the Fancy Food Show, and year-round. Through its variety of media properties focused on food and beverages, Specialty Food Media is the leading information source connecting buyers and sellers in the $63 billion specialty food trade. Channels include:

• Specialty Food Magazine – Winter Show issue was largest ever.
• specialtyfood.com – NASFT’s website
• Specialty Food News, the daily e-newsletter that goes to 50,000 subscribers.
• foodspring.com: NASFT’s consumer website for specialty food enthusiasts, providing an insider’s look at specialty foods and the companies, food entrepreneurs and artisans behind them.

Giving Back 

Exhibitors at the Winter Fancy Food Show have a long tradition of giving back. This year at the show’s end, exhibitors donated enough specialty foods and beverages to fill three and a half tractor trailers with fine chocolate, cheese, meats, sauces and other items. The food was distributed by Feed the Hungry, an anti-hunger organization, to more than 1,700 area individuals. Many recipients were among the newly unemployed, according to a representative for Feed the Hungry. “Because mortgages, rent and other bills were in the balance, food was scarce and they were grateful for the generosity of your vendors,” she says.

Waste Watching 

More than 75,000 pounds of materials were recycled or composted from the 36th Winter Fancy Show in conjunction with Moscone Center management, apart from the major food donation.

Materials collected, in pounds:

• Cardboard: 29,040
• Mixed paper: 3,760
• Wood: 13,400
• Cans and bottles: 4,900
• Carpet Padding: 3,600
• Plastics: 2,930
• Kitchen Compost: 4,800
• Cooking Oil: 3,500
• Large debris: 9,360