San Francisco (January 18, 2010) – The top five food trends for 2010 have been picked by a panel of food experts at the 35th Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco. The show, Jan. 17 – 19, at Moscone Center, is the largest marketplace for specialty food and beverages on the West Coast and has 80,000 products on display from the U.S. and more than 32 countries.
The trends are:
• Good-for-you foods
• Coconut
• Gluten-free
• Exotic citrus
• Nostalgic foods
Others identified are fermented foods, including pickled everything; smoked foods, including numerous new twists on bacon; and snacks for grown-ups such as spicy popcorn and baked potato chips with jalapeno.
The experts scouted the exhibit halls on opening day of the trade event. Their picks are part of the Food Trend Challenge, a contest created by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, Inc., the show’s owner. Hundreds of retailers, restaurateurs, journalists, producers, farmers and others in the industry played the online game for a chance to win monthly prizes and bragging rights as the trendiest person at the show. The grand prize is a free trip to the 56th Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City this June 27 – 29.
The trendspotters are: Lessley Anderson, senior features editor, CHOW; Kara Nielsen, trendologist, Center for Culinary Development; Tanya Henry, food critic, Marin Independent Journal; Nancy Wall Hopkins, deputy editor, food and entertaining, Better Homes & Gardens; Kay Logsdon, editor, The Food Channel; Denise Purcell, Editor, Specialty Food Magazine; Joanne Weir, PBS television host, Joanne Weir's Cooking Class.
The player who identified the most on-trend products as determined by the panel of food experts is the grand prize winner. She is Eddi Marie Julian, Beckles Candies and Gifts, Modesto, Calif. Learn more about the contest and winners on NASFT’s blog, Under the Lid.
The NASFT is a not-for-profit trade association established in 1952 to foster trade, commerce and interest in the specialty food industry. Today there are more than 2,900 members in the U.S. and abroad. For further information on the NASFT and its Fancy Food Shows, go to www.specialtyfood.com.
The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade’s Fancy Food Shows® are the premier marketplace for specialty foods…where retailers, restaurateurs, distributors and others discover innovative, new food and beverage products.
January 17-19, 2010
Moscone Center, San Francisco