2,200 makers & manufacturers . . . . . more than 40 specialty food & beverage categories . . . . . 30,000 attendees . . . . . 250 first time exhibitors Some Statistics The summer show uses the entire Javits Convention Center, an impressive four-block long facility. According to the SFA website:
Geographical Pavilions The international and state pavilions are funded by exporting or marketing institutes, which are sometimes, at least partly funded by governments. The rest of the funding comes from membership fees paid by participating companies. Membership confers benefits from marketing efforts and usually the right for products to boast some kind of “Made Here” logo. For producers, there are advantages and disadvantages to being in a pavilion. Buyers looking for specific types of products may start in a pavilion where they are sure the product will be available. But smaller producers might feel overshadowed by being surrounded with so many other companies offering similar products. Travelling to the show with quantities of product and staff, on top of the show entrance fee, is very expensive; participating in a pavilion with its prime booth locations is even more so. The front half of the second floor – prime location – showcases the largest international food exporting countries - Italy, France, and Spain, with Italy outnumbering all the other countries. In recent years, the number of Asian companies has grown, including China, India, Japan, Korea, and Thailand. South America’s largest exporters are Argentina, Brazil, and Peru. Mediterranean-ish countries including Greece, Turkey, and more recently, Jordan also have a visible presence. Australia and Canada have significant pavilions along with, surprisingly, the Republic of Georgia. There are also some international pavilions representing smaller exporters including Finland, Poland, and Portugal. Some agriculture heavy US states also have pavilions including Michigan, New Jersey, and Virginia. Again, not all US companies take a booth in their state pavilion; they are scattered among the rest of the booths, and I bet that all 50 states are represented. Special Interest Pavilions (or What do the Experts think is Trending?) In past years, some product categories also were grouped into pavilions, such as Confectionary, Snacks, and Sweets, and the Deli pavilion. But three new pavilions this year say a lot about trends in the specialty food industry and one of them has nothing to do with food itself. They are the Beverage Pavilion, the Plant-Based Pavilion, and the Diversity Pavilion. First Timers and Incubators Although it technically was not a pavilion, a large space was dedicated to people who were at the show for the first time. The specialty food business is very hard to break into. Coming up with a good idea and a tasty product is just the beginning. Think about all the thousands of products out there. Now think about how to get one more tea or candy bar or chip onto the shelf. Food Incubators are organizations that help new makers bring a product to market. In Cincinnati, The Findlay Kitchen is one. Associated with historic Findlay Market, The Kitchen partners with all kinds of programs and organizations to help folks bring their ideas and recipes to the marketplace. They offer access to commercial kitchen space, plus help with the product itself, business planning, financial advice, marketing, packaging, and more. Some incubators are associated with universities or culinary schools. This year, incubators had a space at the Fancy Food Show. I won’t dedicate an entire story to first timers, but I will talk about some of their products in the rest of my Reports. Wrap Up So that’s it for the Fancy Food Show Primer. Stay tuned for more stories, starting with the next one: Part 2: Non-Alcoholic Adult Beverages.
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Cooking.
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