The top five food trends for 2013 have been picked by a panel of trendspotters at the 38th Winter Fancy Food Show, which ends today in San Francisco. The show is the largest marketplace for specialty foods and beverages on the West Coast, with 80,000 products on display including cheeses, snacks, olive oils, vinegars, chocolate, and natural and organic products from the U.S. and 35 countries and regions.
The trends are:
Botanical Beverages
- Numi Organics: Broccoli Cilantro Tea
- Wild Poppy Juice Co.: Blood Orange Chili Juice
- The Republic of Tea: Moringa SuperHerb Tea
Oil Nouveau
- Arette Foods: Organic Tea Seed Oil with Sundried Tomatoes & Chili Pepper
- Culinary Imports: Stöger Cherry Seed, Chile Seed and Tomato Seed Oils
- La Tourangelle Artisan Oils: Organic Coconut Oil
Blue Cheese Redux
- Bissinger’s Handcrafted Chocolatier: Point Reyes Blue Cheese Wine Grapes
- Rogue Creamery: Blue Heaven Blue Cheese Powder
- Mt. Sterling Co-op Creamery: Smoked Sterling Bleu Goat Cheese
So Many Seeds
- Enjoy Life Natural Brands: Crunchy Flax Chia Cereal
- K.L. Keller Imports: Dukkah
- Lundberg Family Farms: Hemp-a-Licious Organic Rice Cakes
Top Banana
- Vosges Haut-Chocolat: Wild Ophelia Peanut Butter & Banana Milk Chocolate Bar
- PB Crave: CoCo Bananas Peanut Butter
- GoodPop: Frozen Banana Cinnamon Pops
Other trends identified are fruit-infused vinegars, chips with a healthy glow such as fuji apple chips, peppery sweets such as cayenne shortbread, agave, and single-serve sizes.
The trendspotters are: Maureen Clancy, Matters of Taste; Narsai David, CBS San Francisco; Nancy Wall Hopkins, Better Homes and Gardens; Sara Moulton, “Sara’s Weeknight Meals,” Good Morning America; Kara Nielsen, CCD Innovation; Denise Purcell, Specialty Food Media; Stephanie Spencer, Sunset Magazine; Stephanie Stiavetti, NPR, Susie Timm, Girl Meets Fork; Joanne Weir, “Joanne Weir’s Cooking Confidence,” PBS.
Fancy Food Show Exhibitor News: specialtyfood.com/winternews
About the NASFT
The NASFT celebrated its 60 anniversary last year. It is a not-for-profit trade association established in 1952 to foster commerce and interest in the specialty food industry. Today there are more than 3,075 members in the U.S. and abroad. The NASFT’s website for consumers, foodspring.com, provides an insider’s look at specialty foods and the companies, food entrepreneurs and artisans behind them. For more information on the NASFT and its Fancy Food Shows, go to specialtyfood.com.
