Summer Fancy Food Show Briefing

The Summer Fancy Food Show opens this week in Washington, D.C., for the second year. Now that we have all learned how to navi- gate the new hall (and the secret elevator that speeds travel between floors), we should be able to more easily discover the myriad specialty foods available for sampling.

I always look forward to seeing which trends are progressing in popularity, what flavors are pervasive across products,

which categories are seeing the most growth. I enjoy learning how trends we see in other markets that we cover are influencing the trends specific to food.

I know one trend that is certainly hot and likely to be quite evident at this show: foods that are high in nutritional value and meet certain dietary needs, such as gluten-free.

We understand that there is a lot of ground to cover at this show in a relatively short period of time, and we want to help you maximize your time there. In this briefing, we have identified tantalizing products across many categories. We hope that some of the products you see will excite your taste buds and prompt you to add the company to your list of must-see booths, ensuring that you don’t miss a good selling opportunity.

We welcome your feedback, and we would love to hear about the products you found most interesting. Please follow us on Twitter @gbpublisher so we can share your favorites with our audience.

We will also be testing a unique new iPhone app called Qwiqq at the show to enable us to instantly share with our Twitter followers information on hot products generated by a select team of specialty food buyers. We are seeking beta testers to participate who are interested in the power of social media as a marketing tool. If you would like to be included in this test program, please contact me at dspencer@gourmetbusiness.com or stop by our booth at the show.

David Spencer

Publisher, Gourmet Business

President, HousewaresDirect, Inc.

dspencer@gourmetbusiness.com