Updated! TheChocolateLife::LIVE – Innovation Part 2: 2022 Summer Fancy Food Show Roundup

By TheChocolateWire | 2 years ago | 8 min read

Original image by galiyahassan / Adobe Stock

Episode 48 streams live Tuesday, June 14th from 12:00 EDT.

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I added the links to all of the companies mentioned in the live stream in the Resources/Links section.

There have been over 40 Summer (New York) and Winter (San Francisco/Las Vegas) Fancy Food Shows since I started publishing chocophile.com back in May, 2001. I have probably attended close to 75% of them. This has given me a perspective on innovation and trends in specialty foods – including chocolate – here in the US that informs all of the other research I do.

As an aside, this was also a part of the work I did in high-tech from 1983 – 2002. I attended every SIGGRAPH from 1984-1998. I was a part of many of the most exciting reveals in computer graphics over fifteen years. During this same period I also regularly attended NCGA (National Computer Graphics Association) annual conferences, several NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) conferences, the first MILIA conferences in Cannes, and TED2. Surprisingly perhaps, there has been some interesting overlap between these part of my career.

Crucially, this in-person history with the Fancy Food Shows gives me the opportunity to taste and to see the reactions of other people to what they are tasting. Snippets of conversations are overheard, you can see excitement in places on the show floor, and colleagues share what they have seen that excites them, and I can reciprocate.

Between Friday’s episode and today I will have attended and/or participated in:

Two press tasting dinners (olive oil and DOP tomatoes);
A pitch slam;
Many dozens in-stand tastings;
Dozens of interviews with food professionals who are passionate about what they make; and
I will have spent about a dozen hours scouting and scouring the Fancy Food Show for innovations in chocolate and searching for flavor trends that have the potential to cross over into chocolate.

Before you watch this live stream, you might want to review last Friday’s episode where I preview how I am going to approach making the most of my time at the show.

While it is show policy not to let people leave with samples, as a member of the press I am given latitude to do so. So ... in this live stream I will share my impressions and live taste what I chose to pack and carry, sometimes for hours. And, of course, I will share links to the companies who make the products I talk about.

Home

Specialty Food Association

Resources / Links

Most of what I brought back from the show to talk about today. After the live stream I will be posting links to the companies’ websites.

Capers! (Tastiest I have ever eaten – unique inclusion, anyone?)

Cardenas Chocolate

Award-winning speciality chocolate made with fine flavour “Arriba Nacional” cacao single-origin Manabí, Ecuador. Our region has cultivated cacao for centuries, and we aim to keep the heritage of this cacao alive. We tell the story of our region, our people, our history, our Arriba Nacional cacao thr

Cardenas ChocolateTierra Hermosa

Award-winning Ecuadorian chocolate maker.

Freeze-dried coffee and tea powders, good for flavoring chocolate.

Meyer lemon/honey chevre dessert cheese. Also introducing (soon!) a version of Humboldt Fog with cacao in the center ash line.

Friday night tasting – good choices for olive oils to use in chocolates.

Olive oil, sea salt cremino. My fave piece of Italian confectionery.

Sustainable Packaging Solutions: Packing stations, Wrap, Fill - HexcelPack

HexcelPack™ manufactures innovative, sustainable packaging solutions including padding, wrap, fill, cushioned envelopes & packing stations.

HexcelPackhexcel_admin

Miss Maude’s Bar of Chocolates

Miss Maude’s Bar of Chocolates. One chocolate bar, eight distinct squares, each holding a unique delight, because why choose, dahling? Have it all!

Miss Maude's Bar of Chocolates

Shareable bars themed for consumption occasions.

Crossover owner building a brand-forward enterprise.

RH Packaging

Sugimoto shiitake umami powder – what would adding umami to chocolate do?

Tambo Trading | Premium Milk Caramel and Ghee

Traceability as our trademark. Premium milk caramel. Ghee

Tambo Trading

Servio brand Dulce de Leche – distributed by Allmark Int’l (website not found).

Soon to be released: a cocoa or chocolate version.,

Mentions – Specialty chocolate makers at the FFS

Live Stream Links

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Live Stream Links header image original by Jason Rosewell / Unsplash