New Take on Cheesy Puffs Declared Winner of Shelf Showdown At Winter Fancy Food Show

NEW YORK (Feb. 10, 2016) -- With Americans snacking like never before, specialty food makers are reinventing chips, popcorn, and jerky to have a healthier appeal. One of the latest entries is Seriously Cheesy Puffs, from Fuller Foods, a start-up in Portland, Ore.

The baked corn puffs struck a chord at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco last month, where they were declared the winner of the show's first-ever Shelf Showdown: A Specialty Food Pitch Competition. The show, owned and produced by the Specialty Food Association, is the largest marketplace for specialty foods and beverages on the West Coast.

Fuller Foods founder Jack Kuo, a self-described cheesy puff addict, successfully pitched his new take on the snack to a panel of four specialty food buyers who heard pitches from three other first-time exhibitors at the show. The corn puffs, made with local ingredients, are billed as "the only handcrafted non-GMO cheesy puffs made with simple and wholesome ingredients."

"All of the products at the Shelf Showdown were amazing and the decision was not easy, but I felt like Cheesy Puffs are a great spin on the old standard Cheetos," says judge Chris Tjersland, partner brands development manager for New Seasons Market in Portland. "The snack category is hot and very competitive, but his product addresses the niche of using clean, locally-sourced ingredients while still being packed with flavor."

Now offered in three flavors, including Blue Cheese Jalapeno, Sriracha and Cheddar, and Asiago Black Pepper, the snacks are currently sold in 130 stores across the U.S. and several hundred in Japan and China. In the future are possibly sweet flavors and/or vegan, non-cheese versions, Kuo told the panel.

"The win meant validation - market validation of the product's merits and potential, as well as validation of the 80 hours a week I've been putting in for the past two years," Kuo says. As winner, he received a prize package that includes an advertisement in Specialty Food Magazine and press coverage in Specialty Food News and Specialty Food Magazine.

In addition to Kuo, the Shelf Showdown contenders, who made it through an initial review to be in the contest, were Darryl Cohen, director of sales, WB Kitchen, Loveland, Colo., Kelli Koehler, co-founder, Wildway, San Antonio, Texas, and Lori Krieger, founder, Taste Elevated, Castroville, Texas.

The judges were Tjersland, Patricia Pohanka, director of merchandising and marketing for European Imports, Inc.; Jean Greenfield, grocery and HABA manager for Canyon Market; and Sara Feinberg, director of online sales and marketing and communications manager for Market Hall Foods.

The Specialty Food Association will stage the next Shelf Showdown at its Summer Fancy Food Show at Javits Center in New York. The show runs June 26 – 28, 2016. The contest will be open to first-time exhibitors who are Association members.