Specialty Food Association Trendspotter Panel Selects Top Trends From 2022 Summer Fancy Food Show 

NEW YORK, NY (June 23, 2022) The Specialty Food Association Trendspotter Panel tasted its way through the 66th Summer Fancy Food Show in search of products gaining prominence in the specialty food industry. The Show, which took place June 12-14 at the Javits Center in New York City, had over 1,700 exhibitors featuring specialty foods and beverages from around the world.

"The specialty food marketplace has grown into a $175 billion industry fueled by the creativity of the producers of these foods and beverages,” said Denise Purcell, SFA’s vice president, content & education. "That innovation was on display at the Summer Show with our Trendspotters highlighting unexpected twists on classics, reconceived packaging options, better-for-you indulgences and comfort foods, global flavors, and growing interest in sustainability and ethical production.”

The Summer Trendspotter Panel included Melanie Zanoza Bartelme, Mintel; Mikel Cirkus, Firmenich; Jenn de la Vega, Put A Egg on It; Jonathan Deutsch, PhD, CHE, CRC, Drexel University; Victoria Ho, SherpaCPG; Lindsay Leopold, Martha Stewart (Marquee Brands); Patsy Ramirez-Arroyo, Homera Caribbean & LATAM; Stan Sagner, Founder, We Work for Food, LLC - Consultancy; and Kantha Shelke, Ph.D., CFS, IFT Fellow, Corvus Blue LLC

Top Trends from the 2022 Summer Fancy Food Show

Surprising Sips

Packaging Innovations

Vegetable Chips

Sustainable and Ethical Choices

Alternative Comfort Food

Peppers Are Hot

Play with Your Food

ABOUT THE TRENDS

Surprising Sips Beverages with unexpected flavors and ingredients from spicy sodas to coffee made of figs to drinks spiked with everything from alcohol to sparkles.

Don Pablo bourbon-infused coffee

FigBrew Figgee coffee alternative

Moshi Sparkling Uji Matcha

Ouli by Dona Chai Spice Soda in flavors like peppercorn

Reveal Avocado Seed Brew

Runamok Maple Sparkle Tonic

Shrubbly, shrub made with lightly sparkling water and aronia berries

Sunboy Spiked Coconut Drinks with 5 percent alcohol

Packaging Innovations Single serve, compostable, increased portability with decreased mess are just some of the trends in packaging seen at the Summer Show.

Happy Grub Squeezable Instant Pancake Mix in a self-contained bottle; add water, shake, and dispense into the pan

InPact Wenap & Clean scented towel hand cleaners in flavors like breadcrust, rosemary, basil and fennel, “Bridging personal care with flavors/food, ‘foodcare’ trend,” said Mikel Cirkus.

Occo spices in single use half-teaspoon aluminum pods

PCS Gourmet Foods Sauerfrau Squeezable Kraut

Rufus Teague Can-O-Que BBQ Sauce

SugarRoti spices, single use compostable pouch

Whipnotic flavored whipped cream in a spray can with flavor pod embedded in the nozzle

Vegetable Chips Vacuum- or flash-fried tomatoes, mushrooms, and vegetables are bringing new alternatives to the ever-innovative chip category. 

Mush Garden Shiitake Mushroom Crisps made with a vacuum-frying technique, also available in tomato and okra 

Popadelics vacuum-fried mushrooms made into chips 

Rhythm Broccoli Bites and Mushroom Crisps

Root Foods Tomato Chips, flash fried. “The tomato version looks just like a dehydrated tomato, a little bit unlike your sun-dried varieties (which are experiencing a nostalgia-related resurgence). They are tasty, crispy and feel good for you without tasting that way. Tomato-y, but chip-y,” said Melanie Bartelme.

Sustainable and Ethical Choices From upcycled or regeneratively grown ingredients to products that support the livelihoods of underserved communities, foods and beverages with sustainable and ethical characteristics continue to join the market.

Black Mamba Foods sauces and condiments, ethical brand from Eswatini in Southern  Africa

Naera Strawberry Skyr Crunch, produced with green energy

Ocean’s Balance Seaweed Seasoning made with regenerative Maine seaweed

Oryx Desert Salt, sustainably harvested salt from the Kalahari desert in South Africa

Sea Tales Flame Roasted Sockeye Salmon, sustainable and made with transparent catching practices

Season Caviart plant-based caviar-style seaweed pearls

Spare Food Co. tonics made from whey byproduct 

Teffola Nutty Teff Granola, grown with regenerative farming

Tomato Bliss Soup made from regeneratively grown heirloom tomatoes

Waju upcycled water sourced 100% from fruit

Alternative Comfort Food This Trendspotter panel pick for a top trend of 2022 is still going strong, with bases like sunflower seeds, tigernut flour, chickpeas, bananas, and peas emerging.

Amasar LLC Breadfruit Pancake & Waffle Mix

CHKP chickpea yogurt

Current Foods salmon and tuna filet, made with pea protein and bamboo

Disturbingly Delicious Foods Spanish Chorizo Charcuterie Sauce, banana-based condiments that taste like cured meat flavors

Everything Cheeze cashew parmesan alternative, “Plant-based comfort sprinkle that's really good!” said Jonathan Deutsch.

Good Food for Good plant-based creamy Bolognese sauce

Lattini Sunflower seed milk

Mosaic Grove LLC Not Nuts! Tigernut Flour for use in baking as a nut-flour alternative for allergies

Nutcase Vegan Meats Nutty Loaf

Ripple Foods pea-based cheese and soft serve, “A tasty alternative for those with dairy allergy and intolerances. A cheese analog that melts just like traditional cheese - an unprecedented texture in the plant-based cheese sector. Fortified with DHA, omega-3, and vitamin D,” said Kantha Shelke.

UnbelievaBuns burger buns made with sunflower flour

Whoa Dough! Snack Bars, chickpea-based cookie dessert bars

Peppers Are Hot Identified by the Trendspotter Panel as a top trend for 2022, peppers and traditional pepper sauces and condiments from around the world continue to be prominent.

Ayo Shito Sauce, translated to “pepper”, Shito is widely used throughout Ghana

Chingonas Salsa Macha, an oil-based chili crunch sauce from Veracruz, Mexico

Mr. Chimi’s Hot Chiltepin Sauce, a chimichurri sauce with fiery hot chiltepin pepper

Peccati di Calabria Facino Pate di Sarde, an Italian condiment based on a recipe called sardella, spicy sardine spread combined with chili oil. “This is a little-known sauce, even in Italy! Fermented peppers plus super savory fish. I see so many cooking applications beyond eating it on toast or with cheese,” said Jenn de la Vega.

Saba Awaze Sauces, Ethiopian and Eritrean style hot sauce

Sibeiho OMG! Sambal, one of “Three vibrant and very distinct iterations of Sambal derived from authentic recipes. A product meant to educate consumers to the fact that Sambals come in many forms and are not a monolithic product,” said Stan Sagner.

Play with Your Food Whimsical products from edible candles to animal-shaped cheese are delighting kids and kids at heart.

Greenomic Delikatessen Good Hair Day Pasta in whimsical packaging

Let Them Eat Candles chocolate novelty edible candles 

Mac Yourself Cheddar Cheese Sauce Mix

Muratbey Misto animal-shaped cheese 

Supernatural Kitchen plant-based sprinkles for baking, “An all-natural alternative to artificial coloring that still delivers on fun,” said Lindsay Leopold.

OTHER NOTEWORTHY PRODUCTS FROM THE 2022 SUMMER FANCY FOOD SHOW

American Vinegar Works IPA Beer Malt Vinegar and Porter Beer Malt Vinegar  

Aunt Ethel’s Pot Pies

Dr. Bee Honeyland Infused Ice Honey

Kosterina Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar

Heritage Kulfi, modern twists to traditional Indian frozen dessert

Madhu Chocolates with South Asian-inspired flavors, “Beautiful combination of chocolate and spices, from black pepper to fennel and coriander. My favorite was dark rose, full of aroma and with roses to add texture, pure indulgence!” said Patsy Ramirez-Arroyo.

RIND Lapsang cheese

Sugimoto Umami Powder, “I see this product as a chef's secret sauce to the secret sauce, a plant-based, gluten free, grain free monoingredient that boosts the richness and depth of any sauce, stew, dip or dressing, among other things. THE NEXT NUTRITIONAL YEAST!” said Victoria Ho.

Super Garden Freeze Dried Candies and Ice Creams

About the Specialty Food Association 

The Specialty Food Association (SFA) has been the leading trade association and source of information about the $175 billion specialty food industry for 70 years. Founded in 1952 in New York City, the SFA represents manufacturers, importers, retailers, distributors, brokers, and others in the trade. The SFA is known for its Fancy Food Shows; the sofi™ Awards, which have honored excellence in specialty food and beverage for 50 years; the Trendspotter Panel Show reports and annual predictions; the State of the Specialty Food Industry Report and Today's Specialty Food Consumer research; the ecommerce enabled SFA Product Marketplace, where members showcase products and sell directly to qualified buyers; SFA Feed, the daily source for industry news, trends and new product information, and Spill & Dish: A Specialty Food Association Podcast.

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