From global flavors to non-alcoholic beverages to stuffed chocolate bars and pink pineapples, the Specialty Food Association’s 69th Summer Fancy Food Show rolled into town late last month.
Upwards of 2,400 exhibitors participated in the three-day event at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, which highlighted crazes in food and drink and showcased recently launched items consumers can soon expect to buy.
What’s trending, what’s new
“[One] macro trend is on global flavors,” Brian Choi, CEO of the Food Institute, told amNewYork. “You walk the aisles, you’ll see a lot of products that are Asian and Indian and Caribbean, even African. So, the consumer’s really ready to explore new types of flavor experiences.”
Auria Abraham jumped on the bandwagon with Auria’s Malaysian Kitchen, a brand of spice blends and ingredients from her home country. It was 2012 and Abraham had just given birth to her first child. She was borderline poor and feeling homesick when she called her mother in Malaysia who suggested she make a sambal to cure her nostalgia, a popular chili-based condiment popular in South Asian cuisine.
Her husband ate all of it and convinced her to throw dinner parties for friends. In 2013, Auria’s Malaysian Kitchen was born.
Abraham attributes the rise of celebrity chefs and food shows to the public’s increased awareness of international flavors.
“Everybody’s eyes are popping at the TV screen because they’re like, ‘I want that noodle thing with the curry that he just ate, I want that condiment that he said.’ So now in 2025, people have heard these words [and] they want that flavor profile,” said Abraham.
She launched her new mango sambal just weeks ago, which pairs the familiar spicy condiment with a fruity sweetness.
At Ginny, founders Thaniyia Mano and Bianci Mensah are also bringing flavors from their childhood into the mainstream via non-alcoholic beverages with their adaptogenic spritzers.
“Adaptogens are essentially plant actives that help you with your cognitive function, stress relief, cortisol levels and then also just focus and relaxation,” said Mano, a Canadian with roots in Sri Lanka.
Mano, with roots in Sri Lanka, and Mensah, whose family is from Ghana, designed their healthy beverages with a naturopathic doctor and infused them with ingredients like tulsi, also known as holy basil, ginseng, ginger, and schisandra berries.
“We wanted to merge our traditional remedies,” Mano added. The entrepreneurial duo expects their product to launch in bars, hotels and spas later this month.
Also at the Fancy Food Show was Dirty Virgin, founded by John Maloney and James Zackler. The electrolyte-infused non-alcoholic cocktails launched earlier this year with the ethos of dismantling “the stereotype of the pure and innocent non-drinker.”
Long gone are the days when asking the bartender for a virgin drink meant getting a Shirley Temple or a combination of every juice and soda on the beverage gun.
Since the term “sober curious” was coined in Ruby Warrington’s 2018 book by the same name, sober bars have been popping up all over NYC, and Millennials and Gen-Zers have been reaching for non-alcoholic drinks at bars and functions. Individuals have also become more health-conscious, reaching for “better-for-you” products.
A 2024 study conducted by Mintel amongst internet users 18+ reported 26 percent of them opted for non-alcoholic beverages for their health benefits. And earlier this year, the office of the surgeon general published an advisory detailing the links between alcohol consumption and various cancers.
Highlights
Chef Michael Symon was the keynote speaker on day two of the three-day event. The Food Network regular spoke about his beginnings in Cleveland and presented his new brand POP, dubbed the caviar of mustards due to its pickled whole seed recipe that pops in your mouth.
He created the brand with Michael Januska who specializes in the condiment. There are three varieties — original, smoked and spicy — and Symon cooked about 200 pierogis at his booth for passersby, topped with his specialty mustard. He also spoke of possibly opening a Greek restaurant in Los Angeles with his wife, Liz.
“He inspired me to be a chef,” said Mikali Strugis, founder of Chef Li’s Private Kitchen, who flew in from Kentucky for the show.
Although not quite so new, many people don’t know about the pink pineapple by Del Monte, which debuted in 2020. The rosy bromeliad gets its color from being grown with lycopene, a naturally occurring red pigment found in fruits and vegetables like tomatoes.
The company also makes a Honeyglow pineapple and is working on a ruby version that will be released next year.
Dubai chocolate is quickly making its way into mainstream thanks to social media. In 2023, TikTok user mariavehera257 — with nearly 3 million followers – featured a video of herself eating the pistachio and knafeh-stuffed bar in one of her hundreds of food videos. She broke the internet.
The bar itself was invented in 2021 by FIX Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai. The chocolate is milky and rich, while the inside is pasty and sweet, with a fun crunch with every bite. It didn’t take long before popular brands like Trader Joe’s and Lindt began to make their own versions, and several copycats were included at the Fancy Food Show this year.
Making a comeback into the food scene is everything truffle. The flavor profile gained popularity in NYC in the late ’80s/early ’90s and in the early 2000s, truffle oil was everywhere.
Over the years, the trend seemed to fade, but brands are bringing it back with items like truffle popcorn and truffle cheese. And it’s not just truffles, all mushrooms are having a moment, whether it be edible or in tea form.
Folds is hoping to make big waves on supermarket shelves with its extra-crunchy potato chips. Founded by childhood friends Emma Cramer and Sharon Kwak, each chip is folded during the frying process for its signature look and texture.
“We always fought over them in any bag or at a party in a bowl, and we were like, ‘why has no one made a brand dedicated to those chips?’ And so, we made them,” said Cramer.
With a market saturated with new products and social media providing an international platform for people to witness foods from faraway places, thinking outside the box is key.
“Whether you’re a manufacturer, whether you’re a restaurant operator, whether you’re in retail, now’s the time you have to be bold,” added Choi of the Food Institute. “You can’t play it safe anymore. The old playbook is not working.”
Until next year — stay fancy, foodies.
