Fancy Food
Is Festive

ALISON ASHTON
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

I

t was a cornucopia of condi-
ments at the International
Fancy Food & Confection
Show. Sponsored by the Na-
tional Association for the Special
Food Trade Inc., the twice-yearly
show is an opportunity for ven-
dors of chichi comestibles to show
off their wares to food purveyors.
Representatives of supermar-
ket chains, owners of small char-
cuteries from Marin County,
Calif., to the coast of Maine and
food journalists milled up and
down the aisles of exhibitors, sam-
pling Cajun-style sausage,
creamy chocolates, enough salsa
to drown the state of New Mexi-
co and enough coffee to send all
of Seattle into cardiac arrest.
Of course, sampling was every-
thing. But savvy attendants were
doing more than stuffing them-
selves silly. Yes, it was a foodie's
dream, but these retailers were
looking for upscale edibles that
would sell. So they were tasting,
querying about cost and reading
labels.
'What I don't need is hydro-
genated palm oil and soybean oil
...," one man could be heard telling
the representative of a company
selling powdered instant hot
chocolate.
The food makers had clearly
spent a fortune on displays. After
all, standing out in a crowd of sim-
ilarly delicious offerings is a dif-
ficult task. They tried everything
from slick product packaging and
revolving display tables to per-
forming chefs.
One corner of the exhibit hall
was devoted to international
foods. One aisle represented
Canada, another Greece, anoth-
er Britain. Food representatives
from Holland were there, too. But
the Italians took up the most
space, and seemed to attract the
most attention.
It didn't take long for some
trends to emerge. Don't be sur-
prised if some of these items end
up in your pantry:
Coffee. You might very well
think that the coffee boom has
peaked. You would be wrong.
There was a plethora of coffee
companies offering gourmet roast-
ed beans and even coffee bags.
The hottest topic, though, is fla-
vored coffees and syrup flavorings
that can be added to the beans.
Tea. Tearooms loom on the
horizon as the next big hot-drink

FANCY FOOD page 71

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