The Summer Fancy Foods Show at New York City’s Javits Center was a three-day showcase of demonstrations, presentations and an astonishing variety of specialty foods. I attended with a trusted taste tester, sampling dozens of products and spotting emerging food trends. The Specialty Food Association assembles one of the largest trade events of its kind, and this year delivered a mix of playful snack innovations, health-forward items and thoughtfully designed pantry staples.
Beyond the products themselves, meeting the people behind these brands was a highlight. Hearing founders describe their journeys, motivations and the care they put into production added context to every bite and bottle.
There were too many exciting discoveries to fit into one article, so expect follow-up posts. Below are curated highlights from the show, organized by category, starting with snacks.
New Food Trends in SNACKS
Snack foods are evolving. While classic indulgent treats remain popular, many new entries emphasize cleaner ingredient lists, improved nutrition and inventive textures or flavors that make snacking more interesting.
Moon Cheese
Moon Cheese delivers pure, crunchy cheese snacks made from a single ingredient: cheese. We sampled varieties like Pepper Jack and Gouda. The texture is satisfyingly crisp and the flavor unmistakably cheesy. Pepper Jack offers a spicy kick, while cheddar varieties are great for anyone who prefers a classic, robust bite.
These are excellent for on-the-go snacking, packed lunches or cocktail nibbles that spark conversation. Moon Cheese is widely available in retailers nationwide and also sold online.
bNUTTY Gourmet Peanut Butter
What began as a fundraiser has grown into a nationwide brand with a wide range of inventive peanut butter flavors. bNUTTY offers ten combinations that pair honey-roasted peanuts with mix-ins such as toffee, fruit, pretzels and chocolate. Favorites included Salted Caramel and Irresistible Pretzel, both indulgent yet approachable.
Some jars separate and require stirring, but the texture and flavor make the effort worthwhile. Varieties range from Blissful Blueberry and Coco-Nutty to S’more Dreams and Joyful Cranberries. bNUTTY is carried in major retailers like Walmart and online.
Sheila G’s Brownie Brittle
Sheila G’s Brownie Brittle is a familiar favorite, and this year the brand introduced Blondie Brittle varieties. The Chocolate Chip Blondie offers buttery, cookie-like notes while the Meyer Lemon Blondie delivers a surprisingly nostalgic, cereal-like brightness. Both are thin, crisp and highly snackable, and they proved popular at the show.
Blondie Brittle is sold nationwide and online.
Kuli Kuli (Moringa)
Moringa is being positioned as a next-wave supergreen, boasting a strong nutrient profile compared with kale. Kuli Kuli offers Moringa powder, energy shots, bars and other on-the-go formats. The powder has a vegetal, spinach-like quality that blends well into smoothies or yogurt without overpowering them.
Founder Lisa Curtis discovered moringa while serving in the Peace Corps and built Kuli Kuli to support smallholder farmers where moringa is grown. Beyond nutrition, the brand emphasizes social impact by creating reliable income for growers. Kuli Kuli products are available in stores nationwide and online.
MIXES, SAUCES & FLAVORS
This category showcased products solving everyday kitchen challenges—helping kids eat vegetables, simplifying bread baking, and elevating classic recipes with clever, concentrated flavors.
Otamot
Otamot (tomato spelled backwards) is a mild, slightly sweet sauce made from a blend of eleven vegetables and grapeseed oil, designed to make vegetables more appealing to picky eaters. Ingredients include tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, spinach, beets, leeks, garlic, onion and mushrooms.
Its versatility stands out: thin with broth or cream it becomes a soup, add cumin and shredded chicken for tacos, or mix into ground meat for moist, flavorful meatballs. Otamot is sold locally in New York and available for online orders.
Soberdough
Soberdough offers beer bread mixes that are simple to use and produce crusty, chewy loaves. The mixes work with a range of beers and even seltzers, and the company provides pairing suggestions for novice and enthusiast bakers alike. The Roasted Garlic Beer Bread we sampled showed a balanced beer flavor and a hearty texture. Soberdough mixes are sold in specialty stores and online.
The Mushroom Benefit
Launched at the show, The Mushroom Benefit produces Cuisine Bags—sachets filled with mushrooms and aromatics that steep in water to impart deep umami flavor into soups, sauces and braises. We used the Asian sachet to make braised pork belly with excellent results: rich, savory and aromatic. Each box contains multiple sachets, and they’re an efficient way to add concentrated mushroom flavor to everyday cooking.
BEVERAGES & COCKTAILS
From plant-based milks to cocktail infusions, beverage innovations at the show ranged from functional and health-focused to playful and craft-forward.
Elmhurst 1925
Former dairy farmers behind Elmhurst pivoted to plant-based milks, producing creamy nut milks and a hemp creamer without gums or emulsifiers. The hemp creamer adds omega-3s and a distinct earthy, grassy character to coffee, while milked cashews and milked walnuts tasted smooth and true to their nuts. These milks are useful in coffee, smoothies and recipes that benefit from creamy, nut-forward liquids.
Elmhurst products are available in stores and online.
Grady’s Cold Brew
Grady’s offers a New Orleans-style iced coffee concentrate that includes chicory for added depth. Steep the provided bag in water overnight for a smooth, low-bitterness concentrate ideal for cold coffee drinks or creative desserts like panna cotta or ice cream.
King Floyd’s Bar Provisions
King Floyd’s crafts hand-blended bitters, rim salts and bar accouterments aimed at enhancing craft cocktails. Bitters such as Cardamom, Pear-Ginger and Orange deliver concentrated, nuanced flavors—just a few drops elevate classic cocktails. They also produce innovative rim sugars like Chocolate Cinn for desserts or holiday drinks.
Té Tonic
Té Tonic offers pyramid silk pouches filled with herbs, spices and botanicals designed to infuse spirits. Varieties suited to gin and vodka cocktails include blends like Rose Jasmine, Yellow Citrus and Green Fresh. The sachets impart flavor and visual appeal, creating aromatic, layered cocktails without complex mixing techniques.
Condiments & INGREDIENTS
Mike’s Hot Honey
Mike’s Hot Honey is wildflower honey infused with chilies for a sweet-heat condiment that works across applications: drizzled over cheese, pancakes or fried chicken, or used as a shortcut to add heat and sweetness to cocktails. It’s a versatile pantry staple for sweet-savory dishes.
Runamok Maple
Runamok produces a wide range of maple syrups including smoked, infused and barrel-aged expressions. Highlights included rum and bourbon barrel-aged syrups, a cinnamon-vanilla infusion that paired beautifully with ice cream, and a pecan-wood smoked syrup with bold, smoky notes that worked well in cocktails and marinades.
Neilsen-Massey Pure Vanilla Bean Paste
Neilsen-Massey’s vanilla bean paste provides intense Madagascar vanilla flavor and visible vanilla seeds in a lightly sweetened paste form. It’s ideal for glazes, custards and baked goods where the look and texture of real vanilla bean add value. Unlike extract, the paste contains no alcohol and brings a warm, round vanilla profile to both sweet and savory applications.
New Food Trends For The KITCHEN
Brooklyn Slate
Brooklyn Slate produces handcrafted slate cheese boards, knives and serveware sourced from upstate New York quarries. The pieces are split and finished to showcase natural texture and make elegant presentation surfaces for entertaining and gifting.
Z Wraps
Z Wraps are reusable beeswax-coated fabric wraps designed to replace disposable plastic wrap. Durable and washable, they adhere to bowls, produce and containers to keep food fresh while reducing single-use waste. They come in multiple sizes and attractive patterns for everyday kitchen use.
If You Care
If You Care focuses on eco-friendly kitchen and household products, from baking papers to cleaning supplies. Standouts include compact dishwasher tablets that clean effectively and unbleached paper snack bags that protect bread without petroleum-based materials. The brand emphasizes minimal packaging and sustainable materials.
Want More Innovative Food Finds?
This recap covers many highlights from the Summer Fancy Foods Show, but there’s more to explore. Stay tuned for upcoming posts on ice creams and toppings, artisan charcuterie, organic oils, gourmet sauces, healthy chocolates and additional discoveries from the show.
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