2018 Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco Roundup

By: Irene Yang

It’s fitting that the Specialty Food Association's 2018 Winter Fancy Food Show was held in San Francisco. A town known for it’s diverse new technology—why not diverse new foods? Here’s some of the more interesting trends and items seen at the 2018 Fancy Food Show.

Entrance - Source: Specialty Food Association

Vegan Jerky
This year, there were several non-meat jerky alternatives shown. As a recent vegetarian myself, I was oh-so-happy to taste the wonderfully sweet-salty-smoky flavor or jerky that I had missed. I tried a soy-based jerky from Unisoy, and a mushroom-based jerky from Pan's Mushroom Jerky.

Vegan Jerky

Both had textures that were far better than traditional meat jerky—the texture was very uniform from piece to piece and just chewy enough. No break-off-your-fillings jerky here (not that I'm speaking from experience or anything... ahem...). If you're expecting it to taste exactly like a slab of cow, you'll be disappointed. Personally, I actually preferred the more subdued umami from the mushrooms and the distinctive smokiness of jerky. It's a winner, folks!

Protein Now Tastes Good
Gone are the days of choking down hard, gummy protein bars. Now is the heydey of delicious protein snacks that focus on being casual-consumer friendly and most importantly: tasty.

Protein Bites

I particularly enjoyed the Protein Bites from Siren, and Protein Balls from the aptly-named The Protein Ball Co. The latter being one of the most delicious protein treats I've eaten. With a focus on interesting new flavor combinations like Cacao+Orange, I look forward to seeing them on more shelves soon.

Protein Balls

Savory Drinks
Most surprising to me this year was the proliferation of savory soups marketed as drinks. Some were bone broth based, whereas other vendors, like Bonafide Provisions, touted their healthy vitamin-packed Drinkable Veggies line of savory drinks. It was definitely jarring to drink something out of a smoothie bottle and have it just be tomato soup, but they were delicious nonetheless.

Savory Drinks

Sour Tropical Fruits
One of the more interesting players Citriburst's Finger Lime Pearls. A special variety of skinny lime which tastes less acidic than it's rounder parents, the Finger Lime can be used to add accents to dishes, spice up a dessert, or just be eaten as-is.

Sour Tropical Fruits

Another interesting contender was the Tamalitoz tamarind-based candies from Sugarox. Another sour tropical fruit, the tamarind has been used in well-loved candies in more tropical climates. However, it's nice to see it getting a delicious and aesthetically pleasing update for Western markets.