Fancy Food Fair

Diane Francis column Wednesday July 12:

As many people as live in Peterborough filled the cavernous Javits Center for this year's Fancy Food Show. For two days this week, buyers from grocery chains and gourmet food outlets grazed on samples given away by hundreds of food exhibitors.

This is the biggest annual showcase for specialty foods which include everything from condiments to confectionary, fancy olive oils, meats, cheeses and truffles.

Some 2,200 food purveyors from the U.S. and 71 countries who make 160,000 products were represented this year. The specialty, or gourmet, food business in the United States alone rang up US$34.7 billion in sales last year, roughly the size of Canada's auto parts or softwood lumber exports.

"This is an important event for people in the food business. It's a great show that gave me my start as an exporter out of Canada," said Myra Sable in an interview in her smart, black-and-white booth for "Sable & Rosenfeld" products, which include her "Tipsy" line of alcohol-soaked olives, onions and cherries.

"Here is where the buyers, distributors and brokers come to look for new products to offer their customers. And we have to be here."

She launched her business in the 1970s with a former partner, Carole Rosenfeld. The two started the business as a housewives' hobby but it grew to the point where, briefly, they were mixing ingredients for Russian mustard in their bathtubs because the orders started to come fast and furiously. Today, 80% of her sales are exports to the U.S.

What's interesting is that the business has changed profoundly and specialty foods have now gone mainstream.

"It used to be that a grocery store had a single shelf, called gourmet, that had things like artichokes in a can or fancy olives," said Myra. "Now specialty has been integrated into the grocery stores."

In 2005, about 71% of specialty foods were sold in supermarkets or other mass marketing outlets. But the fastest growing segment was "natural food" stores, such as the Whole Foods chain, which now represent 9.1% of sales.

This B2B confab was also populated by the important middle "men" such as distributors who warehouse and sell or brokers. Successful distributor Peter Steiner, of Steiner Foods Inc., represents 6,000 products from 30 countries in three states. He said competition remains fierce among manufacturers, but retailers are not being attacked by on-line shopping.

"Food is different, and specialty food even more different," he said. "These are not commodities. People have to touch food, look at it, read the labels. There's lots of shopping on-line but it's hard to shop for something unique and new on-line."

On hand at the show was Marc LeMay, international market development officer with Agriculture Canada, who brought a dozen Canadian food manufacturers to the show to help them crack the gigantic U.S. market.

First-time exhibitor Greg Brooks of Montreal displayed his spicey line of condiments called "Peppermaster".

"This is an opportunity for me to find buyers and distributors. I'm still small, about $250,000 in Canada, and building my name," he said. "I got into the food business because I've owned restaurants and began cooking as a kid. I made my first hot sauce at eight years of age and it changed my life."

Anita Saini of Milton Ontario is a start-up food producer and displayed her goods in the hopes of attracting sales. Her three-month-old company, Maya Indian Gourmet, produces three "simmering sauces" based on her mother's recipes.

"I've been in corporate marketing for a number of years and this is my first entrepreneurial venture. I researched the market and found that there was no ethnic organic products out there," said the 30-year-old. "We have had some interesting conversations at this show already."

Buyers from giant food companies like Kraft or retailers like Walmart, Safeway, Whole Foods and hundreds of smaller U.S. chains cruised the aisles, looking for new flavors, unique packaging or unusual foods.

They are in search of products that will appeal to "food adventurists". This market is described by the show sponsor, the National Association for Specialty Food Trade, as urban, elite, 25 to 54 years of age, trendsetters among peers, home entertainers, travelers, restaurant patrons and people open to new experiences.

But there's another gourmet target market that was represented this year at the show - the four-legged variety. Dick Dinsmore, owner of Poochie's Choice in West Virginia displayed his menu of items which included fancy, iced dog biscuits, dog candies and dog cakes and cake mix kits including disposable baking tins.

"We moved pet treats up-market and out of the pet shop," he said. "People have dogs and people have money to spend on them."

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