August 11, 2026 • 25 mins
Every year, thousands of new food products launch in the United States with one goal: to become the thing you can't stop eating. Some of them solve a real problem. Some of them are cotton candy that tastes like salted butter.
George Duran spent two days at the Summer Fancy Food Show at the Javits Center — 2,300 exhibitors, 32,000 people, and a tote bag that ended up heavier than a Costco run. He ate jam with electrolytes in it. He ate oatmeal flavored with garlic and miso. He ate goat cheese that had turned purple. He was handed an entire burrata, for himself, by an Italian man who would not take no for an answer.
This is a walk through the show floor with the people actually making this stuff: a candy maker chasing adult nostalgia, a jam guy who'll happily tell you electrolytes are just salt, a founder who made tofu shelf-stable so you can carry it on the subway, and a company using fungi to build a better ham.
Not every one of these products needs to exist. But every one of them says something about what we want food to do for us now — be fun, be healthy, be fast, and surprise us. Sometimes all four at once.
Takeaways
- Cotton candy is being reformulated for adults — Morganne Wheeler's Cirrus 9 Candy sells salted butter, lychee, Madagascar vanilla, and New York maple syrup, betting that nostalgia plus a grown-up flavor profile beats plain pink sugar.
- "Electrolytes" is marketing for salt. Jesse Linevsky of Jesse Jams says it out loud: potassium chloride and sodium chloride, that's the whole secret.
- The Fancy Food Show is trade-only — no public tickets. 2,300 exhibitors, roughly 32,000 people, and buyers from Whole Foods and H-E-B deciding what lands on your shelf next year.
- Every health buzzword is now stacked on one label. Good Journey Donuts is gluten-free, low sugar, non-GMO, keto, and high fiber — at some point a cookie starts sounding like it's applying for a grant.
- Savory oatmeal is a real category play. Gamsa Foods is selling sesame-garlic oats built on Korean juk and Chinese congee, and Ruby Saens says the toughest test market — 50-plus shoppers in rural Arkansas — took to it immediately.
- Olive oil is now a wellness shot. Katerina Mountanos of Kosterina says her customers started doing it before the company made a product for it, and TikTok did the rest.
- Sampling is the one thing a trade show can't move online. Leanna Salamah of the Specialty Food Association is blunt about it: with food, you have to put it in someone's mouth.
- Mushrooms are coming for the deli counter. Prime Roots is making turkey, ham, salami, and bacon out of fungi, aimed at flexitarians rather than vegans.
Companies and people mentioned
- Morganne Wheeler — Founder & CEO, Cirrus 9 Candy —https://cirrus9candy.com/
- Leanna Salamah — SVP, Marketing & Communications, Specialty Food Association —https://www.linkedin.com/in/leanasalamah/ |https://www.specialtyfood.com/fancy-food-shows/summer/
- Jesse Linevsky — Founder, Jesse Jams —https://jessejams.us/
- Michelle Adams — show attendee since ~2000
- Caroline Dai — Founder, TofuGo Snacks —https://www.tofugosnacks.com
- Kristoffer Quiaoit — Co-founder, Good Journey Donuts —https://goodjourneydonuts.com/pages/about
- Katerina Mountanos — Founder, Kosterina —https://www.kosterina.com/
- Ruby Saens — Gamsa Foods —https://gamsafoods.com/
- Lucas Prado — Founder & CEO, Beest Snacks —https://www.beestsnacks.com/
- Ryan — first-time attendee
- Alex Coenen — President, LaClare Family Creamery —
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
You have a cotton candy thattastes like salted butter. Tell me,
where did that come from?
General weirdness, I wouldsay, and a love of all things food.
Welcome to The Always HangryPodcast where. We explore the way
we eat the good, the bad, andthe completely ridiculous. I'm your
(00:20):
host, George Duran. Todaywe're at the Fancy Food show. Right
here in New York City. Everyyear, thousands of new food products
are introduced in the UnitedStates with one goal, to become the
next thing you can't stopeating. Some of them solve real problems,
some of them are completelyunexpected. And sometimes you're
left asking whether the worldreally needed electrolyte jam or
(00:44):
portable tofu. But every oneof them tells us something about
where our food culture isheaded. Today we're walking around
the show where we taste thenewest products, meet the people
behind it, and find out whatthey say about the future of food.
If you haven't heard of theFancy. Food show, this is where thousands
of food makers from around theworld gather together to unveil everything
(01:05):
from the next big groceryobsession to products you won't actually
believe exist.
So we wanted to make somethingthat was also appealing to adults.
And we find that adults arereally drawn to both the nostalgia
of cotton candy, but alsomodern trends of putting a twist
on it. So that's how we endedup with salted butter.
That was Morgan wheeler,founder and CEO of Cirrus 9 Candy,
(01:25):
explaining why she makessalted butter cotton candy. By the
way, cirrus is spelled C I R RU S like the cirrus clouds, hence
the cloud shaped cotton candy.Are we seeing a big trend on candy
kind of being skewed to olderadults, not just for nostalgia, but
also kind of more of a refinedflavor profile?
(01:46):
Yeah, absolutely. We have seenthat people, yes. Not only with the
nostalgia, but also lookingfor different flavor profiles and
ways to reinvent some sort ofold classics, that kind of tale,
as old as time kind of stuff.
Some of the other flavors thatSiris9. Sells are things like lychee
and tulare cherry, Madagascarvanilla, New York maple syrup, even
(02:07):
forest berry and pina colada.By the way, if you didn't know, the
Fancy Food show takes place atNew York City's largest convention
center, the Jacob JavitsCenter. This convention is huge.
There are buyers, there aredistributors, importers, retailers,
press, people wearing lanyardswith the confidence I can only dream
of. Honestly, the world showsup here and everybody's handing you
(02:31):
a sample to taste. This showis a foodies Disneyland. So what
I'M really trying to figure.Out is how weird does food have to
get before it becomes the nextbig thing? And of course, that means
sacrificing myself. To eat fortwo entire days. A bunch of jerky
(02:55):
chips, portable tofu, birchSAP, UBE goat cheese and cocktail
cubes. You know, just for research.
Okay, so this is a group ofmakers and manufacturers of specialty
food.
That's Liana Salama, seniorvice president of marketing and communications
for the Specialty Food Association.
If you think about specialtyfood, it's a high quality, lots of
(03:17):
craftsmanship, value based,kind of all the better version of
the food that's out thereright now. It's a showcase of creativity
and innovation. I mean, theseare small makers who are coming up
with ideas in their kitchenand then bringing them to market.
So these are not ideas thatare kind of focus grouped or mass
produced. These are littleeclectic ideas that are being brought
(03:37):
to life.
So that line stuck with me.Little eclectic ideas being brought
to life. And that's becausethe entire show is. Not just a trade
show. It's thousands of tinyfood bets. Somebody's betting that
America wants savory oatmeal.Somebody's betting that cotton candy
should taste like saltedbutter. Somebody's betting that the
next thing we all need is jamwith electrolytes.
(03:59):
So my name is Jesse Lenovskiand I'm the founder of Jesse Jams.
And what we do is we make realsmall batch jam with electrolytes
in packable ready to gopouches that, that you can bring
camping, hiking, backpacking,great for picnics on the beach. And
then you can also use it as areal energy gel alternative that's
fully natural, tastes a wholelot better and fuels you just the
(04:20):
same.
So clearly the next questionis how do you get electrolytes in
jam?
So I'm going to let you in ona little secret. Electrolytes is
just a fancy word fordifferent types of salt. So what
we do is we use potassiumchloride, which is a type of salt,
and then sodium chloride, andthat is all that it is. So all this
fancy marketing aboutelectrolytes, it's just salt.
(04:41):
It actually tasted likesomebody put some flake salt on some
jam sandwich and served it toyou and it actually tasted pretty
good. But what's the point ofall this?
We want this to be the jamthat you bring on the go and on adventures.
And jam historically is in aglass jar. It breaks, it's heavy.
And when you think about whenpeople are eating jam, it's for PB
(05:03):
and JS on the trail, it'scharcuterie on the beach. So why
not make it in a form factorthat's meant for that?
Now when you're on the floor,you start seeing the logic everywhere,
including this squeezable jamthat has electrolytes. So it's not
(05:24):
like a grocery store. This iswhere grocery stores go to dream
or hallucinate, dependingwhich aisle you're on, of course.
So to understand the scale, Italked. To Michelle Adams, who has
been coming to the show sincearound 2000. How would you describe
this show for someone who hasnever been to it?
Overwhelming, but in a goodway. Just every kind of food and
(05:44):
food. Trend that you couldever imagine and then some.
And to be clear, the show isnot open to the public like a county
fair where you bring your kidsand leave with a funnel cake and
a sunburn. This is a tradeshow. The buyers are here. The people
who decide what ends up onstore shelves are walking around
with badges and tote bags.This show is simply enormous. And
it's not just enormous for thesake of being enormous. It's where
(06:07):
buyers come to hunt for whatwe will all be eating next.
So we've probably gotsomewhere in the neighborhood of
2,300 exhibitors. We've gotabout 32,000 people, that is exhibitors
and attendees. On the attendeeside, it's probably in the 14,000
range.
If a regular consumer wants tocome by and take a look and walk
around. How does that work?
Unfortunately, we are a tradeonly event. So they kind of have
(06:28):
to live vicariously throughthe different media outlets and the
different buyers there. Thebuyers here, I mean, you're talking
about Whole Foods, you'retalking about H E B. You're talking
about the folks who are goingto bring these products to market.
So they're over here shoppingon behalf of the consumer to bring
stuff into the stores that theconsumers are going to love.
And apparently what consumersare going to love is tofu that you
(06:50):
can put in your pocket andwalk around with Caroline Dime, the
founder and CEO of Tofugo Snacks.
So usually tofu requiresrefrigeration. What we do is make
it shelf stable for ninemonths. So we removed the water to
make it shelf stable so it'seasier than ever. You can take it
anywhere, to the gym, to thebeach, to the Subway Portable.
(07:11):
And you're probably wondering,how on earth. Does someone come up
with a concept like this?
I used to work in merchantacquisition and finance. I would
snack on protein bars all thetime at my Desk. And one day I realized,
wow, I'm eating 50 grams ofsugar just from the protein bars
alone. What if I builtsomething with whole foods and savory
flavors with no sugar? Welaunched just three months ago, went
(07:33):
completely viral, got pickedup organically by Bon Appetit Food
and Wine, cnn. Many of thefriends were also here yesterday
to stop by and say hi. We'reso overwhelmed and grateful by all
the support of everyone.
The one thing you'll notice atthe. Fancy food show is this buzzword
(07:55):
pile up. You see gluten free,no sugar added keto, vegan, high
protein, non gmo, high fiber,you name it. And that's when I met
Christopher Keon. He's the cofounder of Good Journey and he makes
donuts and cookies. But notyour ordinary donuts and cookies.
We make decadent donuts andcookies that are low sugar, gluten
(08:15):
free and high fiber.
Okay, so one of the things I'mnoticing, I literally walk back and
your sign is enormous. Itlooks like a donut, but it says non
GMO keto, zero added sugar.That's quite a list of things it
does not have. What does it have?
It has fiber, it has a littlebit of protein. And the main thing
(08:36):
is that it doesn't have zeroadded sugar. So you won't get that
sugar crash or high. And sothat's our whole focus. How do you
have an amazing experiencewith donuts, the stuff that we grew
up loving but without the badexperience afterwards.
And if you look at thetrends,. This is not coming out of
(08:57):
nowhere. A lot of people arewatching their sugar, their carbs,
their protein, theiringredients. But there is a point
where a. Cookie startssounding like it's applying for a
health grant. And I genuinelyhad to know, what do people think
of a donut that's this healthy?
So the donuts, like ourchocolate donut, like we just had
someone come up to us and say,this reminds me of that one that's
(09:17):
in the white box.
It's the classic chocolatecovered Entenmann's donuts he's talking
about. And the moment I took abite of his donut. Yeah, I could
see how it tastes so similarand incredibly enough, much healthier.
Because it brings up thesememories that they had as a kid and
that they didn't eat. Youknow, they stopped eating because
(09:38):
of all the sugar.
Then there was the olive oilshot. Now, I grew up with Mediterranean
people. And olive oil is notnew to me. In fact, olive oil is
practically a relative. But atthis show, olive oil was not just
something you drizzle. It wassomething you take a shot of.
So the Kosterina brand isfully founded around consumer health.
(10:01):
That's Katerina Montano's, andshe explained to. Me how people are
taking shots of. Olive oilstraight for wellness reasons.
So the olive oil shot thatCostarena created is ultra high in
polyphenol content, Ultraearly harvest olive oil. Over 1,000
milligrams per kilogram ofthose polyphenols I was talking about.
And our consumers actuallystarted taking these shots on their
own. So they were taking shotsof our white bottle olive oil every
(10:24):
morning. This is an ancientritual. Like, my grandparents have
done this their entire lifeback in Greece. This is an ancient
ritual, but we were seeing onTikTok people like Hailey Bieber
and Courtney Kardashian sayingthat they're taking olive oil shots,
and that's really kind ofbrought it to the mainstream. And
of course, we were alreadycentered around high polyphenol olive
oil, and we're perfectlypositioned to create this product.
(10:45):
She gave me a few sample shotsto take home with me, and I haven't
taken it yet. I don't know.Something about taking a shot of
oil that sounds like a dareand not a wellness trend.
So if they don't want to takea shot of olive oil, you can put
this on food. I absolutelylove it on food. I have it on my
gluten free toast with alittle sea salt every morning. But
it's a more robust flavor thanwhat they're probably used to. It's
(11:07):
a little bit more bitter. Butif people are used to taking wellness
shots like turmeric andgingerbread, those are quite harsh.
This is not harsh like that.
(11:34):
All right, let's take a quickbreak, and when we come back, we're
still. At the Fancy food show,and we're talking savory oatmeal.
Seriously. Welcome back toAlways Hangry. We're still at the
Fancy food Show, and you know,we've spent generations teaching.
(11:56):
Oatmeal to behave likedessert. With brown sugar, maple,
blueberry, cinnamon, enoughsweetness to make your spoon vibrate.
And now the folks at GamzaFood. Are saying, what if your oatmeal
had garlic and miso?
We're trying to redefine whatbreakfast means in America by bringing
savory ethnic flavors to thebreakfast style.
That's Ruby Saenz, whoexplained to me what savory oatmeal
(12:18):
is.
Savory oatmeal is flavoredwith, like, garlic, miso, tamari
It's a base of, like, oats,and people often cook it already.
Like, if you go ontoPinterest, they'll add soy sauce,
they'll add miso. We took thatconcept and honestly made it very
convenient. And ours isinspired by Korean rice porridge
called juk or also Chinese congee.
(12:39):
How are you gonna convinceAmericans who love everything sweet
as hell to start eating asavory version of their beloved oatmeal?
It's funny you ask that. We atsome point worked with a manufacturer
in Arkansas and had to demowith a lot of people in the middle
of nowhere.
There.
Wheat, like, took our savoryoatmeal. They have oatmeal for breakfast.
Even people that are, like, 50plus, and they were honestly tired
(13:01):
of having blueberry sugarmaple, and we gave them another option.
They know what garlic is. Theyknow what oatmeal is. So now it's
like, another way to starttheir day. They're not having any,
like, blood sugar spikes, sohonestly, they really like that.
Ours is low sodium. I get noadded sugar, just 200 calories, 8
grams of protein. So it's areally great way to start their day.
Not a lot of convincing.
So what exactly does savoryoatmeal taste like?
(13:23):
Yeah, so right now we have asesame garlic flavor, and that's
our only one. We've reallytried to hone in on the base, which
is oats, puffed rice, andquinoa flakes. So it's a little bit
different. It does have thatrice from the puffed rice. So, like,
the texture is closer to,like, a rice porridge versus, like,
a really more like, let's sayslimy oatmeal.
And, yes, I was forced totaste a sample, but that's what this
(13:44):
whole show is about. You. Yousee, every single booth at the show
is handing out samples you can taste.
They spend a lot of time and alot of money to bring that product
here and to sample it in a waythat's attractive to the folks on
the show floor. And you haveto do that. I mean, you know, there's
a lot of trade shows outthere. I've been in the trade show
industry for a while, andthere are some folks out there who
think that they can do whatyou do at a trade show online or
(14:06):
through digital means. Thatwill never be true of food. You just
can't. It's just you cannotexperience it any way except in person
through a sample.
And if there's a sample I had.To taste during this show, well,
it was a charcuterie styletrail mix.
(14:28):
We are revolutionizing highprotein snacks using only real food.
So we do tried and true foodsinto a snack you've never had before.
That's Lucas Prado from BeastSnacks. That's a beast spelled B
E E S T. And he's trying tomake jerky behave more like a chip.
That kind of came aboutbecause my wife and I walked in on
(14:49):
my grandma who has diabetes,and like one day we would just walk
in the door and I'm like, hey,grandma. And she's like, ah. And
she spilled a bag of chips shehad hidden in her drawer because,
like, the whole family hasdiabetes. So they.
So it took a little bit of.Time, but Lucas was finally able
to tell me what's inside oftheir charcuterie trail mix.
We have pork jerky chipsbecause, you know, prosciutto or
(15:12):
serrano ham. We have parmesancheese, crisps and roasted almonds.
So we have three ingredientsand the weirdest ingredient or sub
ingredient or like hidden kindof thing within a thing is paprika.
And that's just because itsounds funny.
As you could tell, Lucas is acharacter and he's honestly doing
(15:33):
really well.
And I go to fitness eventsbecause we do high protein stuff
and I'm like the chubbiest guythere and I'm like selling like zero
sugar high protein things. Andthey're like, yeah, but like, do
you even. Do you even eatthis? I'm like, no, because I'm saving
it for you.
(16:18):
After the break, Goat cheesethat's gone purple. Trust me, it's
not what you think. We'll beright back. Back again at the fancy
food show. And I was able tomeet two. People who had never been
there before. This was first year.
(16:38):
It's huge. There's so muchgoing on. There's so many different
vendors. It's amazing.
That's Ryan and his colleagueJuliet owns an Italian deli market.
And of course, I asked themwhat's the most interesting thing
he saw at the show.
Okay. Pizza with yellow tomatosauce. I've never had that before.
It was kind of like. Likealmost tasted like vegetable soup.
(17:00):
But it was good. It was really good.
How would you describe theshow in general?
Just so many people walkingaround, so much to see, so many different
things to try. Like, you can'thave a bad time here.
If they gave you a free passto the show or Disneyland, where
would you go?
I'd be here. I'd be here. No doubt.
Indeed. This may be the mostmagical Place on earth. Because only
(17:24):
here can purple ube goatcheese seem perfectly normal. It's
almost off putting, but thenwhen you see it's ube, you're suddenly
saying, okay, this could be good.
It's certainly eye catching.There's, like, hints of blue for
me, so absolutely violet. Alittle bit of blue. And I'll tell
you what, people are eatingwith their eyes. They come to the
booth, you know, kind oflooking at it like something might
(17:46):
be wrong. But as soon as theytry it, they go back for a second
bite.
Alex Koonin, president ofLeclair Creamery, explained to me
how a customer requested ubeinside their goat cheese. Now, ube,
if you don't know, is a purpleyam native to the Philippines. It's
known for its vibrant violetcolor and mildly sweet, nutty flav
flavor and pairs remarkablywell with goat cheese.
(18:06):
Goat cheese has this reallyunique citrus note that comes through.
It should be fresh, it shouldbe clean. And that citrus really
helps complement the coconut,the earthiness. It sort of cuts through.
When I'm eating it, I kind offeel like I have four or five different
flavors going on, and it'svery interesting.
Another flavor that keptpopping up at the fancy food show
was tamarind. If you don'tknow tamarind, it's sour, tart, tangy,
(18:26):
kind of sweet. And it shows upin cuisines all over the world. At
Tamarind heads, Sashi, Kumarand Brittany built an entire brand
saying this ingredient belongsin the American cuisine.
And what we've done is ourfirst product is a barbecue sauce.
It's exactly how my wifeBrittany and I eat every day. We
dip our chicken nuggets in it.We use a crock pot and make our food
for the weeknights. Weactually put it into our eggs and
(18:48):
give it to our 2 year old. Sowe're taking a fruit that's used
every single day around theworld, and we're putting it into
products that we hear heat asAmericans every single day.
And that made me think howadventurous American pallets have
become. Tamarind has made theleap from Indian, Thai, Mexican,
Middle Eastern into theAmerican mainstream, thanks to these
guys.
(19:09):
I would say it is the truerepresentation, at least for me,
of what I think of America. Itis the melting pot of so many wonderful
places around the world, andyou can only bring that together
here. It's the innovation,it's the people. It's the desire
to see new things and bringnew things in. And that's, to me,
what America represents. And IFeel like we're really following
(19:30):
that, that tradition and that ideal.
It's crazy to see that some ofthese products aren't just food.
They're a source of pride tosome of these people. Around the
world. Artisans spend years,sometimes generations, perfecting
a single craft, and they can'twait to share it with you at the
show. Take for example,Stefano from SCP Global Imports,
who was literally servingentire burrata cheeses for each person
(19:51):
at the show. Are peoplecapable of eating an entire burrata
at the show?
Yeah, of course. It's notwork, like, to just, like, have a
little task. You gotta havethe full experience.
I felt like this guy was like.Every Italian I've ever known, opening
their doors and their kitchensand their refrigerators just to make
sure I'm eating something.
We grew up in Italy and that'slike, normal for us. Like, walk in
(20:16):
during the afternoon and seethe guys making fresh burrata or
fresh mozzarella and grabright from there.
And we're seeing a lot ofburrata in every supermarket today.
Oh, yes, yes.
Is that helping your business?Even if you see a larger manufacturer
of burrata, does it help youalso sell more?
Yes, because people, they knowmore of the test and they know what
it is. So it's when they testthe difference from the regular supermarket
(20:40):
to the, like, small shop, likeus, they know the difference, like,
right away.
Who makes the best burrata?
Us.
Then I found the cocktail cubeat your grandpa's Old Fashioned.
Krista Arlund, the owner, hada product that basically made Old
(21:02):
Fashioned at home withoutrequiring a bartender.
So the cocktail cube is allinclusive. It has two kinds of Angostura
bitters in it, a Michigansugar and orange. So it is just the
recipe for an Old Fashionedput into a cube. You throw it in
your glass, muddle it up, andadd 3 ounces of bourbon, whiskey
or rye. We only make doubles.We think singles are silly. And so
(21:23):
you'll have to add that 3 to 4ounces and it makes a perfect Old
Fashioned restaurant qualityevery single time.
Honestly, it's almost likewe're all trying to hack food faster,
easier, tastier, healthier.Everyone's looking for the next shortcut.
Which brings me to PrimeRoots. I've been seeing these guys
at the Fancy food Show yearafter year.
(21:43):
So at Prime Roots, we'remaking all of our favorite deli classics
made from fungi. So think yourhumble mushrooms turned into your
favorite deli meats. So thebenefits are that there's none of
the bad stuff you findtypically in deli so no nitrates,
preservatives, hormones, andit really is good for you with all
the protein and the experiencethat you expect, just really upgrading
(22:07):
the sandwich.
Kim says that Prime Roots isgeared towards flexitarians, not
necessarily vegetarians.
So people are looking toreduce their meat consumption, eat
a little bit healthier, butnot vegan, vegetarian. You're not
trying to prescribe asingular, really restrictive diet.
It's just a mindful eaterwho's looking to eat more protein
(22:27):
but less from an animal source.
Some of those vegan deli meatsthey have are smoked turkey, black
forest ham, Italian salami,pepperoni, even applewood smoked
bacon. By the way, you can'tsee it, but I'm doing air quotes
every time I say any one ofthese meats because after all, they're
all made fungi. By the end ofthe show, I had eaten, sipped, smelled,
(22:57):
questioned, and politelynodded my way through enough food
innovation to make my tote bagfeel like I'd just gotten back from
a Costco run. But then I foundsomething that was not exactly a
food product. It was aninformation product about food.
Essentially, we have brokendown the food system at an ingredient
level like no one else.
(23:17):
That's Eric Katzenberg, chiefmarketing officer of Wisecode.
So we went through those 5,100ingredients and analyzed each of
them and created the greatestdatabase of ingredients in the world.
Eric is saying that wisecode,this app, is bringing the world food
truth through.
The power of AI and with ourdatabase, we're able to actually
(23:38):
look into the packagedingredients, the packaged food system,
and break it down and give youexactly what the nutritional quality
is, the ingredient quality,health outcomes, and give you a full,
complete picture of whatyou're actually eating.
So you download the Wise Codeapp, It scans a QR code of the. Food
you're about to purchase, andthen. AI gets to work.
So the number one thing withour app, when you scan a product,
(23:59):
you see if it's ultraprocessed or not. And that that to
us is the biggest, biggestissue for consumers we want to address.
And from there, you can go astep further and you can look at
health outcomes, nutritionquality, density, and give you your
and actually make your ownpreferences within the app and what
you're looking for with each product.
By the way, if you'reinterested, you can download Wise
(24:21):
Code right now from the AppStore or Google Play. So what did
I learn after two hours ofinterviews, one massive convention
center, and enough samples toruin the concept of lunch? Well,
for one thing, we haven'tstopped Innovating in the world of
food. But is every inventionnecessary? I mean, does toast need
electrolyte jam? Does Americareally need a savory oatmeal? And
(24:43):
does cotton candy need totaste like salted butter? That's
not for me to say. But what Ido know is that every one of those
products tells you somethingabout us. We want fun, health, convenience,
and things that surprise ourpalates. We want to believe that
the next bite might be alittle better, smarter, stranger
and more delicious than thelast one. I walked out of the Jacob
(25:06):
Javits center feeling like Ihad toured the future of American
pantry with sore feet, a fulltote bag, and a deep respect for
anyone brave enough to say Iinvented this. Please taste it. By
the way, show notes and all.These links can be found in the description
(25:27):
orover@alwayshangrypodcast.com I'm
George Duran. Thanks fortuning in to Always Hangry. If you
enjoyed the show, be sure tosubscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
And for bonus content, episodenotes, behind the scenes extras and
much, much more, visitalwayshangrypodcast.com until next
time, stay hungry.
You have a cotton candy thattastes like salted butter. Tell me,
where did that come from?
General weirdness, I wouldsay, and a love of all things food.
Welcome to The Always HangryPodcast where. We explore the way
we eat the good, the bad, andthe completely ridiculous. I'm your
(00:20):
host, George Duran. Todaywe're at the Fancy Food show. Right
here in New York City. Everyyear, thousands of new food products
are introduced in the UnitedStates with one goal, to become the
next thing you can't stopeating. Some of them solve real problems,
some of them are completelyunexpected. And sometimes you're
left asking whether the worldreally needed electrolyte jam or
(00:44):
portable tofu. But every oneof them tells us something about
where our food culture isheaded. Today we're walking around
the show where we taste thenewest products, meet the people
behind it, and find out whatthey say about the future of food.
If you haven't heard of theFancy. Food show, this is where thousands
of food makers from around theworld gather together to unveil everything
(01:05):
from the next big groceryobsession to products you won't actually
believe exist.
So we wanted to make somethingthat was also appealing to adults.
And we find that adults arereally drawn to both the nostalgia
of cotton candy, but alsomodern trends of putting a twist
on it. So that's how we endedup with salted butter.
That was Morgan wheeler,founder and CEO of Cirrus 9 Candy,
(01:25):
explaining why she makessalted butter cotton candy. By the
way, cirrus is spelled C I R RU S like the cirrus clouds, hence
the cloud shaped cotton candy.Are we seeing a big trend on candy
kind of being skewed to olderadults, not just for nostalgia, but
also kind of more of a refinedflavor profile?
(01:46):
Yeah, absolutely. We have seenthat people, yes. Not only with the
nostalgia, but also lookingfor different flavor profiles and
ways to reinvent some sort ofold classics, that kind of tale,
as old as time kind of stuff.
Some of the other flavors thatSiris9. Sells are things like lychee
and tulare cherry, Madagascarvanilla, New York maple syrup, even
(02:07):
forest berry and pina colada.By the way, if you didn't know, the
Fancy Food show takes place atNew York City's largest convention
center, the Jacob JavitsCenter. This convention is huge.
There are buyers, there aredistributors, importers, retailers,
press, people wearing lanyardswith the confidence I can only dream
of. Honestly, the world showsup here and everybody's handing you
(02:31):
a sample to taste. This showis a foodies Disneyland. So what
I'M really trying to figure.Out is how weird does food have to
get before it becomes the nextbig thing? And of course, that means
sacrificing myself. To eat fortwo entire days. A bunch of jerky
(02:55):
chips, portable tofu, birchSAP, UBE goat cheese and cocktail
cubes. You know, just for research.
Okay, so this is a group ofmakers and manufacturers of specialty
food.
That's Liana Salama, seniorvice president of marketing and communications
for the Specialty Food Association.
If you think about specialtyfood, it's a high quality, lots of
(03:17):
craftsmanship, value based,kind of all the better version of
the food that's out thereright now. It's a showcase of creativity
and innovation. I mean, theseare small makers who are coming up
with ideas in their kitchenand then bringing them to market.
So these are not ideas thatare kind of focus grouped or mass
produced. These are littleeclectic ideas that are being brought
(03:37):
to life.
So that line stuck with me.Little eclectic ideas being brought
to life. And that's becausethe entire show is. Not just a trade
show. It's thousands of tinyfood bets. Somebody's betting that
America wants savory oatmeal.Somebody's betting that cotton candy
should taste like saltedbutter. Somebody's betting that the
next thing we all need is jamwith electrolytes.
(03:59):
So my name is Jesse Lenovskiand I'm the founder of Jesse Jams.
And what we do is we make realsmall batch jam with electrolytes
in packable ready to gopouches that, that you can bring
camping, hiking, backpacking,great for picnics on the beach. And
then you can also use it as areal energy gel alternative that's
fully natural, tastes a wholelot better and fuels you just the
(04:20):
same.
So clearly the next questionis how do you get electrolytes in
jam?
So I'm going to let you in ona little secret. Electrolytes is
just a fancy word fordifferent types of salt. So what
we do is we use potassiumchloride, which is a type of salt,
and then sodium chloride, andthat is all that it is. So all this
fancy marketing aboutelectrolytes, it's just salt.
(04:41):
It actually tasted likesomebody put some flake salt on some
jam sandwich and served it toyou and it actually tasted pretty
good. But what's the point ofall this?
We want this to be the jamthat you bring on the go and on adventures.
And jam historically is in aglass jar. It breaks, it's heavy.
And when you think about whenpeople are eating jam, it's for PB
(05:03):
and JS on the trail, it'scharcuterie on the beach. So why
not make it in a form factorthat's meant for that?
Now when you're on the floor,you start seeing the logic everywhere,
including this squeezable jamthat has electrolytes. So it's not
(05:24):
like a grocery store. This iswhere grocery stores go to dream
or hallucinate, dependingwhich aisle you're on, of course.
So to understand the scale, Italked. To Michelle Adams, who has
been coming to the show sincearound 2000. How would you describe
this show for someone who hasnever been to it?
Overwhelming, but in a goodway. Just every kind of food and
(05:44):
food. Trend that you couldever imagine and then some.
And to be clear, the show isnot open to the public like a county
fair where you bring your kidsand leave with a funnel cake and
a sunburn. This is a tradeshow. The buyers are here. The people
who decide what ends up onstore shelves are walking around
with badges and tote bags.This show is simply enormous. And
it's not just enormous for thesake of being enormous. It's where
(06:07):
buyers come to hunt for whatwe will all be eating next.
So we've probably gotsomewhere in the neighborhood of
2,300 exhibitors. We've gotabout 32,000 people, that is exhibitors
and attendees. On the attendeeside, it's probably in the 14,000
range.
If a regular consumer wants tocome by and take a look and walk
around. How does that work?
Unfortunately, we are a tradeonly event. So they kind of have
(06:28):
to live vicariously throughthe different media outlets and the
different buyers there. Thebuyers here, I mean, you're talking
about Whole Foods, you'retalking about H E B. You're talking
about the folks who are goingto bring these products to market.
So they're over here shoppingon behalf of the consumer to bring
stuff into the stores that theconsumers are going to love.
And apparently what consumersare going to love is tofu that you
(06:50):
can put in your pocket andwalk around with Caroline Dime, the
founder and CEO of Tofugo Snacks.
So usually tofu requiresrefrigeration. What we do is make
it shelf stable for ninemonths. So we removed the water to
make it shelf stable so it'seasier than ever. You can take it
anywhere, to the gym, to thebeach, to the Subway Portable.
(07:11):
And you're probably wondering,how on earth. Does someone come up
with a concept like this?
I used to work in merchantacquisition and finance. I would
snack on protein bars all thetime at my Desk. And one day I realized,
wow, I'm eating 50 grams ofsugar just from the protein bars
alone. What if I builtsomething with whole foods and savory
flavors with no sugar? Welaunched just three months ago, went
(07:33):
completely viral, got pickedup organically by Bon Appetit Food
and Wine, cnn. Many of thefriends were also here yesterday
to stop by and say hi. We'reso overwhelmed and grateful by all
the support of everyone.
The one thing you'll notice atthe. Fancy food show is this buzzword
(07:55):
pile up. You see gluten free,no sugar added keto, vegan, high
protein, non gmo, high fiber,you name it. And that's when I met
Christopher Keon. He's the cofounder of Good Journey and he makes
donuts and cookies. But notyour ordinary donuts and cookies.
We make decadent donuts andcookies that are low sugar, gluten
(08:15):
free and high fiber.
Okay, so one of the things I'mnoticing, I literally walk back and
your sign is enormous. Itlooks like a donut, but it says non
GMO keto, zero added sugar.That's quite a list of things it
does not have. What does it have?
It has fiber, it has a littlebit of protein. And the main thing
(08:36):
is that it doesn't have zeroadded sugar. So you won't get that
sugar crash or high. And sothat's our whole focus. How do you
have an amazing experiencewith donuts, the stuff that we grew
up loving but without the badexperience afterwards.
And if you look at thetrends,. This is not coming out of
(08:57):
nowhere. A lot of people arewatching their sugar, their carbs,
their protein, theiringredients. But there is a point
where a. Cookie startssounding like it's applying for a
health grant. And I genuinelyhad to know, what do people think
of a donut that's this healthy?
So the donuts, like ourchocolate donut, like we just had
someone come up to us and say,this reminds me of that one that's
(09:17):
in the white box.
It's the classic chocolatecovered Entenmann's donuts he's talking
about. And the moment I took abite of his donut. Yeah, I could
see how it tastes so similarand incredibly enough, much healthier.
Because it brings up thesememories that they had as a kid and
that they didn't eat. Youknow, they stopped eating because
(09:38):
of all the sugar.
Then there was the olive oilshot. Now, I grew up with Mediterranean
people. And olive oil is notnew to me. In fact, olive oil is
practically a relative. But atthis show, olive oil was not just
something you drizzle. It wassomething you take a shot of.
So the Kosterina brand isfully founded around consumer health.
(10:01):
That's Katerina Montano's, andshe explained to. Me how people are
taking shots of. Olive oilstraight for wellness reasons.
So the olive oil shot thatCostarena created is ultra high in
polyphenol content, Ultraearly harvest olive oil. Over 1,000
milligrams per kilogram ofthose polyphenols I was talking about.
And our consumers actuallystarted taking these shots on their
own. So they were taking shotsof our white bottle olive oil every
(10:24):
morning. This is an ancientritual. Like, my grandparents have
done this their entire lifeback in Greece. This is an ancient
ritual, but we were seeing onTikTok people like Hailey Bieber
and Courtney Kardashian sayingthat they're taking olive oil shots,
and that's really kind ofbrought it to the mainstream. And
of course, we were alreadycentered around high polyphenol olive
oil, and we're perfectlypositioned to create this product.
(10:45):
She gave me a few sample shotsto take home with me, and I haven't
taken it yet. I don't know.Something about taking a shot of
oil that sounds like a dareand not a wellness trend.
So if they don't want to takea shot of olive oil, you can put
this on food. I absolutelylove it on food. I have it on my
gluten free toast with alittle sea salt every morning. But
it's a more robust flavor thanwhat they're probably used to. It's
(11:07):
a little bit more bitter. Butif people are used to taking wellness
shots like turmeric andgingerbread, those are quite harsh.
This is not harsh like that.
(11:34):
All right, let's take a quickbreak, and when we come back, we're
still. At the Fancy food show,and we're talking savory oatmeal.
Seriously. Welcome back toAlways Hangry. We're still at the
Fancy food Show, and you know,we've spent generations teaching.
(11:56):
Oatmeal to behave likedessert. With brown sugar, maple,
blueberry, cinnamon, enoughsweetness to make your spoon vibrate.
And now the folks at GamzaFood. Are saying, what if your oatmeal
had garlic and miso?
We're trying to redefine whatbreakfast means in America by bringing
savory ethnic flavors to thebreakfast style.
That's Ruby Saenz, whoexplained to me what savory oatmeal
(12:18):
is.
Savory oatmeal is flavoredwith, like, garlic, miso, tamari
It's a base of, like, oats,and people often cook it already.
Like, if you go ontoPinterest, they'll add soy sauce,
they'll add miso. We took thatconcept and honestly made it very
convenient. And ours isinspired by Korean rice porridge
called juk or also Chinese congee.
(12:39):
How are you gonna convinceAmericans who love everything sweet
as hell to start eating asavory version of their beloved oatmeal?
It's funny you ask that. We atsome point worked with a manufacturer
in Arkansas and had to demowith a lot of people in the middle
of nowhere.
There.
Wheat, like, took our savoryoatmeal. They have oatmeal for breakfast.
Even people that are, like, 50plus, and they were honestly tired
(13:01):
of having blueberry sugarmaple, and we gave them another option.
They know what garlic is. Theyknow what oatmeal is. So now it's
like, another way to starttheir day. They're not having any,
like, blood sugar spikes, sohonestly, they really like that.
Ours is low sodium. I get noadded sugar, just 200 calories, 8
grams of protein. So it's areally great way to start their day.
Not a lot of convincing.
So what exactly does savoryoatmeal taste like?
(13:23):
Yeah, so right now we have asesame garlic flavor, and that's
our only one. We've reallytried to hone in on the base, which
is oats, puffed rice, andquinoa flakes. So it's a little bit
different. It does have thatrice from the puffed rice. So, like,
the texture is closer to,like, a rice porridge versus, like,
a really more like, let's sayslimy oatmeal.
And, yes, I was forced totaste a sample, but that's what this
(13:44):
whole show is about. You. Yousee, every single booth at the show
is handing out samples you can taste.
They spend a lot of time and alot of money to bring that product
here and to sample it in a waythat's attractive to the folks on
the show floor. And you haveto do that. I mean, you know, there's
a lot of trade shows outthere. I've been in the trade show
industry for a while, andthere are some folks out there who
think that they can do whatyou do at a trade show online or
(14:06):
through digital means. Thatwill never be true of food. You just
can't. It's just you cannotexperience it any way except in person
through a sample.
And if there's a sample I had.To taste during this show, well,
it was a charcuterie styletrail mix.
(14:28):
We are revolutionizing highprotein snacks using only real food.
So we do tried and true foodsinto a snack you've never had before.
That's Lucas Prado from BeastSnacks. That's a beast spelled B
E E S T. And he's trying tomake jerky behave more like a chip.
That kind of came aboutbecause my wife and I walked in on
(14:49):
my grandma who has diabetes,and like one day we would just walk
in the door and I'm like, hey,grandma. And she's like, ah. And
she spilled a bag of chips shehad hidden in her drawer because,
like, the whole family hasdiabetes. So they.
So it took a little bit of.Time, but Lucas was finally able
to tell me what's inside oftheir charcuterie trail mix.
We have pork jerky chipsbecause, you know, prosciutto or
(15:12):
serrano ham. We have parmesancheese, crisps and roasted almonds.
So we have three ingredientsand the weirdest ingredient or sub
ingredient or like hidden kindof thing within a thing is paprika.
And that's just because itsounds funny.
As you could tell, Lucas is acharacter and he's honestly doing
(15:33):
really well.
And I go to fitness eventsbecause we do high protein stuff
and I'm like the chubbiest guythere and I'm like selling like zero
sugar high protein things. Andthey're like, yeah, but like, do
you even. Do you even eatthis? I'm like, no, because I'm saving
it for you.
(16:18):
After the break, Goat cheesethat's gone purple. Trust me, it's
not what you think. We'll beright back. Back again at the fancy
food show. And I was able tomeet two. People who had never been
there before. This was first year.
(16:38):
It's huge. There's so muchgoing on. There's so many different
vendors. It's amazing.
That's Ryan and his colleagueJuliet owns an Italian deli market.
And of course, I asked themwhat's the most interesting thing
he saw at the show.
Okay. Pizza with yellow tomatosauce. I've never had that before.
It was kind of like. Likealmost tasted like vegetable soup.
(17:00):
But it was good. It was really good.
How would you describe theshow in general?
Just so many people walkingaround, so much to see, so many different
things to try. Like, you can'thave a bad time here.
If they gave you a free passto the show or Disneyland, where
would you go?
I'd be here. I'd be here. No doubt.
Indeed. This may be the mostmagical Place on earth. Because only
(17:24):
here can purple ube goatcheese seem perfectly normal. It's
almost off putting, but thenwhen you see it's ube, you're suddenly
saying, okay, this could be good.
It's certainly eye catching.There's, like, hints of blue for
me, so absolutely violet. Alittle bit of blue. And I'll tell
you what, people are eatingwith their eyes. They come to the
booth, you know, kind oflooking at it like something might
(17:46):
be wrong. But as soon as theytry it, they go back for a second
bite.
Alex Koonin, president ofLeclair Creamery, explained to me
how a customer requested ubeinside their goat cheese. Now, ube,
if you don't know, is a purpleyam native to the Philippines. It's
known for its vibrant violetcolor and mildly sweet, nutty flav
flavor and pairs remarkablywell with goat cheese.
(18:06):
Goat cheese has this reallyunique citrus note that comes through.
It should be fresh, it shouldbe clean. And that citrus really
helps complement the coconut,the earthiness. It sort of cuts through.
When I'm eating it, I kind offeel like I have four or five different
flavors going on, and it'svery interesting.
Another flavor that keptpopping up at the fancy food show
was tamarind. If you don'tknow tamarind, it's sour, tart, tangy,
(18:26):
kind of sweet. And it shows upin cuisines all over the world. At
Tamarind heads, Sashi, Kumarand Brittany built an entire brand
saying this ingredient belongsin the American cuisine.
And what we've done is ourfirst product is a barbecue sauce.
It's exactly how my wifeBrittany and I eat every day. We
dip our chicken nuggets in it.We use a crock pot and make our food
for the weeknights. Weactually put it into our eggs and
(18:48):
give it to our 2 year old. Sowe're taking a fruit that's used
every single day around theworld, and we're putting it into
products that we hear heat asAmericans every single day.
And that made me think howadventurous American pallets have
become. Tamarind has made theleap from Indian, Thai, Mexican,
Middle Eastern into theAmerican mainstream, thanks to these
guys.
(19:09):
I would say it is the truerepresentation, at least for me,
of what I think of America. Itis the melting pot of so many wonderful
places around the world, andyou can only bring that together
here. It's the innovation,it's the people. It's the desire
to see new things and bringnew things in. And that's, to me,
what America represents. And IFeel like we're really following
(19:30):
that, that tradition and that ideal.
It's crazy to see that some ofthese products aren't just food.
They're a source of pride tosome of these people. Around the
world. Artisans spend years,sometimes generations, perfecting
a single craft, and they can'twait to share it with you at the
show. Take for example,Stefano from SCP Global Imports,
who was literally servingentire burrata cheeses for each person
(19:51):
at the show. Are peoplecapable of eating an entire burrata
at the show?
Yeah, of course. It's notwork, like, to just, like, have a
little task. You gotta havethe full experience.
I felt like this guy was like.Every Italian I've ever known, opening
their doors and their kitchensand their refrigerators just to make
sure I'm eating something.
We grew up in Italy and that'slike, normal for us. Like, walk in
(20:16):
during the afternoon and seethe guys making fresh burrata or
fresh mozzarella and grabright from there.
And we're seeing a lot ofburrata in every supermarket today.
Oh, yes, yes.
Is that helping your business?Even if you see a larger manufacturer
of burrata, does it help youalso sell more?
Yes, because people, they knowmore of the test and they know what
it is. So it's when they testthe difference from the regular supermarket
(20:40):
to the, like, small shop, likeus, they know the difference, like,
right away.
Who makes the best burrata?
Us.
Then I found the cocktail cubeat your grandpa's Old Fashioned.
Krista Arlund, the owner, hada product that basically made Old
(21:02):
Fashioned at home withoutrequiring a bartender.
So the cocktail cube is allinclusive. It has two kinds of Angostura
bitters in it, a Michigansugar and orange. So it is just the
recipe for an Old Fashionedput into a cube. You throw it in
your glass, muddle it up, andadd 3 ounces of bourbon, whiskey
or rye. We only make doubles.We think singles are silly. And so
(21:23):
you'll have to add that 3 to 4ounces and it makes a perfect Old
Fashioned restaurant qualityevery single time.
Honestly, it's almost likewe're all trying to hack food faster,
easier, tastier, healthier.Everyone's looking for the next shortcut.
Which brings me to PrimeRoots. I've been seeing these guys
at the Fancy food Show yearafter year.
(21:43):
So at Prime Roots, we'remaking all of our favorite deli classics
made from fungi. So think yourhumble mushrooms turned into your
favorite deli meats. So thebenefits are that there's none of
the bad stuff you findtypically in deli so no nitrates,
preservatives, hormones, andit really is good for you with all
the protein and the experiencethat you expect, just really upgrading
(22:07):
the sandwich.
Kim says that Prime Roots isgeared towards flexitarians, not
necessarily vegetarians.
So people are looking toreduce their meat consumption, eat
a little bit healthier, butnot vegan, vegetarian. You're not
trying to prescribe asingular, really restrictive diet.
It's just a mindful eaterwho's looking to eat more protein
(22:27):
but less from an animal source.
Some of those vegan deli meatsthey have are smoked turkey, black
forest ham, Italian salami,pepperoni, even applewood smoked
bacon. By the way, you can'tsee it, but I'm doing air quotes
every time I say any one ofthese meats because after all, they're
all made fungi. By the end ofthe show, I had eaten, sipped, smelled,
(22:57):
questioned, and politelynodded my way through enough food
innovation to make my tote bagfeel like I'd just gotten back from
a Costco run. But then I foundsomething that was not exactly a
food product. It was aninformation product about food.
Essentially, we have brokendown the food system at an ingredient
level like no one else.
(23:17):
That's Eric Katzenberg, chiefmarketing officer of Wisecode.
So we went through those 5,100ingredients and analyzed each of
them and created the greatestdatabase of ingredients in the world.
Eric is saying that wisecode,this app, is bringing the world food
truth through.
The power of AI and with ourdatabase, we're able to actually
(23:38):
look into the packagedingredients, the packaged food system,
and break it down and give youexactly what the nutritional quality
is, the ingredient quality,health outcomes, and give you a full,
complete picture of whatyou're actually eating.
So you download the Wise Codeapp, It scans a QR code of the. Food
you're about to purchase, andthen. AI gets to work.
So the number one thing withour app, when you scan a product,
(23:59):
you see if it's ultraprocessed or not. And that that to
us is the biggest, biggestissue for consumers we want to address.
And from there, you can go astep further and you can look at
health outcomes, nutritionquality, density, and give you your
and actually make your ownpreferences within the app and what
you're looking for with each product.
By the way, if you'reinterested, you can download Wise
(24:21):
Code right now from the AppStore or Google Play. So what did
I learn after two hours ofinterviews, one massive convention
center, and enough samples toruin the concept of lunch? Well,
for one thing, we haven'tstopped Innovating in the world of
food. But is every inventionnecessary? I mean, does toast need
electrolyte jam? Does Americareally need a savory oatmeal? And
(24:43):
does cotton candy need totaste like salted butter? That's
not for me to say. But what Ido know is that every one of those
products tells you somethingabout us. We want fun, health, convenience,
and things that surprise ourpalates. We want to believe that
the next bite might be alittle better, smarter, stranger
and more delicious than thelast one. I walked out of the Jacob
(25:06):
Javits center feeling like Ihad toured the future of American
pantry with sore feet, a fulltote bag, and a deep respect for
anyone brave enough to say Iinvented this. Please taste it. By
the way, show notes and all.These links can be found in the description
(25:27):
orover@alwayshangrypodcast.com I'm
George Duran. Thanks fortuning in to Always Hangry. If you
enjoyed the show, be sure tosubscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
And for bonus content, episodenotes, behind the scenes extras and
much, much more, visitalwayshangrypodcast.com until next
time, stay hungry.
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