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It seems a foregone conclu- sion at this point, that each year's incarnation of the Summer Fancy Food Show will be bigger, will feature more exhibitors and will draw more attendees than the year before. This year's show, which concluded on July 1, featured a record 2,730 specialty food companies, exhibiting at least 180,000 food products from around the world in a sold-out 361,000 square-foot exhibit space. While few were surprised by the record attendance at this year's Summer Fancy Food Show, perhaps more were impressed by the unprecedented breadth of products at the show and the staggering degree of in- novation behind them. For those who at- tend the show year-in and year-out, it is always fascinating that specialty food com- panies continue to be able to surprise at- tendees by bringing something new to the table. Among the companies I had the op- portunity to speak with at the show, a number surprised me with their novel introductions to the specialty food mar- ket. Tonewood Maple, this year's sofi Award winner for Outstanding Product Line, for example, brought the com- pany's Maple Cube (available in both fancy and Grade B varieties) to the show. Literally a gratable cube of maple sugar that could impart sweetness to every- thing from oatmeal to coffee, the Maple Cube is simply something completely new to the maple category. In the sofi Outstanding New Product category alone, there were 10 products honored, each one something com- pletely unprecedented. Groix & Nature was honored for the company's Lobster Oil, a unique vegetable oil flavored with spiced lobster shells that is the perfect thing to impart seafood flavor to pasta, rice or vegetables. Manicaretti Italian Foods was honored for its crunchy fer- mented, salt cured and dehydrated ca- pers, a truly singular salad topping. Other innovative new products honored included a grapefruit- and lilac-infused water from Blossom Water, a black tea- based cocktail mixer infused with hibis- cus and strawberry from Owl's Brew and a crispbread made from lentils and rice and flavored with Himalayan pink salt and sesame from East Hampton Gour- met Foods. In his keynote address at the show, celebrity pastry chef Dominique Ansel praised the creative imaginations behind many of the innovative new products he saw introduced at the show. Ansel seemed positively inspired himself to create new products in his own bakery after seeing the spirit of invention at work on the show floor. "When you think of ideas, you al- ways want to push yourself to try new things," said Ansel. "I will never stop thinking. I will never stop trying." In concluding his speech, Ansel warned attendees against complacency. "If you all in here have great ideas, I invite you to come back next year with better ideas," he said. Without a doubt, next year's Summer Fancy Food Show will be even bigger than this year's, and exhibitors will indeed re- turn with new and even better ideas in 2015. I for one cannot wait to see what the leaders in the specialty food industry have in store for us next. GN — Lucas Witman, Editor 520.721.1300 lucas_w@oser.com GOURMET NEWS AUGUST 2014 www.gourmetnews.com EDITORIAL 1 0 WWW.GOURMETNEWS.COM PUBLISHER Lee M. Oser ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Kim Forrester Paul Harris paul_h@oser.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lorrie Baumann lorrie_b@oser.com EDITOR Lucas Witman editor@oser.com ASSOCIATE EDITORS David Bernard Amber Gallegos GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Yasmine Brown Vicky Glover ACCOUNT MANAGERS Larry Blaskey Jules Denton Ryan Harter Lynn Hilton CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER Caitlyn Roach caitlyn_r@oser.com CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Product Wrap-up & Classified Sales Tara Neal tara_n@oser.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Jamie Green jamie_g@oser.com PUBLISHING OFFICE 1877 N. Kolb Road P.O. Box 1056 Tucson, AZ 85715 520.721.1300 Fax 520.721.6300 SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Gourmet News P.O. Box 30520 Tucson, AZ 85751 520.721.1300 G OURMET N EWS ® PRESIDENT Lee M. Oser MEMBER OF: Periodicals postage paid at Tucson, AZ, and ad- ditional mailing office. Gourmet News (ISSN 1052-4630) is published monthly by Oser Com- munications Group, 1877 North Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ 85715; 520.721.1300. Publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited mate- rial or prices quoted in newspaper. Contributors are responsible for proper release of proprietary classified information. ©2014 by Oser Communications Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction, in whole or in part, without written permission of the publisher, is expressly prohibited. Back issues, when avail- able, cost $7 each within the past 12 months, $12 each prior to the past 12 months. Back or- ders must be paid in advance either by check or charged to American Express, Visa, or Master Card. Gourmet News is distributed without charge in North America to qualified profession- als in the retail and distribution channels of the specialty foods and hardgoods trade; paid sub- scriptions cost $65 annually to the U.S. and Canada. All foreign subscriptions cost $150 an- nually to cover air delivery. All payments must be made in U.S. funds and drawn on a U.S. bank. For subscriber services, including subscription information, call 520.721.1300. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Gourmet News, 1877 North Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ 85715. FROM THE EDITOR

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