Twice a year, the legendary Fancy Food Show In the summer, the best and most innovative producers meet in New York to present their delicatessen products to the interested world. In the winter, people are usually invited to warmer San Francisco. The event has become so international that visitors come from all over the world. The exhibitors are now just as international. The partner country this summer was Italy and when walking through the hall you could just as well have been at the market in Rome. There is cooking and presentation and almost everything is there to try.
During the peak of the pandemic, the show was only held digitally and at the in-person events in 2021, only Americans were allowed to enter the country due to the many travel restrictions. After three years of abstinence, we are back from Team American Heritage finally went to the culinary fair again. The anticipation and excitement were correspondingly great! It is always an experience to find a parking space in downtown New York, because there are many one-way streets and a lot of traffic around the fair. And as we all know from America, the rooms are well air-conditioned - almost a little too cold for us Europeans. So it's a matter of wearing comfortable shoes and something long-sleeved despite the summer temperatures.
The exhibitors are sorted by region, not by their delicacies. As we walk up and down the halls, we try something savory, something sweet, a bitter drink, then another sauce, a sip of tea... After a few hours at the trade fair, our stomachs become a mess, but that's also the fun part. Discovering new things, trying everything, finding some things good and then perhaps rejecting some things.
American Heritage's favorite exhibitors will of course also be exhibiting at the show. Stonewall Kitchen had a beautifully decorated and large exhibition stand and there were some new products to discover. In September, three new sauces in our range: Chimichurri Grille Sauce, Hickory Brown Sugar Grille Sauce and Hot Honey Wing Sauce. We tried them all in detail and found them very tasty - so we ordered them straight away for American Heritage. We also discovered a delicious Maple Apple Jam at the Stonewall Kitchen stand. Regardless of the new products, it was nice to meet the Stonewall Kitchen employees: after many phone calls and video conferences over the last few years, finally in person again. There's nothing like personal contact!
Rufus Teague is another major brand that we represent exclusively in Europe. John McCone is the friendly owner who has been building Rufus Teague into a successful BBQ brand for many years now. There is now a fourth BBQ sauce in a typical beer can, which we now also have in our range. We also haven't seen John for three years and we were very happy. We always have a suitcase full of European souvenirs. This year we got Mozart balls for our suppliers, as Americans like everything from Europe, especially chocolate.
Crown Maple is our favorite maple syrup, which was also represented in New York. Our vanilla expert Nielsen-Massey also had a nice stand. And then there were many interesting new products, which we will report on in due course when they are added to our range.
Bye Bye New York, it was beautiful as always!
