Members in the News: Brooklyn Delhi, Salsa Queen, The Republic of Tea

Specialty Food Association members have recently been featured in news outlets for their trendsetting characteristics, recent Summer Fancy Food Show impact, and commitment to high-quality standards.

Myriad member companies were recognized for their contributions.

In a story about trends inspired by the recent Summer Fancy Food Show, Food & Wine discussed SFA members’ relationship to various trends. Their picks include:

• “Swicy” foods, fusing sweet and spicy: Aaji’s Spicy Garlic Tomato Lonsa, Blake Hill Preserves’ Mango Pineapple Habanero Jam, Behrnes’ Hatch Pepper Salt, Barcoop Bevy’s Bloody Mary with Smoked Sea Salt and Chiles, Natural Blonde’s Spicy Blonde Bloody Mary Mix Hot, and Pocas’ Hot and Spicy Gummy Bears.
• Freeze-dried offerings: Salsa Queen’s freeze-dried salsa, Arctic Farms’ freeze-dried ice cream, Crispy Green’s fruit and veggie snacks, Jane Foodie’s Flash-Frozen Guinness Beef Stew, and Brooklyn Delhi’s Ready-in-90-Seconds Chickpea Tikka Masala.
• Groceries, but make it “fancy”: Quillo Gourmet’s Foie Gras Potato Chips, Flour & Olive’s Almond Scratch Olive Oil Cake Mix, Brooklyn Cured’s Bresaola and Gouda Snack Pack, and Truff’s Truffalo Sauce (truffle-infused buffalo sauce).
• Korean Meals and Kits: Heart & Seoul’s Korean Beef Bone Broth, Doro’s Korean-inspired meal kits, Meal of the Moment’s ready-to-eat Korean rice meals and snacks, K Street Food’s frozen kimbap and bibimbap kits, and Korea, Kim’C Market.
• Honey on everything: Cypress Grove’s Meyer Lemon and Honey Goat Cheese, Honey B’s Sparkling Honey Drink, and Tillamook’s Sea Salt & Honeycomb Toffee Ice Cream Pint.

In a story about how consumers are craving cleaner-label, better-tasting gluten-free offerings, Food Navigator USA discussed how Josephine's Baking Co., Tempo Granola, Ecotone Food Inc., Whoa Dough, and Andriani-Felicia are all working to bring these needs to various categories.

Caroline Rose, senior marketer for Ecotone Food, maker of Mrs. Crimbles and Clipper Tea, also told the news source that its team urges retailers to create dedicated sets in-store where consumers can find allergen-free and special-diet products.

Licensed products are a large part of the specialty food industry. Specialty industry news source Licensing International explained how World of Coffee Inc., Black Mamba Foods, Mr. Joe's, The Republic of Tea, Heatonist, and White Coffee Corp. all drive impact through their licensing side of the business.

“A lot of companies may churn out [of the business], but hot sauces have a long tradition where companies will have a local presence and you don’t have to get big,” said Heatonist CEO Noah Chaimberg. “It is really community-driven and consolidation hasn’t happened yet, partly because it takes time to scale up a business. For a long time, hot sauces have been more of a souvenir, but now they are going mainstream.”