Specialty Food Association president Bill Lynch recently sat down with SFA News Daily to discuss the 66th Summer Fancy Food Show, SFA's 70th anniversary, and how it's helping advance member companies.
What’s it like to be heading into the first Summer Fancy Food Show in three years?
So much excitement and anticipation has been building up with our staff and member community for this Show. NYC is our home and Javits is our backyard where we have brought the community together for 70+ years! Las Vegas was a nice first course in 2022 and NYC is going to be even better.
Specialty foods have become so ubiquitous but were harder to come by when the Association was first incorporated. Can you talk a bit about how they’ve evolved since the early 1950s?
Well certainly the SFA and our community of members has made such great progress providing more opportunities for communities around the world to savor the amazing products that we all have a hand in bringing to the consumer’s table. I can tell you that as much as things have changed over those years, there are certain things that have not changed which make our community and members special – that entrepreneurial spirit, the passion, the care, and the innovation that continues to push the imagination and set the trends for what people will be eating tomorrow.
Tell me about some new features of the 2022 Summer Fancy Food Show.
At the heart of everything we do is the continual influx of new product innovations and taste experiences from around the world. Participants can expect to travel the world through our array of international pavilions and of course taste the best of what the U.S. has to offer through our state pavilions and domestic exhibitors. There are portions of the exhibit floor that are now segmented by product categories to create destinations for those attendees that really want to dive deep into a product category. Our education programming continues to provide participants with the latest resources to help keep their businesses one step ahead. We will have product showcases displaying the newest and hottest products in specialty. We will be celebrating the trailblazers in our community through our awards ceremony Sunday evening as well as a pitch event on Monday evening. There is so much more going on, but those are just a few things top of mind that participants can expect to enjoy.
How is the Specialty Food Association helping to advance member companies that have diverse ownership?
The SFA Board and staff have made a commitment to creating a more diverse and inclusive specialty food community. In addition to other efforts happening year-round, at the Summer Fancy Food Show we are proud to partner with (included) which is a community of BIPOC-owned makers of specialty foods. Creating a platform for participation and awareness is something that the SFA is proud to be doing and we look forward to creating more opportunity to continue to evolve these efforts so that we can truly make an impact in our community.
Is there anything more you’d like to share?
I am incredibly grateful to be working with such a dedicated and passionate group of people in our Board of Directors, volunteer group,s and SFA staff. These people truly care about our members and the specialty food community and it is an honor to be working by their sides to support and grow this industry.
Related: SFA Partners With Food Institute on Livestream Show Coverage; SFA Report: Specialty Food Reaches $175B.