event San Francisco "Fancy Foods" Winter Foods Show Jan 15-17, 2012

Lucky Dog Hot Sauce

Lucky Dog Hot Sauce

Anyone going?

Anyone from here have a booth?

Last year was so much fun - as a fledgling business I was able to get a ton of info from speaking to manufacturers, co-packers, hot sauce guys, and more.

And for $35 it was an awesome value - I drank beer from about 12 countries, ate my weight in gourmet cheese, snacks, candy, chocolate, pasta, prepared foods, olives, pickles, smoked meats, etc, etc, etc. I also went home with a huge bag of samples of everything from olive oils to hot sauce to candied ginger to beef jerky. And I had a really, really good time. This year I'll be going with several friends which will be an even better experience.

The show took up 2 full halls at the Moscone Center, which is a pretty large chunk of real estate!

If you're considering attending, here's the link:

http://www.specialtyfood.com/fancy-food-show/winter-fancy-food-show/

You may still be able to get an advanced ticket to save some $ (It was $25 a couple months ago when I bought tix, it was $35 when i purchased a week before the show last year and I think it's $60 at the show, so definitely buy on-line if you can!)

I am in no way affiliated with this show, nor do I make money from you buying a ticket. Just sharing the link as I think it's a terrific event for anyone who loves gourmet food. While hot peppers are not the focal point of the show I think there were 7-8 hot sauce vendors there last year, and quite a few products with hot peppers in 'em.
:dance: :onfire: :dance: :onfire: :dance:
 
OFFICIAL SHOW POLICIES:
  • Removal of samples from the exhibit halls is prohibited.
  • Fancy Food Show is a trade only event - only businesses related to the specialty food industry may attend. Show is not open to the general public.
  • Persons under 18 (including infants) cannot attend.
  • Soliciting by attendees is prohibited.
  • Use of wheeled carts or wheeled bags is not allowed on exhibit floor.
  • Taking photos or videos of exhibitor booths is prohibited.
  • LOST BADGES: There is a badge replacement fee if you lose your badges. Pre-registered attendees who paid $35 the cost is $35. Onsite Attendees & Exhibitors the cost is $60.
Lucky Dog; I would like to direct your attention to rule one above. I think this is a manufacturer event for food service purchasing agents. Since we a more like consumers I doubt most of us qualify for attendance.
 
Balac said:
OFFICIAL SHOW POLICIES:
  • Removal of samples from the exhibit halls is prohibited.
  • Fancy Food Show is a trade only event - only businesses related to the specialty food industry may attend. Show is not open to the general public.
  • Persons under 18 (including infants) cannot attend.
  • Soliciting by attendees is prohibited.
  • Use of wheeled carts or wheeled bags is not allowed on exhibit floor.
  • Taking photos or videos of exhibitor booths is prohibited.
  • LOST BADGES: There is a badge replacement fee if you lose your badges. Pre-registered attendees who paid $35 the cost is $35. Onsite Attendees & Exhibitors the cost is $60.
Lucky Dog; I would like to direct your attention to rule one above. I think this is a manufacturer event for food service purchasing agents. Since we a more like consumers I doubt most of us qualify for attendance.
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Oh!

Interesting - I'm confused about the "removal of samples" rule. Are people expected to chug the little 1 oz bottles of olive oil? I think that list of rules may not be enforced to the letter of the law or perhaps it refers only to the actual "prepared foods samples" - you know, the prepared food on a napkin or toothpick hand-outs.

The samples I was referring to are more like "miniature bottle of X product" or "sealed bag with whole vanilla bean in it" - I'm absolutely certain you are allowed to remove those from the hall.

I was initially turned on to it by my co-packer, since I'm in the process of starting up and the contacts I'd made there were hugely helpful. I didn't know it wasn't open to the "general public" - but as I understand it, even if you're *thinking* of starting a business they'll sell you a ticket. When i attended last year LDHS was barely a twinkle in my eye. ;)

I am reasonably sure that a hobbyist sauce maker could get in - you just need to register online with your "company name". Everyone I met with last year was very receptive. The category I entered was "research" (which is accurate) and the company name on my badge was "nonya" (as in nonya business) as I didn't have my TM yet. haha

Not one person questioned my presence there and while not every presenter had time for me, most were extremely gracious and happy that I took interest in their offering.

Thanks for posting that, but if anyone *really* wanted to go I don't think they should let that list scare 'em off...
 
This thing was off the hook. I brought two friends, allegedly my "production manager" and "QA consultant" (translation: groupies. :D ) and no one gave me grief about anything. I think a lot of the rules are "spirit of the law" - with 10 different badge types (e.g. vendor, wholesaler, retailer, importer, industry rep, etc, etc) there's just too much to keep track of.

Started with coffee, tea, espresso - yum. Best of the best. Got a nice buzz and we headed to the chocolate area as we wanted something sweet to go with the coffee. Good gravy - chocolate from all over the world, dark, milk, etc. Ridiculous stuff like 91% cacao and gritty textured S.American stuff.

From there it got to about lunch time so we headed to the Italian section - had pasta & wine and cheeses of varying styles. The shaved prosciutto and porchettas were soooooo good. Also the antipasto was tremendous - prosciutto-stuffed-hot cherry peppers with feta cheese - omg. so so good.

After a brief jaunt through Canada section for some maple syrup samples to cleanse the palate we then wandered over to the prepared foods area where vendors had easy-to-make Japanese and Chinese cuisine (dumplings, pot stickers, fried wonton, etc) then the Indian foods (yum!).

We took a break for about 20 mins to rest our aching paws (Moscone Center is huge) and headed to the alcohol section. We made friends with the Super Premium Tequila vendor, and he took us on a tour through his wares - $50-100 a shot Tequila, some so good it tasted like Bourbon due to the oak barrel aging. Man that was good stuff. About 6 shots later we stumbled over to the beer vendors - Rogue and Elysian were there and they're 2 of my favorites. We were able to try 5-6 other brewers, including Kona Brewery, but I kept wandering back to my favs and they were quite accommodating.

We then headed out to the other hall, where mostly there were sauces, teas, popcorn, etc. The Sauce Goddess was one of my favorites - they had Sweet Heat caramel corn that was *AWESOME* and would appeal to any chili head here. The sweet hot sauce they have is good, but this popcorn is something else.

http://shop.saucegoddess.com/Sweet-Heat-5-pound-bag-BIG-BAG.htm

Red Savina peppers used throughout her offerings, and she's a REALLY nice lady. I highly recommend - this was my "best new thing" at the show this year (if she was there last year I missed her).

so many foods to taste - too many to describe. If you can possibly make the one in NY this summer, or SF next winter, I highly recommend doing so. Just register on-line and say you're there for "research" and voila! It's "not open to the public" but their definitions seem to be somewhat loose.

Once again, I left with a massive bag of samples - again, not "prepared foods", but packaged samples, specifically for promotion (mini bottles of olive oil, packets of Jelly Bellies, Caramel, lollypops, pop chips, vanilla beans, single-serve coffee sample, etc)

On a business level, I also made a few good contacts for fancy vinegar which I'll try to use in a future sauce - there was an apple cider Vinegar producer who grows their own Gala apples and makes phenomenal vinegar from 'em that I'd love to use if his prices are reasonable - the flavor of the vinegar was ridiculous. I also was able to say hello to 3-4 hot sauce companies that helped me with advice when I went last year - was good to see old friends and make some new ones. Hot Sauce is one of the most "friendly competition" businesses I've ever seen/experienced. Not everyone, but most I've spoken to had advice from issues they'd gone through that's saved me countless hours, so I'm really grateful.


Do go to this if you love food!
:cheers:
 
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