These concepts are part of The Alpha Food Labs’ Future Market, an interactive display at the Winter Fancy Food Show, held Jan. 21-23 in San Francisco. In addition to hundreds of specialty food producers unveiling cutting-edge innovation, a number of features and presentations at the show offer a glimpse of the tastes and trends of tomorrow.

The grocery store of the future “is almost like Netflix,” said Denise Purcell, head of content for the Specialty Food Association, which produces the Fancy Food Shows.

“You fill out your preferences, and it makes product recommendations to you,” she said.

Speaking with Food Business News before the Winter Fancy Food Show, Ms. Purcell discussed product trends and highlights of the event.

“The plant-based trend really seems to be the biggest one hitting a bunch of different categories,” she said. “Not just alternative proteins, but we’re seeing dairy-free frozen desserts that are nut milk-based, more plant-based snacks, convenience foods, things like that.”

Emerging trends include collagen-infused foods, cannabis cuisine and “goth” foods tinted with activated charcoal.

“We’re seeing those in restaurants with pizza crusts or ice creams that are black,” Ms. Purcell said. “We haven’t yet seen much in packaged foods, so that’s one we have an eye on to see if come out in any products.”

Jan. 22, 2018 – by Monica Watrous

‘Shroom boom

Specialty food makers are championing the umami flavor and functionality of fungus in new food and beverage products.

“Mushrooms themselves seem to be popping up in chocolate bars, mushroom lattes, things like that,” Ms. Purcell said.

Featured at the Winter Fancy Food Show, Pan’s Mushroom Jerky is made with shiitake mushroom stems, avocado oil, coconut sugar and spices. Woodsy shiitake mushrooms are blended into an Umami variety of organic beef patties from Tribali Foods. From Yuguo Farms comes a range of shiitake mushroom chips in original, spicy and wasabi flavors.

Reishi, chaga, cordyceps and lion’s mane are bubbling up in better-for-you beverages. Health-Ade Kombucha recently added a reishi-chocolate variety, featuring a combination of cacao and reishi mushrooms, and Four Sigmatic offers an array of coffee, tea and cacao mixes featuring mushrooms, including a new mushroom matcha drink mix with lion’s mane and ginger.Ripe for innovation

Bananas crop up in a bunch of sweet and savory snacks seen at Winter Fancy Food. The fruit adds flavor and creaminess to a line of non-dairy frozen desserts from Hakuna Banana. Varieties include banana vanilla, chocolate chocolate chip, banana spice, blueberry, cashew cookie dough and strawberry. Each pint is made with at least two whole bananas, according to the company.

Bubba’s Fine Foods offers a line of ‘Nana Chips, made with green bananas and seasoned with such savory flavors as buffalo, garlic Parmesan and nacho. The snacks are paleo and vegan with no added sugar.

Another exhibitor, Hungry Elephant, makes a line of Nana Chips in spicy, salt and pepper, lightly salted and tomato varieties.

San Diego-based Barnana upcycles organic bananas that otherwise would have been wasted on Latin America farms to make chewy banana bites and crunchy banana brittles in various flavors. The company is unveiling a new dark chocolate variety of

Up to date

As more consumers seek natural sources of sweetness, dates are rising to the occasion as a nutritious, lower-glycemic substitute for sugar. At the Winter Fancy Food Show, Spice Mama is introducing Just Date Syrup, made from 100% organic medjool dates. The syrup may be used to sweeten coffee or tea, in baked foods and as a replacement for sugar, honey, maple syrup or agave, according to the company.

Muffin Revolution uses dates to sweeten its paleo-friendly muffins, available in such flavors as chocolate cherry chia, banana blueberry coconut and banana coconut spirulina.

Dates add sweetness and binding to a date and rosemary free-range chicken jerky from The New Primal.

“Date seems to be standing out amongst alternative sweeteners,” Ms. Purcell said.

Gourmet on the go

New portable, premium condiments elevate the sad sack lunch. Debuting from Hak’s is a line of individual-use salad dressings featuring “chef inspired” flavors and “clean ingredients.” Varieties include balsamic, country Italian, olive oil and lemon, honey dijon, Greek, spicy Thai, sesame ginger and miso.

From Truitt Family Foods comes a line of shelf-stable, single-serve pouches of bean-based dressing in such flavors as parmesan Italian vinaigrette, blood orange poppy seed and lemongrass ginger, made with navy bean or red bean.

Joyloop Foods offers portable pouches of chopped pepper mixes in medium and hot varieties. The company describes it as “a hot sauce flavor with a coleslaw crunch” and recommends pairing the products with sandwiches, salads, pizza and avocado toast.

New from Bellucci are portable squeeze packs of extra virgin olive oil for the on-the-go gourmand. Mike’s Hot Honey is introducing single-serve squeeze packets of its chili pepper-infused honey.

Moringa mania

Heralded as the next hot superfood, nutrient-dense moringa is popping up in more packaged food and beverages. Moringa is derived from the dried leaves of a plant native to parts of Africa and Asia and is said to be rich in protein, fiber, potassium, calcium and vitamin A.

Last year, Kellogg Co.’s venture capital fund, eighteen94 capital, led a $4.25 million Series A funding of Kuli Kuli, a maker of nutrition bars, powders and beverages featuring moringa. The latest addition to Kuli Kuli’s portfolio is Organic Moringa Greens and Protein Smoothie Mix, made with organic moringa leaf powder, pea protein and brown rice protein. Founder Lisa Curtis describes it as “the protein powder for people who don’t like protein powder,” adding that the product is “incredibly tasty, smooth and uses only simple, organic and Fair Trade Certified plant-based ingredients.”

Miracle Tree is launching a range of high-caffeine, organic moringa tea blends. Positioned as a healthy coffee alternative, varieties include vanilla oolong grape, orange and passionfruit, cherry chamomile, green tea with ginger and lemon, and chai.

“You get the superfood health benefits in an energy tea that includes caffeine,” Ms. Purcell said.

From The Republic of Tea, new Organic Daily Greens Single Sips combine moringa, matcha, spirulina, chlorella, lemon, mint, coconut and monk fruit.

Vegan Rob’s has expanded its lineup of nutrient-dense snacks with the introduction of Moringa Puffs, featuring organic whole grain sorghum flour, organic sunflower oil and organic moringa leaf powder.

Next-level nostalgia

A handful of brands at Winter Fancy Food are offering a sophisticated twist on favorite childhood treats. Raw cookie dough has emerged in the past year as a whimsical indulgence served by the scoop in new boutique cafes across the country. At the show, at least three exhibitors feature the treat in a packaged format: Edoughable, the Cookie Dough Cafe, and Because Cookie Dough. The latter markets a healthier, gluten-free spin on the sweet.

A tasty token of family vacations, salt water taffy is treated to a modern makeover from Salty Road. The company creates artisanal varieties with vanilla beans, fruit purees, spices and large-grain sea salt. Flavors include sea salt caramel, salty caramel apple, bergamot, honey peanut and salty mango lassi, among others.

Sugar and Spun makes cotton candy in upscale, unexpected flavors including matcha green tea latte, salted chocolate peanut butter, habanero pineapple and peanut butter and jelly.

Feast from the Middle East

Harissa, cardamom and za’atar have been heating up on U.S. restaurant menus, and Middle Eastern ingredients such as pistachios, eggplant, mint and tahini are gaining steam.

“Hummus is now well recognized in the mainstream, and consumers seem to want to get more into specific regions, understand more about ingredients and the specific cuisines of places like Morocco, Israel and Lebanon,” Ms. Purcell said.

Silk Road Soda makes a line of sparkling soft drinks inspired by a grandmother’s Persian recipe. Touting the tagline “Eastern inspired, Western desired,” the low-calorie beverages feature such flavors as cucumber with mint, pomegranate with mint, pear with mint and ginger with mint.

Pajama Sweets produces pistachio brittle, a Persian sweet seasoned with saffron and cardamom. The brand was launched by the Dallas-based son of Iranian immigrants.

Saffron also stars in new Afghan spice blends from Rumi Spice, which describes its line of products as “an old-world spice in a new world form.”

Mini bars and bites

Petite portions remain popular, particularly in sweet snacking. Brands debuting miniature versions of its chocolate bars include Milkboy Swiss Chocolate and Raaka Chocolate. These “little luxuries” offer an opportunity to capture the impulse indulgence buyer, said Milkboy Swiss Chocolate, whose small bar varieties include crunchy caramel with sea salt, alpine milk swiss chocolate and extra dark 85% cocoa.

Sugar Bowl Bakery is introducing a line of Breakfast Bites in double chocolate, blueberry lemon and cranberry orange flavors. Made with whole grains and dried fruit, these morning snacks are denser than a muffin and airier than a brownie, according to the company.

Beyond bars and bites, thins are in, too. Sejoyia Foods’ new Coco-Thins are light and crisp plant-based cookies made from five to seven ingredients such as cashews, coconuts and cassava. Flavors include chocolate, lemon zest, vanilla and salted caramel.