In short
Matt Rodbard and Dan Fromer recap the Summer Fancy Food Show (70th anniversary) at the Javits Center, sharing consumer-trend takeaways and standout products they tried across pavilions and startup booths.
Guest backgrounds
Dan Fromer is founder of The New Consumer, tracking how people spend money; he co-researches trends with Coefficient Capital. Matt is the host of This Is Taste and a frequent food/CPG journalist who attended the show.
Key claims
Protein and fiber “optimizers” (about a third of Americans) actively seek protein-fortified foods; cold foam protein is more popular with younger urban Starbucks customers than older ones. The show’s “chaos factor” is lower than Expo West, and national/country/state pavilions help discovery.
Notable examples
La Ferme de Loup pine-needle and smoked maple syrup; Mr. Pickles Industries pickle lemonade (“pickle + electrolyte”); Wandel mandel bread (dark chocolate chip, lemon); Mad Mutts mozzarella sticks (jalapeno poppers, cacio e pepe); Buffs grass-fed beef snack bites; Dirty Virgo NA cocktail-style electrolyte drinks; Nomina sparkling spring water; Field Goods functional focus cookies (creatine + “CD saline”); 50 Hertz Sichuan peppercorn brittle; plus chestnut products, ginger drinks, and protein snack bars/chips.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOIntroduction to the Episode and Guest
0:38 to 1:23
Matt Rodbard introduces the episode's focus on the Summer Fancy Food Show with guest Dan Fromer.
“And we're live on match day as Doug reaches for a buffalo wing.”
Recap of the Fancy Food Show Experience
1:23 to 3:30
Discussion about the highlights and experiences at the Summer Fancy Food Show.
“The Summer Fancy Food Show is where the next year of grocery shelves is decided.”
Trends and Insights from the Food Show
3:30 to 7:49
Exploring various trends and new products discovered at the show, including international pavilions.
“It's the 70th anniversary edition of the show.”
Consumer Behavior and Food Trends
7:49 to 9:09
Discussion on consumer trends focusing on health, protein, and their implications for new food products.
“And then we did another one of these things where we asked people about, now we're up to 30 different food and beverage items.”
Emerging Products and Innovations
9:09 to 14:00
Hosts share interesting new products and brands they encountered, highlighting unique flavors and concepts.
“A lot of snacks, a lot of cookies, a lot of treats.”
Introduction to Wandel Mandel Bread
14:00 to 15:00
Learn about Wandel, a modern twist on traditional mandel bread.
“I really was interested in this product just by name, Wandel.”
Mad Mutts Mozzarella Sticks
15:00 to 16:30
Discover Mad Mutts, a unique mozzarella stick company with creative flavors.
“They're really, really great cookie-like bites.”
The Great Chestnut Experiment
16:30 to 18:00
Explore an initiative to revive chestnuts in New York and unique chestnut products.
“it was actually good what about you, a couple more?”
Olive Bar Insights
18:00 to 19:30
Insights on premium olives and experiences at the Whole Foods olive bar.
“So anytime I have exposure to those brands and all of the stuff that they make, it's pretty awesome.”
Ginger Snap Drink
19:30 to 19:54
A discussion on the Ginger Snap drink and its potential in food service.
“Their carbon steel line is handmade from a local blacksmith.”
Show all 25 chapters
Morty's Bread and Social Impact
21:20 to 22:50
Introducing Morty's Bread, focusing on nostalgic sourdough and community impact.
“soft sourdough naturally leavened sandwich bread and I think right now with the day and age of a lot of sourdough baking and the way the bakeries do sourdough.”
Folkland Organic Fries and Tots
22:50 to 24:00
Exploring Folkland's innovative organic fries and their sustainable farming.
“Yucca Balls Yucca, yucca, I'll take either.”
Yucca Balls Snack Review
24:00 to 26:10
A review of Yucca Balls and reminiscing about past snack experiences.
“There was like a spicy skew, but I think, and those were good, but for me, this is just all I want.”
Innovative Beef Snacks: Buffs and Rodeo Snacks
26:10 to 28:00
Discussion on Buffs and Rodeo Snacks, focusing on protein-rich beef snacks.
“I always think with second bite, do I want more or less after second bite?”
Exploring Steak Chips and Protein Snacks
28:00 to 29:10
Learn about a steak chip product and insights on protein snacks.
“Founded by a gentleman who was raised in Argentina.”
Monte's Fine Foods and Innovative Sauces
29:10 to 30:40
Discover the story behind Monte's Fine Foods and their unique sauces.
“Spoiler, something like that is in my list.”
Gamsa Savory Oatmeal and Unique Flavors
30:40 to 31:46
Find out about Gamsa's savory oatmeal and its innovative single serving cups.
“They debuted at last year's Fancy Food Show.”
Introducing Dirty Virgo Non-Alcoholic Beverages
31:46 to 33:04
Learn about Dirty Virgo's non-alcoholic electrolyte beverages designed for bars.
“You keep looking because I know you've got a phone full of photos and notes.”
Nomina Sparkling Spring Water and David's Chips
34:25 to 35:48
Discover Nomina's unique sparkling spring water and a critique of David's new chips.
“These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.”
High-Protein Ice Cream and Market Trends
35:48 to 38:08
Discuss the rise of high-protein ice cream and consumer preferences.
“Yeah, is he on to something, do you think, with chips?”
Exploring Asian Condiments and New Brands
38:08 to 42:00
Learn about new Asian condiment brands and product offerings in the market.
“Where did ice cream index in your last report about where people want protein and where they don't want protein?”
Exploring New Asian Condiments and Pastries
42:00 to 43:55
Discover insights on new Asian condiments and a delightful pastry experience.
“which had a real big exit, and now everyone's like, oh, maybe that aisle has more promise.”
Szechuan Peppercorns and Unique Products
43:55 to 45:56
Learn about Szechuan peppercorns and interesting products at the show.
“how he grew up in China and worked for the World Bank.”
Market Trends and the State of Plant-Based Foods
45:56 to 47:26
Examine observations on market trends and plant-based food products.
“And that's a great brand that has a fantastic pickled flavor pistachio that I saw their sign and said, oh, I need those.”
Wishes for Future Food Trends
47:26 to 48:46
Hear the hosts' wishes for future trends in snacks and beverages.
“It's just not nearly as big as people thought it could be.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Attention, this is Tate's listeners living in New York City. I am so excited to host a live conversation with my friend, the best-selling cookbook author, Claire Saffitz, at Rizzoli Bookstore on July 7th. Claire and I will be talking all about summer baking and so much more live in Manhattan. Tickets are$5 and available now. Claire will be hanging out after the conversation to sign copies of her books. and you must reserve your seat because this will sell out. It's on July 7th. Visit RizzoliBookstore.com or check out the link in the show notes.
0:38Dan Frommer:And we're live on match day as Doug reaches for a buffalo wing. He's got it. Oh, and he's gone for a can of Pepsi, too. What a finish. There's no doubt about it. It just tastes better. Match days deserve Pepsi.
1:00Dan Frommer:Cold foam is a 300-some million dollar business for Starbucks every year. And last year they added protein cold foam, 15 grams, I think, in a grande. And that's one where it averages down to zero-zero. Like, you know, you'd say, oh, no one really wants this. But actually, if you look at it, it's young people much more interested than older people. This is Taste. I'm your host, Matt Rodbard. The Summer Fancy Food Show is where the next year of grocery shelves is decided. And Dan Fromer, founder of The New Consumer and one of the sharpest minds tracking how people spend their money, was there for all of it.
1:40Dan joins me in the studio to unpack the trends and new products we spotted on the floor of the Javits Center this week in New York. We talk about sparkling water, functional cookies, and some emerging categories that surprised even us. I hope you enjoyed this episode.
2:01Dan Frummer, welcome back to This Is Taste. Thanks for having me. What a treat. Buddy, we have both been walking the Fancy Food Show. I was there Sunday all day, Monday most of the day. You were there. Today. I just, straight here. Straight here.
2:16Dan Frommer:Almost. From the floor. I did four errands on the way, but came straight here, basically. How many pieces of cheese did you have today? I, first of all, I thought that the cheese section was the whole show for a while. So I was just like, oh, well, I guess this is what we got. I'm just going to eat all the cheese. Yeah. Had some actually very nice cheese. Beautiful. And charcuterie and, you know, olives and all sorts of oils and things. And then I discovered, oh, there's another floor with all the packaged food. All the cool, like, startup brands that we're probably going to talk about mostly.
2:48I met with the head of the Gruyere Consortium, a wonderful Swiss guy, and I love talking to the guys running the consortiums. Great jobs.
2:57Dan Frommer:I spent childhood summers in Wisconsin on a lake, so it was cool to see all the Wisconsin cheese and charcuterie companies there and tried some really good stuff. Yeah, I also visited Wisconsin. The Marika Gouda is so fucking good. Oh, I think I had one of those. She's an amazing cheesemaker. In fact, I definitely had one of those. I don't know if I had. Yes, the bacon caramelized onion was one of my notes here. Yum. That was delicious. Wisconsin cheese is great. Yeah, they had a great presence there. A little context about the show. We're going to basically talk about some findings walking the fancy food show.
3:34It's the 70th anniversary edition of the show. Oh, wow. I looked at some stats. There were 2 ,500 exhibitors from 50 countries and 90 new products featured this year alone. They had this brand new Spark Pavilion. That was way upstairs. Way upstairs.
3:52Dan Frommer:Yeah, I spent some time there. Me too. I was there both days. They had mostly the same, but there was a little bit of rotation in and out. Both days are wonderful. I have some similar finds and some interesting Saudi dates all over the place. Had a couple of those. Saudi date. They had a big presence there. Sure did. I definitely tried some dates. And New Country Pavilions, Cambodia and Israel. So some additions to the show. I've been many times. I find it really instructive for the work I do. I'm sure you do as well. I love the spirit inside the floor. I think there's so much hope and promise.
4:27I always come at this with the idea that I'm going to find the next great thing.
4:33Dan Frommer:This was my first time at this show. Interesting. I've been to Expo West a bunch of times. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And what I loved about this one is that the chaos factor is dialed down by about three quarters. So you can actually survive walking around and not feel like you are in extreme panic. And I also did not have to drive to Anaheim this morning. I know. That's the one thing. I've been to Expo West a few times. And yeah, it's a little bit. The scale is a little bit different and challenging. I like fancy food, both the West Coast and East Coast aversions. And I like this one because they have the big national pavilions, essentially, where countries are paying for space and bringing a bunch of small producers.
5:07You know, Korea, Japan, Italy, Spain, one too many of them. And then, of course, there are states. So you've got like New York State, New Jersey, Oklahoma had presents. Michigan had presents. Wisconsin. Indeed. Wisconsin. And then, of course, like domestic guilds and boards like Wisconsin Cheese Board, huge presents. And so as a journalist covering this world, it's just so helpful to walk around, meet producers, meet founders. Totally, yeah. I think I'm going to – you know, I have a little bit of consortium-style places, but mostly I'm going to talk about some emerging brands, smaller brands, and maybe some historical brands that are getting new light.
5:48But, Dan, I want to ask you to start – you gave a keynote. You gave a chat. I did, yeah. What was the topic? I actually gave two talks today. Oh, wow, damn.
5:57Dan Frommer:Aren't you sick of talking? No, I love talking. Hire me to talk. Anyone is welcome to. Actually, the second talk I gave was more new stuff. The first time I gave was actually very similar to what we talked about when I was on in March. But the second one is our Consumer Trends Mid-Year Report that we're putting out this week on my site, The New Consumer, newconsumer.com. This research is free. it's continuation of the research I've been doing with Coefficient Capital for the past seven years. And this is another one where we looked into the protein and fiber booms. We spent most of this report talking about this cohort of consumers that consider themselves in an optimization mode for their long-term health and longevity.
6:43Dan Frommer:And so we kind of titled this report Meet the Optimizers, and it's about a third of Americans, and their behaviors are so fascinating. They're so, they just want it all. They're more likely to be exercising four days a week or more, but they're also the highest drinkers and cannabis users in our survey. They just are maximalists in every way. And they're very, very into protein. They are much more likely to be actively consuming protein. And they're much more likely to be interested in all these new protein fortified products that are on the market. And it's really interesting. And you think about that cohort and their age and their interest in protein, a lot of disposable income available to buy protein products.
7:27Dan Frommer:These are millennials. Most of them are not wealthy, but they do over-index among higher earners, millennials, Gen Z, urban millennials, and then urban millennials with 100K income. I think over half of them consider themselves part of this optimizer set. But it's people with kids. It's married people. It's founders of companies. And there's a whole bunch of our report is about this. It's just a really fascinating group. And then we did another one of these things where we asked people about, now we're up to 30 different food and beverage items. Where do you actually want more protein? Where does it seem natural or unnatural to add more protein?
8:01Dan Frommer:And where are consumers actually interested in trying these high protein foods? Because we see so many of them. You get pitched protein water, protein beer, protein coffee. The big winners from this last one, peanut butter, snack bars, obviously, pizza and pasta, things like that that are high carb, but people would rather have a high protein version of it. Yogurt. Yogurt. Crushed. And that makes sense. There's a mature category where there are a lot of high protein options already, but certainly a lot of interest in that. And then soup did pretty well too, which is kind of interesting. I don't see much protein soup.
8:37Dan Frommer:I guess that's kind of what the bone broth category is. I think if bone broth is considered soup, obviously that's huge there yeah absolutely um i have to ask about protein you know this wasn't expo west which i think you'd see a lot more protein maxing products i have to say i did see of course some new products um with protein uh front and center less than i expected yeah walking the flow there was a lot of cookies there man agree there's a lot of stuff that was just like here's real food that's you know yeah either good or not that good but most of it was interesting and a lot of snacks It felt snackable, like multiple times a week type of snack products.
9:14A lot of people are launching.
9:15Dan Frommer:A lot of snacks, a lot of cookies, a lot of treats. Some of this stuff was for food service, so there were ingredient companies there. And again, that whole pavilion of basically just like food products, like things that are made, like cheese or meats that are not really like a – obviously they're branded and there's some technique involved and some process and ingredients and all that sort of stuff, but it's not like crackers. Definitely not. And I think a big part of the trade groups they're presenting are all about their DOPs, like things that are only made by law in their territories and by their law.
9:47Dan Frommer:Totally. Yeah, all the cheese groups. It was funny to see like the big partana olive oil section. Yeah. And one of the best things I had was actually their olive oil gelato that they were serving, which was like a chocolate orange olive oil gelato. So cool. Yeah. I found the biggest pentatone I've ever seen. It was probably 75 times the size of a normal pentatone. They said they were cutting it at two. I was there at 145. It was the Magnum version of Panettone. That's very funny. I was in so many fun things on the floor. Thanks to all the listeners who said hello. I spoke to so many listeners of the show.
10:18I loved meeting you. And I think you're probably listening because we have a lot to say. So I think we, I made a list of products that intrigued me. Okay. I'm going to say that most of them are very positive. I'm not going to like obviously talk about anything I did not like. I guess the silence is deafening. but I really, these are all either major, major, major buys or just absolutely intrigued by them. I have maybe like 15 to 20. You have a few, you have about the same amount. How about we each maybe take two? Great. Is that cool? Yeah, of course. We'll each take two and then we'll just keep going back and forth and I really, I'm going to link to, I don't know if I'm going to link to the show notes but at least on my Instagram, I'll tag everybody on my own personal site so you can follow along.
11:03We're putting this up pretty quickly, that's why. You want to start? You want to start with two?
11:07Dan Frommer:I'm happy to. Sure. Yeah. So there are two things that I'm still thinking about. One is a small producer of artisanal maple syrup from Quebec called La Ferme de Loup. And they had just pretty typical, very nice tasting maple syrup. But there were two versions of it that really stuck with me. One was a conifer, sort of a pine needle maple syrup, which was very bright. and would go really well with some chocolate or fruit. And then the other one was a smoked maple syrup, but very subtle. So not like hit you over the head type thing. Something would be incredible on, I don't know, popcorn or - Love that.
11:51Dan Frommer:All over the place, ice cream, coffee. So those are both really nice. A conifer syrup is so interesting, taking it out of the maple. Yeah, and a nice label too, like very just kind of beautiful looking thing. It's a little paper cut, wood cut kind of. tiny producer, kind of barely distributed. Yeah. And then the other thing that stuck with me was kind of weird. Maybe we can talk about what's going on with pickles, but if you went to that upstairs section, there was some sort of pickle lemonade. That's on my list, so I can fill in. Okay, sour power. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Matt, what is the deal with pickles?
12:23Dan Frommer:Are we really putting pickles in everything? I felt like we are. I think that what that was all about, and I'm looking through my notes. Maybe I didn't actually have that on there. That was Mr. Pickles, right? You're talking about Mr. Pickles? No, this is something called Sour Power. Oh, so talk. This is a canned pickle lemonade, and it was pretty good. It's just like, are we drinking a whole can of pickle juice? So that's, I think the brand is Mr. Pickles Industries. They're from Columbus, Ohio. Yes, they are from Ohio. Jack and Rita Volpe. Okay. And I talked to them. I tried it. But what they're going for is pickle plus electrolyte.
13:04Got it. So like a liquid IV version. Interesting. They have an interesting story. It came out of a 2025 brainstorm with their beverage partners. It's a pretty new product. And I think that they wanted to obviously have a strong brand and identity. And they've got this scrappy regional mascot, pickle guy.
13:23Dan Frommer:It really made me stop. There are very few. There's so many booths. And you're like, what is all these cookies? And then you see that and you're like, whoa, I have to stop and try this and find out what is going on. I liked it. I mean, it actually gave a lot of Gatorade to me. Yeah, I liked it too. Yeah. I really liked it. I'm still thinking about it. Yeah. I should have. She offered me a can, but I should have brought it with us right now. The cool thing about that product, I think, is the branding. And they made it to – they send out these recaps every day. And I saw it on the homepage of the recap.
13:56So that's a major coup for that. We've got 2 ,500 products here. All right, I'll start. I really was interested in this product just by name, Wandel. It is a mandel bread company. Oh, wow. From a woman named Stephanie Berlin. I met her. She used to work in film PR and is a really scrappy, cool founder. And I absolutely love this. Did you grow up eating mandel bread? I don't think so. Tell me about mandel bread. is a it's like a bread that has a Jewish heritage and so if you're Jewish or have friends who are Jews you might see it in like you know possibly at an oneg after temple or at a bar mitzvah and they're kind of these like little like cakey these cakey bites and really what I think what Stephanie is doing here is bringing it into the modern age with the flavor profiles and she switched it's wandel so she switched the M with a W just to be a little cheeky there.
14:59But I think what's different here is the flavors. Dark chocolate chip is one. There is a lemon one. They're really, really great cookie-like bites. They're just super delicious. They call back definitely some of that Jewish baking that a lot of people think about a lot from their grandparents. I love seeing a modern mandel bread. Yeah, that's cool. The next one is mad mutts. Also missed this one. A couple, I saw a couple mozzarella sticks, mozzarella stick companies. And this was my favorite one. And a little background, it was co-founded by a guy named Mike Hawk, who runs Tony Bologna's Pizzeria chain in Atlantic City, Hoboken, in Jersey City.
15:40He's kind of like a pizza guy. This was a Shark Tank company, and they took a$150K investment on 20 % equity from Lori. And what I like about this are the flavor profiles. Like they're really, really thinking beyond just mozzarella and breading. There's like a jalapeno poppers flavor, cacio e pepe. There's a grilled cheese, which is like a cheddar. So they're like, I like the idea of like a grilled cheese mozzarella stick. That's a clever idea. Totally. They have a Lucifer, which is obviously like one of those dareworthy pepper ones. Really delicious though. I liked it. Air fryer, really easy to make.
16:16Great, great branding. That's mad. Frozen or how? Yeah, frozen. Sorry. frozen standard what you'd find in they'd probably do food service with C-Store eventually but mostly retail in the freezer section the cacio e pepe was good it was actually good what about you, a couple more?
16:35Dan Frommer:a couple more, there was a really interesting guy has something called the great chestnut experiment chestnuts are something weirdly I did grow up eating a lot and I guess they used to be plentiful in this country and then got wiped out by blight. And so he's working with farmers to bring chestnuts back to upstate New York. He has a chestnut spread type thing, and then also works with Adirondack on chestnut spice ice cream, which was really delicious. And then also a chestnut nog, which was really phenomenal. That's pretty good. Spiced chestnut nog drink And it was just really nice And it's a flavor that you see more Like when I get in Japan in the winter They have a lot of chestnut stuff You see them roasting on the side for snacks Yeah, and just like chestnut flavored stuff It's just not really part of the food culture here So I thought that was interesting One of those, you know, one and a half person booths That was cool And then, let's see, what else?
17:40Dan Frommer:You know, honestly, I had a really good olive today Yeah, a couple good olives at the show. There was a self-stable olive just with Castle Vultrano with chili pepper. And it was just one of those things where we were like, this is way better than it was supposed to be. A lot of those companies like Davina and they were all there. I am maybe a top 1 % Whole Foods olive bar customer. So anytime I have exposure to those brands and all of the stuff that they make, it's pretty awesome. So you are saying your consumption puts you in the top 1 % of the Whole Foods olive bar. It has to. Olive bar. It has to.
18:13We met the woman. We were in Spain with Whole Foods. We met the woman, Julia, who's the buyer of the olive bar at Whole Foods. Oh, wow. I found that to be terrific. That would be a dangerous job. It is her job to stock the olive bar. Yeah. Yeah.
18:26Dan Frommer:One more, just because I have it, was a ginger drink called Ginger Snap, which was pretty interesting. Yes, I tried it. Yeah, it was pretty nice. I like, there needs to be more ginger in the world, and I really enjoyed that. I like Ginger Snap a lot. I felt that that founder was really smart and cool with the branding and the framing. I liked it. I thought that I agree with you. I think from the food service point of view, I asked her about it. I'm not sure if food service was in her plan, but like for bar, you know, bars and cocktail lounges and stuff, like having great ginger juice is important.
18:56And I like that branding a lot. I'm going to be honest. I'm pretty particular about my pots and pans. And since I started using Smithy cast iron at home, it's hard to use anything else. Nothing sears a perfectly marbled ribeye like cast iron. It's all about that mahogany crust. And Smithy takes it to another level. They're a Charleston, South Carolina company making polished cast iron and carbon steel cookware with no forever chemicals, pre-seasoned with pure grapeseed oil, naturally nonstick, and made in the USA to last forever. Their carbon steel line is handmade from a local blacksmith. Woks, skillets, roasters, the kind of thing that looks incredible hanging in your kitchen and performs even better on the stove.
19:42If you care about what you're cooking with as much as what you're cooking, this is the brand. Find them at smithey.com. S-M-I-T-H-E-Y dot com. And as a bonus for This Is Taste listeners, Smithy is offering free engraving by using the promo code THISISTASTE at checkout. that's a custom message on the bottom of your pan. Use This Is Taste at checkout. Do you hear that? Sounds like breakfast is ready. Because Quaker's coming in hot with morning nutrition, 100 % whole grain oats, and a good source of fiber to fuel the rhythm of your morning and kickstart your day. And that sounds absolutely delicious.
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20:48Dan Frommer:Levi's, Adidas, and Free People. Join the Nordiclub to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. that's why you rack alright I have a few more Morty's Bread so this was a pre-launch company upstairs I didn't get the founder's last name his first name is Ryan and I really love the branding his pitch right away was very smart this is the sourdough bread you grew up on and it's basically soft sourdough naturally leavened sandwich bread and I think right now with the day and age of a lot of sourdough baking and the way the bakeries do sourdough.
21:30It's very crusty and it's not the sliced sourdough that we grew up on. Really nice mouthfeel. He's based in Jersey. He has like a mission behind it. He wants to help Jersey City schools have better lunches and wants to make sandwiches for kids, which I thought was a really nice promise. Seemed like a CPG vet for many years and this is his launch. He's pre-launch. That's Morty's bread. I visited with the Folkland organic fries and tots table presentation, it's kind of like hard to find a bad tot in the world. But when you find an exceptional tot, especially from Frozen, it stands out. It's a third generation Mennonite family from Waterford, Pennsylvania.
22:14And they're growing their own potatoes. It's vertically integrated and it's a regenerative farm. But what was cool about it was like the fucking packaging. It was like all over print, really modern packaging really jumped out right away and I just really enjoyed meeting with the founders it was one of the farmers was there and they're doing fries and tots there's like some seasoned fries love it it's called Folkland Organic Fries and Tots Tots are due for a comeback yo definitely I was talking to Luke Fortney about that oh really? yeah he's a tot head himself nice yeah what about you?
22:48Dan Frommer:you have a few more? let me get this one out this is called Yucca Balls Yucca Balls? Yucca Balls Yucca, yucca, I'll take either. You know, there used to be a great indie brand in Brooklyn called, I think, U-Puffs or something. And they sold these yucca balls at Foragers, R.I.P., and the market. And that was one of my visiting New York snacks. And when I used to live here all the time, I was eating those. Those seem to be gone. So this is very much in the same spirit. This is a more professionally made package. But these are delicious. These are cheese, basically just like cheese balls. Yeah. Let's open it up.
23:27Dan Frommer:They're tapioca-based. Oh, right now? Let's open it up. Because I have a taster, too. I'm sorry I made you open your snacks. No, please. I brought them for us. I have a taster. A bunch of different flavors, including a more spicy one, but this is just the standard cheesy balls. Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Clayton. He's helping us out in the studio. We're just going in right now. We're not going to do too much tasting. I have a taster for my next round. Let's see what we think about these. Super light. These are great. Good cheese flavor. I'm liking these a lot. Yeah. I'm enjoying, mm, super light. There was like a spicy skew, but I think, and those were good, but for me, this is just all I want.
24:07Dan Frommer:It's just like a simple cheese flavor. Yeah, it reminds me of like when you went to the health food store in the 90s, 2000s, when like in the bulk, they would have like these crispy balls of cheese that had this like different, they were crispy too. You know, they're like a little deeper flavor of cheese. Definitely that's what it's giving right there. Ma 'am, do you want to taste some more things? Let's do it. Why not? I brought in another sample that I wanted to taste. Super interesting. I was at Andrea Hernandez's party for Snackshot. She always throws a great bash around food festivals and trade shows.
24:45And I met the founder of Buffs. Okay. Now, this brand was new to me. And a little background. Buffs was co-founded by Beckett, Keetane, and George Zhao, who I met George. They're young bucks who really, really are thinking about snack foods made out of beef, which I think is a category that there's definitely some other brands who are doing like Doritos and Cheese Puffs as they're doing here at Buffs that are based with protein-rich, no seed oils, and 12 grams of protein per serving here. So not a tallow-based thing, but actually a meat? Actual beef, exactly, not tallow. It's grass-fed beef, egg whites, vegetables, tapioca root, extra virgin olive oil, original seasoning, salt.
25:32Yep, that's it. That's the way they advertise. So first off, their Instagram is crazy. It's really good. Okay. Really good brand. Super fun the way they're engaging on there. And he gave it to me. He says, like, try it. It's like first gen, gave me the whole caveat, but we're going to try it on there. Let's do it right now. It's gluten-free. I checked for you, so we're good. Let's see. So the shape is interesting. It looks like interesting. They look like little tiny little meatballs.
26:07Dan Frommer:Okay. All right. Let's go in. Good, clean, fun. Grass-fed beef. All right. Wow.
26:23I always think with second bite, do I want more or less after second bite?
26:33Dan Frommer:This is very funny. Could be mistaken for a pet treat. It looks, it's giving like pill pockets. Yeah. A little pill pocket style. I like it. It's pretty good. Pretty good. I'm definitely into this. I think - Give me a pho flavor of this. What's that? Give me a pho flavor of this. A pho? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That'd be good. Yeah, yeah. I think you're still right. I think flavor iteration, thinking about international, like a pho, I could think of it being like pozole. Oh, yeah. I'm thinking broths here. Right. Because beef broths and stuff like that. Totally. You know what? Cool. I like this. Oh, before I forget, one other thing.
27:13Dan Frommer:Yeah, yeah. the new beta test of the sour milk vanilla honey flavor. You saw them on the floor. I saw Kiki at a party. She didn't have yogurt on hand, but she told me all about it. Really good. We're both pulling for you guys. Sour milk. What do you think about it? Incredible. Yeah. Super good. And honey flavor, which in our survey is the only sweetener people think is actually healthy. That's so great. So honey flavored vanilla. Yeah. Really good. And I like the way they've changed their form with like the larger, the 24s. Got to do it. Have, you know, lid art. That's cool. And of course, they're still crushing on social.
27:50I have some more. Related to Buffs is a meat adjacent snacking food that I really liked. I found it upstairs. It's called Rodeo Snacks. Founded by a gentleman who was raised in Argentina. This is a steak chip and it is 22 grams of protein, 150 calories, zero sugar, no seed oils, et cetera. I really loved it.
28:20Dan Frommer:What's a steak chip? So it's in the shape of a snacking chip, like a potato chip with a mouthfeel similar to a potato chip. But while biting in, it gives a rich, beefy flavor. Oh, I'm sad I missed that. It's super interesting. I really liked it. They're very new. I like the chicken chips, the Wild's chicken chips that have been around for a long time. So I'm interested. And I think that's like a leader. I mean, Wild's is like absolutely crushing it. And like at Sea Store as well. They're very, very big there. And I think protein chips can be very good and very not good. Yeah. What you don't want is for it to just taste like Dorito seasoning on some sort of weird, you know, crispy base.
29:06Dan Frommer:We'll get to that. Oh, okay. I actually tried that. Spoiler, something like that is in my list. I have a few more. I met with PJ Monte of Monte's Fine Foods, a former guest, and the sauce has been crushing it. It's a delicious sauce. I'm a big fan. Have you tried Monte's Fine Foods? I don't think so. It's a great story, Dan. It is a guy, PJ Monty, who grew up in New York between Brooklyn and the East End. And this is a sauce that's inspired by Monty's Venetian Room in Gowanus. Do you remember Monty's Venetian Room? Huh. Okay. So he's part of that family. Really, really smart, cool guy. And the sauces have been doing great, as mentioned.
29:50Very cool. I think he was at 1 ,100 Target's doors. So he's definitely, like, really on his way. He debuted pasta recently and he has six SKUs and this is domestic pasta. I think he said he was producing it in Oklahoma or somewhere around there, maybe Kansas, where there's Durham wheat fields. And he's so he found this producer and he's doing these really these Teflon, these bronze dyed, not Teflon, bronze dyes and really interesting shapes. You know, doing a star shape. He's doing a snail shape. So he's not doing like rotini and basics. And so I'd love to see now as a strategy, he obviously has his sauce line and now he has his pasta line.
30:34So he's got a full set to offer retail. So good for him. Very cool. Another one I wanted to catch up with is somebody I mentioned before, Gamsa Savory Oatmeal. They debuted at last year's Fancy Food Show. It's a company from Sarah Huang and Ruby Sainese from the city, from New York City. And they're doing a instant Korean juk, so a savory oatmeal. Oh, wow. Their one flavor, they have one flavor now, is a garlic flavor. And I think that that's great that they've stuck with one skew and they're not really trying to push through to too many trendy flavors. and I really like what they did innovate with was just a single cup serving.
31:18So you can get in boxes and you can get in single cup. Delicious stuff.
31:22Dan Frommer:That's cool. I'd love to try that. I love a savory oatmeal. I used to make my own with avocado, sliced avocado, hot sauce and that sort of stuff. I love loading it up as well. And they also were presenting with a really great LA-based sesame oil suki, cold-pressed sesame oil. That's cool. fresh, really cool brand. So that's Gamsa. A few more. Do you have any more? Keep going. Keep going. You keep looking because I know you've got a phone full of photos and notes. I got to taste Dirty Virgo for the first time. I went to BevNet Live a few weeks ago and saw them present, and it was a compelling case.
32:03It was a great presentation, but they weren't tasting there. I finally got to taste it. It's a really cool company. New York City Nightlife veterans James Zackler and John Maloney founded it. What they're doing is interesting, and they're really focusing on trade with this. It's very much for bars. They're doing a line of NA electrolyte beverages that are really close to the cocktails that they're aping. So they have a virgin Italian spritz, a virgin margarita, and a virgin ginger mule. You drink it, and you're not getting that rush of sweetness that so many of these gross virgin BS cocktails, mocktails have, you're actually getting, it tastes like you're getting a little bit of that like Gatorade vibe, but it still has the pure flavor of the cocktail.
32:51So it makes a lot of sense. Like, you know, one for me, one for you kind of vibe. I'm taking one on, one off when you're out drinking. So it makes a lot of sense. I love their story. They're really cool founders. And like, I love the brand Dirty Virgo.
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34:09Dan Frommer:Who cares about your poops? Oli does. That's why Oli's science-backed gut health lineup helps support your family's regularity. From daily probiotics to fiber gummies, your kiddos will love. Find it all on oli.com. That's O-L-L-Y dot com. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. I got a few more. I think you'll appreciate this one. Nomina. Nomina Extra Strong Sparkling Spring Water from Japan. So they're taking Japanese spring water and they're forced carbonating it with extra bubbles.
34:52But it's a really soft Japanese water. It's delicious. I need to try that. Big bubbles, not the small bubbles. No, I need big bubbles. The big bubbles is what you need, man. Love Topo once in a while, but those bubbles are too tight for me. I like a big bubble. I went back twice. But I love this. I love this product. It's in these cool 11-ounce cans. Someone hit me up on Instagram. It was a Kushbusha did. She was a fan of the brand. She found it at Erewhon. So it's available at Erewhon. I know that. And I think in the city, Citarella perhaps, maybe happier. I can't remember what she said. What's it called again?
35:26It's called Nomina, N-O-M-I-N-A.
35:29Dan Frommer:All right. I'm going to look for it. Okay. So not everything is great in life. I have to report on the debut of David's EPG Doritos. Oh. David's has a chip. Right. It was debuted at Snackshot. Listen, it was humid in there. They've been opened. It wasn't like a fresh bag. So I'm going to give them that grace. But they're basically doing a chip now. Yeah. That's very much in the Doritos zone. Doritos protein, so to speak. Not for me. Not for me. Maybe there's a market for this. Reminder, we know David's Bar. They launched with great fanfare. Have you ever interviewed Peter Rahal? Yeah, yeah. Totally, yeah.
36:11Yeah, is he on to something, do you think, with chips? Expanding this David's World. The bars have only been out for 18 months or so.
36:20Dan Frommer:I'll have to try. I mean, as he explained to me, the David brand, and they're going to launch other brands. I think there's one called Hall Pass that they're developing. Cool. The David brand is at that extreme end of people who want the most protein per calorie possible in any food. So the David bar is, as I say, the fakest fake food you can get. Yeah. But it is the only bar that I know that's whatever, 28 grams of protein under 200 calories or something like that. So if that's what you want, and by the way, I'll buy them sometimes because they work. Yeah. They fill you up and no weird burps and I'm good.
37:01Dan Frommer:The ice cream that he sent me last time I was here is way exceeding expectations for me. I don't think I would buy it. I think I would just have a small scoop of regular ice cream. Yeah, yeah. But if you want to gorge on high-protein ice cream, it tastes really good and it tastes like rich – people are like, oh, you can't legally call it ice cream because it doesn't have enough fat or something. It tastes like really good ice cream and there's a chocolate flavor and there was, I believe, a caramel flavor. Yeah. And really good. Well done. Have not tried the chips. I could see that going either way.
37:37Dan Frommer:I don't know. It depends on how satisfying that crunch is and how, you know, how believable it is as a chip. It's like, do you roll with Quest chips? I mean, you have to ask yourself that question. I'll try everything. Like, I've tried all the protein chips. There's actually one in my bag, too, of, like, some weird puffed lentil thing that could be great and could be not great. I keep coming back to the Spanish extra virgin olive oil potato chips. They're just heavenly. Hey, did you try the Sasto, Joe Sasto? Did you try his pasta cups? I haven't tried them. I haven't tried them. I can't eat them.
38:10Was he at the show with the mustache? I think so, yeah. I missed him. Yeah, yeah. I met him before. He's interesting. Yeah. I love to see the chefs on the floor. Saw Andrew Zimmern. Saw Marcus Samuelson. I saw Ed Lee. Nice. Guy's got highlights now. I love it. Sweet. Looking great, Ed. I mean, it's a really fun show. Where did ice cream index in your last report about where people want protein and where they don't want protein? Do you recall?
38:34Dan Frommer:If I remember, it was one of those ones that was kind of averaged out near the zero zero mark. But my guess, a lot of those turn out to not be meh. But instead, there are certain people who are really into it and some people who are really not into it. I have to look specifically for ice cream. But one of the ones in this recent report we pulled through, Cold Foam. Cold Foam is a$300-some million business for Starbucks every year. And last year they added protein Cold Foam, 15 grams, I think, in a grande. And that's one where it averages down to zero-zero. You'd say, oh, no one really wants this.
39:11Dan Frommer:But actually, if you look at it, it's young people much more interested than older people. Millennial urban Starbucks customers very interested in our survey. So it's like, okay, this stuff actually makes sense if it's for the target. The right market. So zero, zero means like low interest and then you go up from that. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I could see like certain markets. I've definitely upgraded for a protein foam at Starbucks. I've tried it. For some reason I do at the airport and it's like, yeah, give me all the protein. It's like a$16 drink by the time I'm done upgrading it. Dude. I mean, the chillers effect is crazy.
39:44That is wild. The refresher thing. Refreshers. Sorry. Refreshers. They've called it chillers at other places, but refreshers.
39:48Dan Frommer:Very smart with customizable caffeine content, boba pearls, all kinds of stuff. You can probably make yourself a$12 drink with 67 grams of sugar. You sure can. And I've seen it at McDonald's now. Everywhere, yeah. Yeah, it's everywhere now. I got some more. So I tried Field Goods, which is the new focus cookie from Ashley Fields, daughter of Debbie Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields. Amazing. Amazing that we're now in functional focus cookies. This cookie, which was absolutely delicious. Oh, cool. I love the flavor of it. It was totally in that Mrs. Fields, like softer than you ever think of cookies should be.
40:29And these focus cookies have three grams of creatine and 250 milligrams of CD saline. I'm not sure what that is. I'm just reading off a list and a bunch of other things. So it's basically a functional cookie. and yeah, it's new. It launched less than a month ago.
40:49Dan Frommer:I had a fantastic little bite of soft serve from Seed and Mill with some crunchy halva at the bottom. I think they redid the recipe of the soft serve. It was very nice. I love to see those guys doing CPG and like out in the world. Definitely love Seed and Mill. The Yakatori guy, do you follow him on Instagram? I don't, but I need to. He's great. I interviewed him in like 2022 or 23. I have fun during the pandemic, a really passionate yakitori chef, kind of a home chef, not like classically trained, but somebody who just has a real passion for yakitori. And I followed his tutorial videos, instruction videos.
41:26I've never done my own breakdown, but they're fantastic. He is launching a brand new yakitori sauce with Sanjay. Sanjay and it's really fun like the to actually have a yakitori sauce kind of a bottled tare so to speak that you you know swipe on to the skewers caught up with him that was great I think Sanjay is doing some interesting things and kind of that you know bottled East Asian sauce world
41:57Dan Frommer:soy sauce soy sauce adjacent yeah which has been completely relit thanks to the success of Bachans which had a real big exit, and now everyone's like, oh, maybe that aisle has more promise. Absolutely. It's an interesting aisle, the Asian condiment aisle, and that exit is bringing in so many new ones, and I tasted some of the new Momofuku sauces. Oh, so did I, yeah. Yeah, I wasn't a huge fan, to be honest, of the new ones. I can't eat most of their stuff. You know, I purchased their tamari, and it is very nice. I like that product a lot, and I've had their barbecue sauce for years. Like they sent me some samples.
42:36But the new line in September, I just wasn't connecting. It was a little sweet for me, just being honest. I think it's like my palate is maybe not quite right for some of these products.
42:44Dan Frommer:Well, I think it's an interesting thing where you start off as the coolest restaurant in New York, and then you all of a sudden have to make something that people across the country at Walmart are going to find delicious enough to purchase over and over and over again. Exactly. And where are the products coming from? I'm not sure the sourcing of all that. But Poland for them, I like the Momofuku team a lot. They're nice people. I tried the new Manischewitz frozen rugla. Okay. Which was like, at first glance, I'm like, this is not for me. I love rugla. It's a great, you know, pastry, kind of babka-esque, challah-esque, kind of in that zone.
43:20Did not have to be this good, Dan. Oh, wow. The new Manischewitz frozen rugla, like eight minutes in the oven from frozen. Dude, really good. I love it. Like having a warm rugelach is like something that is kind of hard to do. Most of you are getting at bakeries and they've been chilled down. So I like that one. I think I got one more. What a great trip. Yeah. Would you say? Like lots of hopes and promise here. So much great stuff. I got to taste 50 Hertz Sichuan peppercorns. Really terrific company. The gentleman who founded it, Yao Zhao. how he grew up in China and worked for the World Bank.
44:03But while working this day job, he had a passion for Szechuan peppercorns. And he is one of the top providers for restaurants around the country. 50 Hertz has been around and they have folks like EMP and really like fine dining using their products. 50 Hertz is funny. That's when you have a tingling feeling on your tongue from Szechuan peppercorns. it equals to be 50 hertz of battery on your tongue. So that's like the way they name it. But what I liked about them is their crossover products. So they work with a lot of companies. They're doing some cashews and peanuts with Sichuan peppercorns. And I had like a brittle, a caramel brittle with Sichuan peppercorns that was delicious.
44:44Really cool founder. That's Yao Zhao. It's 50 hertz.
44:47Dan Frommer:I love it. That's cool. So in general, not much to wrap up. I think we just shared our feelings. But I guess what do you want to see in the market? Is there anything that's just like, I wish I saw more of this and we weren't able to see the full show? It's very tough because there's no order to any of this. It's just super random the way that everything is set up. So it's not like there's a dessert section and you can really piece together, oh, here's what's going on. Everything's all over the place. So I don't know if it's possible to come away with a really clean analysis of the show. I also don't think the show is a complete view of the world.
45:23Dan Frommer:There certainly were many, many brands there that I did not expect to see there. It was great to see a lot of one to two person startups that are just kind of trying stuff. I think that's obviously where every great idea comes from is from one or two people who just can't live without making something. That's the beauty of entrepreneurship. And I love seeing that. I love seeing tiny brands that, you know, the June pistachio guys rope, you know, their mom into working the booth. I love a good parent volunteer booth worker. And that's a great brand that has a fantastic pickled flavor pistachio that I saw their sign and said, oh, I need those.
46:08Dan Frommer:I'm going to go grab some. I saw the family of Frost Buttercream work in the booth. Those guys are great. Love it. Love to see them still. So I'm working away at this crazy world. I mean, I feel like with increased energy costs and shipping costs, I didn't see as much beverage at the show. Not as much, yeah. Maybe it's like a positioning of the show, but I just recall seeing more waters and RTDs. It's just an observation. I loved seeing some domestic waters last year, and I didn't see any this year, though I saw that great Japanese water. I had a really lovely Italian naturally carbonated water.
46:45Dan Frommer:Oh, man. I forgot the name. I love - I think I maybe have their brochure or something like that. I love some waters. Did you see a lot of plant-based cheese? I avoid that stuff. Yeah, I know. Maybe that's a good thing. Yeah, I'm just saying maybe there's more plant-based, vegan - It feels like there's not much energy behind that stuff right now. I don't think so. Yeah. I think there was a moment where there was a lot of interest among investors in it, and therefore it was propelling founders. Yeah, yeah. And there were some good ones. I'll never forget the wacky guy at Expo with Climax Cheese.
47:16Dan Frommer:and that was actually genuinely pretty good. And I think that's at some Michelin star spots. But it feels like the plant-based meat thing, it's a category, it will exist. It's just not nearly as big as people thought it could be. Oh, definitely. Safe Slice was there. Can't remember the broad name, but the banner is Safe Slice. That's a plant-based meat that they've been doing their work for years and I've been following it. And now their reposition is Safe Slice and it's basically luncheon meets that are safe for pregnant mothers. Cool. It's a good idea. I think it's definitely a market that is pretty big, pretty big tam there.
47:54Yeah, maybe. Maybe. I mean, you gotta have an angle, you gotta have a hustle.
47:59Dan Frommer:Is it enough to move through whatever velocities that that buyer needs in that fridge? I know. It's interesting, safe slice. That's a good idea, though. Yeah. Well, Dan, I hope we can catch up after Expo West. I feel like we have this like nice tradition. Yeah. Here's a wish list. I want more savory snack bars. I want more weird ice cream. I want more carbonated beverages. You know, there's the, maybe we talked about this lesson, the Spindrift tea has no bubbles. Give me the bubbles. Yeah. I tasted through that. I didn't like that. I want to see bubbles with all Spindrift. I need bubbles. Because they're absolutely crushing it.
48:36I think their pog is amazing. You know, pineapple, orange guava. I love the Yuzu Mandarin and also the Ginger Mule is good too. Ginger Mule is good. They're crushing it. I love Spindrift. Yeah. So yeah, I think we're aligned on like more bubbles, please. Please. I like savory bars. That's great. Yeah. Yeah. More savory bars is cool. I tried a great tofu savory bar. Oh, wow. That was cool. That was a cool product downstairs. Well, listen, let's do this again. Anytime, man.
49:06Dan Frommer:Thanks for having me. Thanks, buddy. I appreciate it. Next time we'll snack together.
49:14This is Taste is hosted and produced by Eliza Abarbanal and me, Matt Rodbar. The show is edited by lead producer Clayton Gumbert and supervised by Pat Stango, director of media production and development at Penguin Random House. Thanks to Shalia Harris and the production team at Penguin Random House. Theme music by Steve Rydell. Episode portraits by Louise Zergon Pomeroy. Logo design by Ellie Skrzat and Ian Dingham. Visit Taste Online at tastecooking.com and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated on all cool things in the world of taste. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.
49:55Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for$15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made$15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. You want to get your backyard summer ready, but you don't want to break the bank?
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From the publisher
The Specialty Food Association's Summer Fancy Food Show is where the next year of grocery shelves gets decided, and Dan Frommer, founder of The New Consumer and one of the sharpest minds tracking how people spend their money, was there for all of it. Dan joins Matt to unpack the trends and new products they spotted on the floor of the Javits Center this week in New York. We talk about sparkling water, functional cookies, and some emerging categories that surprised even us.
Check out Dan’s 2026 Mid-Year Consumer Trends Report.
Brands mentioned on the episode:
Mr. Pickles Industries
Wandel
Mad Mutz
The Great Chestnut Experiment
Ginja Snap
Folkland Foods
Buffs
Rodeo Snacks
Monte's Fine Foods
Gamsa Foods
Sooki
Dirty Virgo
Nomina Sparkling Water
David Protein
Field GoodsYakitori Guy Sauce
Manischewitz
50 Hertz
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