NASFT

Last month’s NASFT aka The Fancy Food Show was a milestone event. It was the largest show of its type in the U.S. with over 2700 specialty food producers, 28,000 buyers, with over 24,000 attendees.This year more than 1500 exhibitors
were U.S. based representing a market share of $88.3 billion,
a 10.4% increase. Italy was the largest foreign exhibitor with over 400 vendors from 20 regions. Some interesting sidebars include the fact that Men vs. Women shop equally for specialty
food products, 74% while 43% shop by mobile phone and nearly half shop foods with locally grown ingredients. Again, olive oil, chocolate, cheese, yogurt, kefir, coffee, and snacks were the favorite choices for the industry’s primary audience consumers 18-24. Overall, nearly 75% of the U.S. buying public shop specialty foods on a regular basis.

The NASFT/ National Association of Specialty Food producers
is a non-profit trade association made up of over 3,000 companies in the U.S.and abroad. It produces two major trade shows in the U.S. and publishes SPECIALTY FOOD Magazine.
It also sponsors the annual sofie Awards for outstanding food
products. This year 125 finalists in 32 categories were announced. The NASFT also sponsors seminars and educational programs in this field and makes charitable contributions on behalf of the industry. City Harvest, a NYC based organization has been the show’s major recipient