For the past 49 years, specialty food and beverage makers and retail and foodservice buyers have headed west in January, leaving winter’s cold behind for a few days to experience the latest new artisan cheeses, gourmet chocolates and all manner of sweet and savory treats at the Specialty Food Association’s Winter Fancy Food Show.
While it has always been an event that tracks the latest trends, the show will take a bigger leap into the future next year when SFA retires the Winter Fancy Food Show banner and debuts Winter FancyFaire, a new event developed to cater to the ever-changing specialty food industry. The rebranded three-day event will open at the San Diego Convention Center on Jan. 11, 2026, and move to San Francisco the following year.
From the beginning, the show has changed with the times, adding new features, highlighting international flavors and exploring the latest trends and cutting-edge innovations. Winter FancyFaire is meant to be the next phase in that evolution.
“The name change really reflects a bold new chapter for us as an association and the specialty food industry,” said SFA President Bill Lynch. “It signals an entirely new event experience.”
Leaving Las Vegas
The Winter Fancy Food Show moved from its longtime home in San Francisco to Las Vegas during COVID-19.
“We obviously encountered disruptions, as everyone did,” Lynch said. “At the time, Las Vegas was ahead of the curve” in adapting to pandemic-era limitations and returning to in-person events.
According to data gathered by Statista, the pandemic upended in-person trade shows around the world, and the industry is just now fully recovering. Starting in 2020, many shows moved their events online because of the pandemic, and last year was the first year since then that the value of B2B trade shows was forecast to surpass 2019 levels.
Food shows especially rely on sampling and face-to-face interactions between entrepreneurs with compelling stories and products and buyers and influencers with the power to help them grow. Thus the move to Las Vegas was the right thing for the times.
Now, as the show moves into its next new chapter, it’s continuing to evolve while also returning to its roots, which were “really embedded in the local food culture,” Lynch said.
“In each city that we hold the Faire going forward, we’re going to immerse ourselves in the community,” Lynch said.
Events outside the convention centers could explore local farmers’ markets and partnerships with local restaurant associations, for example. The community includes the chefs in markets like San Diego and San Francisco who, rather than feeding meals to thousands each night, prepare the kind of carefully handcrafted artisan fare that defines specialty food.
“Winter FancyFaire is going to be fresh and exciting,” Lynch said. “Discovery, innovation and invention will take center stage and capture that spirit of exploration. There will be new opportunities and first-to-market products that buyers will be able to experience.”
Plans for the show beyond 2027 haven’t been finalized yet, and it’s not certain whether the event will explore other cities and culinary communities in the future. Like San Diego and San Francisco, any future prospective locations would also be evaluated on qualities including infrastructure, culture accessibility and the variety of food experiences, Lynch said.
The idea is to move beyond the convention center in the new cities and collaborate with local chefs, retailers, food makers and suppliers. Additionally, Winter FancyFaire will be designed to cater to the trade show’s changing demographic, said Phil Robinson, SFA’s senior vice president for member development.
“According to recent industry research, millennials and Gen Z will make up 75% of tradeshow attendees by 2030,” Robinson said. “The expectations of these generations include more experiential product discovery; identification of trends before they hit the mainstream; immersion and inspiration from local culture; and more data-driven, real-time wayfinding, matchmaking, and socializing.”
What’s on tap this week?
The final Winter Fancy Food Show started today in Las Vegas and will run through Tuesday, with more than 1,060 domestic and international exhibitors, including 183 who are new to the show and 372 new products debuting.
One of the big draws for exhibitors is the buyer certification process. This year’s group will include representatives from major retailers such as Whole Foods Market and Sprouts Farmers Market, as well as other big grocery and food service players.
A tradition at the show, as with the Summer Fancy Food Show in June, will be the Trendspotter Panel members who roam the show floor and report back on the hottest trends they’re seeing. In the most recent report ahead of this week’s show, the panel identified a slew of timely trends, including the continued rise and growing versatility of snacking, chef-created kits for home cooks and functional foods personalized to the individual’s needs.
While next year’s show will reflect the big transformation to Winter FancyFaire, this year’s event is also moving into the future with new features.
“We’re viewing this show as a testing ground for a lot of things we’re going to do the Faire,” Lynch said.
This year the show is co-locating with the Tastemakers Conference, bringing new opportunities for food makers to connect with food bloggers and social media influencers who can get the word out about their products.
Other new features this year include:
- A global food hall called the First Taste Experience will sample new flavors and products each day of the show.
- The Spark Showcase, with a lineup of interactive sessions, expert talks and networking opportunities designed to spark inspiration.
- An Ask the Experts space for one-on-one and small group meetings with industry experts in a range of areas from marketing and food photography to packaging and exporting.
- The Debut District, which was introduced at the Summer Fancy Food Show last year, will be included to create a central area for new exhibitors, new products, Startup Row and Incubator Village.
_____________________________________
If you liked this article, sign up to receive one of SmartBrief’s Food & Beverage newsletters. They are among SmartBrief’s more than 250 industry-focused newsletters.