At Innovations, our annual trade show, exhibitors always bring their A-game to their samples and small plates.
For this year’s show, we upped the ante by introducing our Culinary Experience, an opportunity for our suppliers to show off creative takes on their products with very few restraints.
The chefs took cues from today’s biggest food and beverage trends to present their products in innovative dishes.
Global & Regional Flair
More parts of the globe are getting the spotlight on menus, and some of those regions are in our own backyard. As the rise of Nashville hot chicken in 2020 demonstrated, consumers are hyped about hyper-regional American cuisine. Exhibitors were well aware of everyone’s hunger for diverse dishes.
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Filipino foods like chicken adobo and ube have made significant headway on U.S. menus. Dole served their own variation of the Filipino braised pork dish humba, adding pineapple coconut rice to sweeten the plate.
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Idahoan offered different toppings for their mashed potatoes, including creole sausage and Hawaiian pork.
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You don’t always have to mess with a classic. Kronos gave us traditional lamb and beef gyros complete with tzatziki sauce.
Sweet & Savory Comforts
Salty snacks, plant-based treats, classic desserts—nothing beats comfort foods. Chefs predict 2022 will be another big year for comfort food, but maybe with a few twists to catch consumers’ attention. Based on their Culinary Experience offerings, our exhibitors agree.
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74 percent of consumers snack between meals at least once a day. J&J Snack Foods Corp. served up the perfect pub or game-day snack. Their cheese and bacon pretzel bites were a hit at the trade show.
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Violife used vegan cheese to make their pizza and gluten-free macaroni for everyone.
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Ripple made vegan soft-serve fun with their sundae bar.
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Oregon Fruit Products offered a refreshing take on dessert with a harvest apple yogurt parfait and cheesecake with fruit topping.