A panel of trendspotters at the 37th Winter Fancy Food Show named the top five food trends for 2012. The Winter Fancy Food Show, which ended Jan. 17, is the largest marketplace for specialty foods and beverages on the West Coast, with 80,000 products on display from 1,300 exhibitors from the U.S. and 35 countries.
The trends are:
Pickling 2.0
- Unbound Pickling: Pickled Peas and Carrots
- Boat Street Pickles: Pickled Golden Raisins
- Sonoma Brinery: Raw Sauerkraut
Seeds and Grains
- Victoria's Kitchen: Almond Water
- Simpli: Chocolate Oat Shake
- Chill Drinks: C+Swiss Hemp Iced Tea
Gluten-Free Grows Up
- Cup4Cup: Gluten-free flour blend from Thomas Keller
- Stonewall Kitchen: Gluten-free Herbed Pizza Crust
- Love Grown Foods: Sweet Cranberry Pecan Granola
Coconut Cracks Open
- Luna and Larry's Coconut Bliss: Ginger Cookie Caramel Coconut Ice Cream
- Noh Foods of Hawaii: Coconut Pudding Mix
- Hey Boo Jams: Hey Boo Coconut Jam
Ancient Grains
- Culinary Collective Zocalo Heritage Grains: Pink Amaranth
- Al Dente Pasta: BonaChia Pasta
- Origen Chilean Gourmet: Quinoa Puffs
Other trends identified at the Winter Fancy Food Show include cocktail mixes, chai, fig, savory sweets, mindful snacks such as raw bars, bean chips and seaweed.
The trendspotters were Stephanie Dean, Sunset Magazine; Dana Goodyear, The New Yorker; Nancy Wall Hopkins, Better Homes & Gardens; Kara Nielsen, CCD Innovation; Evan Orensten, Cool Hunting; Jennifer Pelka and Ruth Reichl, Gilt Taste; Denise Purcell, Specialty Food Media; Kalena Ross, Blackboard Eats; Stephanie Stiavetti, contributor to NPR, KQED, Huffington Post; Susie Timm, Girl Meets Fork; and Joanne Weir, PBS television host, cookbook author and chef.