I thought it had a lot of energy,excitement and creativity and that you would never expect that in this economy. The foreign-sponsored booths are always a bit over-the top but the cheeses, olives, olive oil, truffles, pates and desserts were amazing . And the lower floor which always sports exciting start-up products, did not disappoint. This show is all about indulgence- and our more serious healthy offerings are mostly appealing to the buyers who know their customer's real needs. I thought that our being back to that marketplace was really gratifying and that the newly-launched products were very well received. The fact that Steel's is true to its gourmet roots and still delivers healthy, reduced sugar products makes us a good fit for the fancy food show. I think our customers in the pacific northwest are going to be happy to see us back there and back in distribution nation-wide.

Noteworthy were some unusual combinations of sweet and savory. Ice cream and gelato flavors using vegetables and herbs - caramel products that are salty, hot peppers added to sweets. American favorites like hamburgers are getting exotic treatments and the gourmet food creators seem to be on that track. One of the winners of the Sofi awards was macaroni and cheese with lobster added!

Great Show!

Natural Products West in Annaheim was amazing: it attracted a huge crowd of health food store operators, specialty food buyers, grocery buyers and distributors. We had lots of interest in our natural, agave sweetened product line.

Agave was "hot" with lots of suppliers exhibiting, but not many food product lines. Gluten free was everywhere, so that bought a lot lot people to our booth. The buyers seem to be "getting it" about sugar contributing to obesity, and if it tastes good, they don't miss the sugar.

The show was a sort of "love fest" for us, We saw so many former customers , who welcomed us with hugs and orders! A big winner was our new Agave Caramel Sauce, which we asked people to taste.

We had some serious tasters of our Asian products with both Japanese and Chinese customers weighing in. The Japanese thought that our Hoisin sauce could use a little more salt, while the Chinese contingent was OK with the salt but thought that it needed a darker miso paste. Our Mango Curry Sauce and Sesame Ginger were also big hits. How good is that to have a focus group right there! It presents a great opportunity for fine tuning in the future and making our foods authentic.

We had some "challengers" for everything. People who had read some negative and ( incorrect) information about agave, where they claimed it was high fructose corn syrup, people who criticized our use of soy because it probably came from GMO soybeans, people who had no clue about glycemic index, insulin response and some who just like a fight. I kept my cool....for the most part. It was helpful that the agave vendors had plenty of science-based information to defend their products. It seems that one of the most vociferous agave critics is on the consultant payroll of a sucralose supplier. But I think he might have been just a little bit biased ;)

Our Ketchup and Barbecue sauces were especially appreciated by diabetics and their families. Californians are very concerned about sugar in school meals and are generally nutrition conscious. The show really enforced everything we are trying to do- create really good tasting foods that are no sugar added and gluten free.


And best of all - the weather was beautiful in California!

Please share your favorite recipes in the comments here, we may choose to share them on our web page or next catalog.