Lady Gaga’s Meat Dress, Umami Top NASFT Trend List

Fried beer, Eataly and Lady Gaga’s meat dress gave specialty food lovers plenty to chew on in 2010. Bustaurants emerged as the new food truck, and butchers gained celebrity status.

The above are some of the 20 most influential food trends, events and news stories of the year identified by the editors of foodspring.com -- a consumer website produced by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, Inc. (NASFT)

Also on the foodspring list:
• A-List chefs give back
• Food trucks 2.0
• D-List celebrities pitch pistachios, including Snooki and Rod Blagojevich
• Sea buckthorn berries
• iPad menu apps
• Mandatory calorie listings on menus
• Food deserts
• Eataly
• Death of Oldways founder K. Dun Gifford
• Umami in a paste
• Hyperlocal food production
• Solar-powered food trucks
• 97 Orchard Street: An Edible History
• High Times Cannabis Cookbook
• Child Nutrition Act

The complete list and stories behind each pick was posted today on foodspring.com.

“This has been a great year for the specialty food industry, and we predict the momentum will continue,” says Ann Daw, president of the NASFT. “More newcomers are pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams of making great food products, and consumers are more passionate about where their food comes from than ever before.”

In 2010, after two years of tightened spending, 63 percent of American consumers purchased specialty food in 2010, a big jump from 46 percent last year and 56 percent in 2008, according to NASFT research.

The NASFT owns and operates the Winter Fancy Food Show, which takes place January 16 – 18, 2011 in San Francisco. The trade-only event is where buyers from the top names in specialty food retailing, Now in its 36th year, the Winter Fancy Food Show is the largest marketplace for specialty food on the West Coast. There will be 80,000 products displayed by 1,300 exhibitors from 35 countries.

For additional information, visit www.foodspring.com/about/fancy-food.