Summer Fancy Food Show Sees Surge in Attendee Registration
The numbers are in: The Specialty Food Association (SFA) hosted more than 32,000 industry players at the recent 69th Summer Fancy Food Show, which took place June 29–July 1 at New York City’s Javits Center. Attendee registration surged 14% from 2024 to about 13,000, including around 8,100 buyers, a 9% rise. Reflecting the increasing relevance of specialty foods and beverages at retail and foodservice, SFA expanded the square footage of the show to almost 340,000 square feet, including the River Pavilion, opened for the first time since before the pandemic.
During the three-day event, 2,492 domestic and international food and beverage manufacturers displayed a wide range of innovative specialty products that align with various consumer trends.
“The Summer Fancy Food Show is the Specialty Food Association’s marquee event, and this year’s event showed that the appetite for specialty foods is growing even amid economic uncertainty,” noted Bill Lynch, president of New York-based SFA. “We saw notable increases in attendance from retail buyers, investors, foodservice and press, who were eager to meet the passionate people behind the brands and experience the latest innovations in specialty foods, a market that’s projected to hit $231 billion in 2025.”
According to SFA, show highlights included:
- Artisan food and beverage products from 2,492 exhibitors.
- Exhibitors from 59 countries and six continents, with 24 international pavilions, including the show’s partner country, Italy, and new entrants Estonia and Pakistan.
- Almost 1,000 new products (983), a 90% increase from 2024; 378 first-time exhibitors; and 90 incubator and accelerator brands. Most of these were in the Debut District, an area dedicated to the newest products at the show.
- State and regional Pavilions, including Brooklyn, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, the Southern United States Trade Association (SUSTA), the U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont and Virginia.
- The show included the first-ever Académie Culinaire de France’s North America Pastry Competition Championship on-site, hosted by Chef Dominique Ansel. Among the available networking opportunities were the Buyer Welcome Reception, the New Member Party and the SFA People Awards Ceremony, hosted by Jeni Britton, of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams fame, and honoring the honorees of the SFA Leadership Awards, Hall of Fame and Lifetime Achievement Awards.
- More than 30 sessions from a diverse range of thought leaders, among them Hungryroot founder and CEO Ben McKean, Chef Michael Symon, First We Feast CEO Chris Schonberger, influencer/investor/founder Rachel Mansfield and the SFA Trendspotter Panel. Topics covered included financing, tariffs, alternative distribution methods, economic uncertainty and foodservice trends.
- Insight into influential and emerging trends in specialty food, courtesy of the above-mentioned Trendspotter Panel: Trends on their radar included how companies are creating products to maintain smaller supply chains, and the ongoing prominence of “global convenience.”
- The SFA operates an Exhibitor Food Donation Program in partnership with City Harvest to ensure that unused food goes to New Yorkers in need. This year, 84,015 pounds on 99 pallets of specialty food were donated by SFA members.
SFA’s next trade show is the new Winter FancyFaire* event, scheduled for Jan. 11-13, 2026, in San Diego, during which the first-ever specialty food Trend of the Year will be revealed.
Founded in 1952, SFA is the not-for-profit trade association of the $207 billion specialty food industry. Representing more than 4,000 businesses worldwide, the organization champions industry participation and success for a diverse community of makers, buyers, importers, distributors and service providers by producing events, programs, and year-round resources and education. SFA owns and operates the Summer Fancy Food Show, Winter FancyFaire* and the sofi Awards, the last of which have honored excellence in specialty food and beverage annually since 1972.
