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SFA Winter Fancy Food Show: 7 Ingredient and Packaging Trends for Marketers

January 27, 2025

The 2025 Specialty Food Association Winter Fancy Food Show in Las Vegas offered an exciting first look at emerging food trends and innovations that will shape consumer tastes in the months ahead. The show is always an important venue for our team to catch up with brands, buyers, and distributors to gather insights. Below are 7 key trends our team took away that you might apply to your brand:

  • Clean, white packaging design continues to dominate, consistent with the continued trend toward simple ingredients, sustainable products and overall health.  This year, however, also saw the reemergence of pops of bright color in packaging, many evoking a nostalgic theme.

  • Everything pickled continues to be in flavor as presented in the 2025 SF Industry Outlook presentation by the Food Institute and MenuData, and we saw tons of new products we liked, including Pacific Pickle Works, The People’s Provision, Foster’s Pickled Onions, and Poppy Dill Pickle flavored popcorn. Consumers love pickles for the flavor, nutritional value and low calorie count.

  • Elevated comfort. While specialty food consumers continue to display strong purchasing power, many consumers remain careful about spending on the treats they choose. Trending brands at the show include truffles by TartufLanghe, artisanal hand-painted chocolate by Kate Weiser, and premium chocolate bonbons by MAE Fine Foods. Premium ingredients with big flavor.

  • The middle consumer is attracted to smart and affordable indulgences that pack a huge flavor punch and where a little goes a long way. They also are trending toward premium private label products over mainstream brands when budgets are tight, providing a bigger opportunity for specialty brands to get into the private label market We keyed in on Sabatino’s wide range of truffle-based products (dressing, aioli, mayonnaise, seasoning) and Truff hot sauces.

 

  • It’s more than Dry January this year, with a whopping 39 percent of consumers saying they are sober curious and want to consume less alcohol. We saw a host of mocktail options including MiddleBar’s Bloody Mary Mix and Natalie’s Margarita Mix which can be served with or without spirits.

  • Continued flavor focus on East Asian ingredients and cuisine: Japanese and Korean in particular. Yuzu Lemon Cheesecake ice cream is AMAZING!

  • Products providing premium short cuts are appealing to busy Americans, making their lives just a little bit easier. We really liked Spritz King basting spray, frozen bakery frosting ready for use anytime from Frost Buttercream and ready to bake Whoa! Dough cookies.

Winter Fancy Food show never fails to delight the taste buds and inspire a marketer’s creativity. We can’t wait to see what the SFA has in store next year as the show moves to sunny San Diego. Hope we see you there (or in NYC this summer).

If you are interested in a deeper dive into these 7 insights or need ideas to maximize these in your own marketing plan, please reach out to Wilks Group here. We’ve been SFA members since 2009 and actively integrate consumer insights into all our food marketing.

Source:  SF Industry Outlook: Trends Shaping CPG presentation (2025)

 

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