The Specialty Food Association’s 2025 Summer Fancy Food Show, convened at the Javits Center in New York City, June 29 to July 1. Approximately 2,500 specialty food exhibitors from around the world filled the show floor. Attendees had the opportunity to sample a cornucopia of global flavors, from Japanese fruit ice bars (Kajyu) and Indian snack mixes (Doorsa), to Thai curries (Banyan), Filipino hot sauces (Djablo) and Tunisian olive oil.

Our editorial team sampled these flavors alongside more than 32,000 attendees, and elected to spend an entire day browsing booths and speaking with brand owners in the CPG Startup and Incubator Alley spaces, held in the River Pavilion, which opened for the first time since pandemic disruption.

Our editors found an inspired collection of new and small brand owners guiding their products into the market with cutting edge approaches and refined product messaging. Sustainability, cultural significance and better for you trends were all present among the young brands in the startup space.

West Indies Peppa Sauce, aka WIPS, exists to champion the culinary traditions of the Caribbean. Founders Randy Pulayya and Shauna Vo Pulayya showcased two varieties of their jarred sauce on the show floor, while celebrating one year in business. To develop WIPS, the couple drew from a family recipe extending back four generations to Randy Pulayya's Guyanese grandmother. 

The sauce flavors build from red and yellow Scotch bonnet peppers that feature a citrus and tangy flavors, making them approachable for hot sauce consumers with a milder palate. 

Oulala Manba Peanut Butter takes its inspiration from Haiti, where peanut butter is traditionally spiced with Scotch bonnet peppers. The brand showcased Classic, Spicy and Extra Spicy varieties at the show, while sharing the story of a product that enjoys broad acceptance in the US market, while spreading its connection to the Caribbean with a spicy take. 

Yax Snacks are tortilla chips made with an ancient superfood called chaya, typically found growing naturally in the Yucatan Peninsula. Chaya is a green leaf plant that traces its lineage to Mayan culture. The superfood plant product contains more protein than kale, and more iron than spinach, according to the company. Yax Snacks varieties celebrate flavors from the Yucatan Peninsula with offerings such as Sour Orange, Habanero & Sea Salt and Garlic, Green Onion & Crema. 

Ancestral Organics developed a line of better for you products using ingredients grown in regenerative ecosysytems. The brand works with small farms in Colombia to increase organic matter in soil, improve water quality and protect biodiversity. Its product line includes a protein powder made with sacha inchi, a superfood that provides potential support for a variety of health benefits. Sacha inchi has been used by indigenous groups throughout the Caribbean and South America for hundreds of years. The sacha inchi protein powder from Ancestral Organics contains a medley of antioxidants, proteins and amino acids.

In the United States, the makers of Goldholly organic supertea discovered a vision for their product in yaupon holly, America's only caffeinated plant. The brand shapes its message around the sustainable aspects of sourcing from a domestic caffeine source, while highlighting the gentle caffeine effects of yaupon holly in contrast to coffee and tea. The names of each variety of tea correspond to an endangered animal living where yaupon holly grows. 

Our editorial team also discovered a canned sparkling coffee infused with fresh lemon (Coffeenade), rice and pasta products made from hearts of palm (Natural Heaven) and a beverage that parallels trends in cognition and focus, hydration, zero sugar, and cravings similar to those suppressed by GLP-1 products (släcka). 

And there was a ton of Dubai Chocolate, but we'll have to save commentary on that front for another day.