2025 Summer Fancy Food Shows Wild Ride with RIDEPLAY tv

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🎉 Summer Fancy Food Show 2025 Recap for RIDEPLAY TV Celebrating Flavor, Innovation, and Milestones in the Heart of NYC

The 2025 Summer Fancy Food Show lit up the Javits Center in New York City from June 29 to July 1, drawing over 30,000 industry professionals from around the globe. For the RIDEPLAY TV audience—those who live life on the move and catch their content on digital billboards and screens—this year’s show was a feast of innovation, storytelling, and brand evolution.

SHOW FEATURES Informative and inspiring education programming, including sessions from notable speakers and brands.

Exhibitors from 59 countries, spread across six continents and 25 International Pavilions State and Regional Pavilions including Brooklyn, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, SUSTA, US Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, featuring Food and beverage products from 2,492 Exhibitors. The show featured The Debut District, a featured area where attendees can discover the newest of the new at the Show: first-time exhibitors, new products, startups, and incubators. Let’s get into the week’s festivities as I share some of my favorite bites and experiences.

Valesto Team taking in the Fancy Food Show

On Friday, June 27, the Premio Caputo lit up the Italian Cultural Institute in New York with a vibrant showcase of contemporary art that celebrated the deep connection between culinary tradition and creative expression. Conceived by Mulino Caputo to mark its centennial, the international competition featured evocative works by students from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli, exploring the aesthetics of Neapolitan cuisine and its cultural roots. Curated by Professors Olga Scotto di Vettimo and Arcangela Di Lorenzo, the exhibition served as a tribute to Naples’ 2,500th anniversary, blending memory, flavor, and visual storytelling into a compelling cultural dialogue.

The Good Food Mercantile NYC 2025 also kicked off the Summer Fancy Food Show with a vibrant celebration of artisanal excellence and responsible food production. Held on June 28 at the Metropolitan Pavilion, the event showcased over 100 top-tier crafters from across the country, with a strong presence from New York and surrounding regions. Unlike traditional trade shows, the Mercantile fostered intimate connections between makers and merchants committed to sustainability, authenticity, and quality. Highlights included tastings of European cheeses from Spain, spotlighting PDO and PGI varieties like Manchego and Mahón-Menorca, which drew thousands of attendees and set the tone for the gourmet discoveries to follow at the Javits Center.

Veroni: A Century of Italian Excellence Veroni, the #1 Italian charcuterie brand in the U.S., marked its 100th anniversary with a dazzling showcase that blended tradition with modern flair:

• Aperitime Line: Ready-to-serve platters featuring imported cured meats like Salame and Prosciutto, paired with cheese, olives, and breadsticks—perfect for upscale snacking.
• Snack Line: Portable protein-packed trays designed for busy lifestyles, ideal for commuters and billboard viewers looking for indulgence on the go.
• Mortadella “Grill and Enjoy”: A bold new concept—a thick-cut slice crafted for grilling, bringing Italian street food vibes to American backyards.

Veroni’s booth became a tasting destination, and their presence at major tennis tournaments like the US Open and Cincinnati Open continues to amplify their brand visibility across digital platforms. The Roof top afterparty was even more spectacular and of course the food spread was A+

🚀 Featured Brands from the (included) Group The (included) CPG collective once again spotlighted diverse, emerging brands that are reshaping the specialty food landscape. These brands are tailor-made for RIDEPLAY TV’s audience—bold, inclusive, and ready for the spotlight:

A few mentions on the radar courtesy of the SFA Trendspotting team:

📊 Chili Cornucopia 

• Auria’s Malaysian Kitchen Mango Sambal. Booth 6143
• Alicorp USA LLC (Tari) Peruvian Rocoto Pepper Sauce. Booth 5955
• Amza Superfoods Flaxseed Butter with Chili & Turmeric. Booth RP141A
• Beemster Cheese Smoked Hatch Pepper Gouda. Booth 1858
• Djablo small batch Filipino hot sauce. Booth 1237A
• Doosra Indian Snack Mix with Kashmiri Chili. Booth RP112A
• Forever Cheese Piri Piri Cocktail Mitica snack mix flavored with piri piri. Booth 1515
• Live Loud Foods Caribbean Jerk Nuts. Booth 1237B
• Tierra Negra Mexican Dark Salsa. Booth 4926

📊 Also on the Radar:

• Bone Suckin’ Foods Eastern Vinegar Sauce. Booth 6227
• Figa Foods chocolate-style bars from upcycled cupuaçu seeds. Booth RP208B
• Shatila Food Products and Manufacturing LLC Baklawa Pistachio. Booth 2454

Investor William Andre Buchanan & Victoria Ho, CO-founder of Included poses with founders from the 2025 Included group who Exhibited and the Summer Fancy Food Show 2025

📊 Trends That Moved Our Needle: Every year at each trade show, we spotlight and sponsor airtime on our platform to celebrate innovation within the digital out-of-home community. The featured brands appeared in various locations throughout the exhibit hall, and I’m always grateful for the launchpad we provide to first-time exhibitors and startups. Their bold packaging, inclusive narratives, and functional ingredients make them perfect candidates for digital out of home storytelling and snackable content. Personally, the biggest highlights of the show were the 19 featured brands below — click their names to visit their websites.

Veroni: Italian charcuterie specialists since 1925, bringing authentic mortadella, prosciutto, and salami to U.S. tables.

Live Loud Foods: A women-owned Bronx-based brand crafting bold, globally inspired candied nuts with vibrant flavors like Caribbean jerk and citrus pistachio.

Nissin Foods, Maker of CUP NOODLES**]( The pioneer of instant ramen, now innovating with nutrient-dense frozen meals under the Kanzen brand.

Le Gruyère AOP: Switzerland’s iconic hard cheese, aged to perfection and protected by the AOP designation for authenticity and quality.

Terapy Tea: Ayurvedic herbal teas blended with organic Ceylon ingredients to support wellness, digestion, and relaxation.

Nature’s Garden: A snack brand offering functional trail mixes, probiotic yoggies, and fruit-forward blends for healthy lifestyles.

PiruCream Lovers: Venezuelan-style rolled wafer snacks filled with hazelnut, coconut, and chocolate cream for indulgent crunch.

Village Gourmet: A family of premium protein brands producing artisanal sausages, charcuterie, and gourmet meats across the U.S.

Sababa Foods: A modern Middle Eastern food brand known for its spicy tomato-based Saturday Sauce inspired by matbucha.

Joyffles : NYC-based oat-powered waffles that are gluten-free, dairy-free, and perfect for on-the-go snacking.

Bacanha: Parisian makers of USDA-certified organic syrups crafted with pure cane sugar and botanical infusions.

BollyGood: Sparkling Indian-inspired lemonades and limeades based on the traditional Nimbu Pani recipe with bold flavors like mango turmeric and basil cumin.

Olive Oil Lovers: Curators of premium extra virgin olive oils from around the world, offering tasting kits and subscriptions.

Hernan Mexico: Offer  gourmet Mexican culinary products—from mole sauces to handcrafted cookware—celebrating tradition, flavor, and artisan craftsmanship made entirely in Mexico

Djablo Sauce: Filipino-American hot sauces with bold aromatics and layered heat from serrano, scorpion, and teardrop peppers.

Herbivore: Organic herbal iced teas inspired by Caribbean wellness traditions, available in still and sparkling blends like Calm, Revive, and Focus.

Growee Foods: Makers of globally inspired, allergy-friendly plant-based dips and spreads crafted from real veggies, seeds, and spices—no weird additives, just pantry staples.

Bitchin Sauce: San Diego-born almond-based dips with bold flavors like Chipotle and Cilantro Chili, beloved for their creamy texture and cult-favorite status.

Fabrique Délices  a California based producer of artisanal French charcuterie, offering a wide range of handcrafted pâtés, mousses, sausages, and specialty meats using traditional methods since 1985.

Snack master & Investor William Andre Buchanan returns to the Summer Fancy Food Show

📺 Why It Matters for RIDEPLAY tv

The Summer Fancy Food Show isn’t just about what’s on the plate—it’s about what’s next. For RIDEPLAY tv’s audience, these brands and trends offer bite-sized stories that resonate on screens in taxis, rideshares, and public spaces. Whether it’s Veroni’s century-long journey or a startup’s debut such as Live Loud Foods, the show delivered content that’s ready to be amplified across digital billboards and mobile screens. Unfortunately, I did not get to visit every booth due to the lack of time but looking forward to covering again for the next one. Stay tuned for updates on our site and also on the platform itself the next time you are around one of our screens. I’ll also be posting random content on my personal social media pages as well so make sure to connect HERE. See you next year!

About the Specialty Food Association 

The Specialty Food Association (SFA) is a not-for-profit, membership-based, trade association founded in 1952 and currently representing 3,000+ businesses, manufacturers, importers, retailers, distributors, brokers, and others in the trade and produces the Fancy Food Shows, A Specialty Food Association Podcast, the ecommerce enabled SFA Product Marketplace and the annual sofi Awards honoring excellence in specialty food. The Association is also a source of industry information, educational events and in-person and online networking opportunities for members, including the digital Infinite Aisle, a product sales platform. The Specialty Food Association (SFA) has been the leading trade association and source of information about the $175 billion specialty food industry for 70 years.