4-29-2003 |
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STATE AGRIBUSINESSES TO SHOWCASE PRODUCTS AT CHICAGO FANCY FOOD SHOW Five West Virginia agribusinesses will attend this year’s National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) Fancy Foods Show in Chicago, one of three such shows held annually in the United States. The Show begins Sunday May 4, and runs through Tuesday May 6. Held in conjunction with the Food Marketers Institute Show, the fancy food shows are the largest of their type in the world, attracting buyers from numerous states and foreign countries. “These events are an invaluable tool for West Virginia agribusinesses, allowing the opportunity to showcase their products, provide information to prospective buyers and make sales on the spot,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass. “It also is perhaps the only opportunity for these companies to receive any international exposure. Just as in the U.S., consumers in foreign countries are always looking for new and distinctive food products and that’s exactly where these West Virginia companies excel.” According to Jean Smith, Director of Marketing and Development for the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA), the product emphasis at this year’s Fancy Foods Show will be gourmet items for retail, gift-giving and fine restaurants. “West Virginia’s specialty products stack up very well against producers from other states. In fact, our producers have won awards at some of these shows,” said Smith. “I expect the companies attending this year’s show will do very well and that they’ll impress buyers.” West Virginia’s participation in the show is funded through a USDA specialty crop grant program, Smith added. Attending this year’s Fancy Foods Show will be Ansted’s Blue Smoke Salsa, Martinsburg’s DeFluri’s Fine Chocolates, Dunbar’s Dark Hollow Foods, Man’s West Virginia Aqua/ISIS and Romney’s Gourmet Central. Blue Smoke CEO Robin Hildebrand said the assistance she has received from the WVDA has been a huge benefit in growing her business. “The assistance I have received from the WVDA over the years has given me the chance to expand my market base and place my product in front of key buyers in my niche market,” she said. “I started this company in the basement of my house, and just recently opened a new production and retail facility. I’m really grateful to Commissioner Douglass for all he is doing to help develop my company and the other agribusinesses throughout the state.” While in Chicago, Blue Smoke, DeFluri’s and Gourmet Central will enter their products in a focused tasting contest, which allows buyers to sample and vote on the best hot, gourmet, confectionary or mustard products. Hildebrand brought home a “best salsa” award from a show in Miami last year. According to information from the Chicago Fancy Foods Show, last year’s show drew approximately 900 domestic exhibitors and 30,000 attendees, 87 percent of whom authorized or recommended purchases. |
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