Industry Voices from the SFA's Summer Fancy Food Show Livestream

In collaboration with the Food Institute, the Specialty Food Association held a live broadcast from the Summer Fancy Food Show to highlight activity during the event. Interviews included buyers, exhibitors, SFA staff, award honorees, education program speakers, SFA Trendspotter Panel members, and others.

Veteran TV journalist Susan Choi, Food Institute’s director of digital media, served as anchor. Choi has previous experience working at ABC News and NBC News.  A team of reporters conducted live interviews from different Show locations including special pavilions.

Here are some highlights from the interviews. You can go to the SFA Feed to watch these interviews plus the full livestreams.

“Those fundamentals—strong margin, good team, cash for runway—were true in 2018 and are even more true now.”
-Alison Cayne, Haven’s Kitchen, on advice for building a company during a crisis

“I never went into it for an honor. It was really about giving back and helping a lot of young companies who didn’t know how to enter the market.”
-Lou Foah, SFA Hall of Fame honoree, on industry service

“Passion and a great amount of stamina—you’ll be working at your business 24 hours a day sometimes.”
-Kathrine Gregory, SFA Leadership Award winner, on what it takes to succeed

“Consumers don’t exist in a vacuum. They are dynamic, so it’s going to be a little but of everything. You may start the day with something healthy but you leave room for indulgence later.”
-Melanie Bartelme, SFA Trendspotter, on the balance of health and functional food trends

“The specialty food industry is still robust and exciting and everything it takes to be a thriving business has gotten more complex, harder, and more expensive.”
-David Lockwood, co-principal of SFA’s State of the Specialty Food Industry research, on this year’s biggest takeaway