Industry Voices: Makers Share Membership Benefits on Spill & Dish Podcast

SFA’s Spill & Dish: A Specialty Food Association podcast features the stories of SFA members: the entrepreneurs, makers, and buyers behind specialty foods and beverages. Listeners can discover the inspiration, recipe, craft, culture, ingredients, and production methods that make specialty food special and get a deeper understanding of the people and motivation behind the products.

During the podcast, the SFA asks its guests how the SFA helps benefit their business. Following are some replies.

“The ability to connect with other brands, with suppliers, with customers. We were really struggling during COVID…[the SFA] facilitates those connections and its invaluable for growing our brand.”—Henry Kasindorf, co-founder, Remedy Organics

“My favorite thing has to be the food shows…We have met some really great retailers and other founders here. I am super excited to continue doing Fancy Food Shows.”—Lin Jiang, founder, Yishi Foods

“There are so many benefits. Even just displaying products at the Fancy Food Show, you get so much exposure, and we get a lot of support from Specialty Food [Association] as well. Specialty Food [Association] has built this community, basically, so we are very thankful to be a part of it.”—Chitra Agrawal, founder, Brooklyn Delhi

“Making connections. We made a connection at the Winter Fancy Food Show that ended up [leading to] a wonderful connection with a retailer that is now starting to bring in our products. It’s an opportunity to meet with other like-minded businesses and help each other out.”—Kristie Middleton, founder, Rebellyous

“The resources that the SFA provides. There is a lot more than there used to be, which we really appreciate as manufacturers.”—Alexandra Groezinger, president, Alexian Pate

“I like the opportunity to network. It seems like an endless opportunity.”—Ray Dukes, co-founder, Rosella Bakes Goods

“The SFA provided a platform for minority-owned businesses at their show, and we had a center platform. It was the opportunity of a lifetime because I got to meet hundreds and thousands of buyers. That’s not just something you get on a regular day."—Thereasa Black, founder, Bon Appésweet

“The Specialty Food Association allows companies to post press releases. It’s been a really great way for us to get our brand out there and raise awareness about what we’re doing on a limited budget.”—Caroline Cotto, co-founder and COO, Renewal Mill