At the beginning of this week I had the opportunity to check out the Grocery Showcase. This is an industry conference that is not open to the public and designed for brands to showcase their products to the stores they want to carry them. The trade show was a great mix of big brands and small. It was a real pleasure to meet and chat with so many local food brands and try their products. It was also nice to hear that many of the larger chain stores happily carry these products. I recognized many of the names when I was in London Drugs the other day.
Gluten Free is the big buzz word for many brands and their new products and I noticed a fair bit of rebranding and images for a few of the bigger companies. I was disappointed to see sodium being in high amounts STILL when it came to packaged soups. The big brands are doing a good job in attracting my KIDS attention….there are now alphabet shapes for Kraft Dinner and these little squeezable bottles of Kool-Aid to make individual glasses of the fruity tasting drink, but were a bit lower in the sugar added than the old mixes.
I was looking at some ‘healthier’ and local products and a few caught my attention and taste buds.
The lady from the Farm House Cheese company from out by Agassiz was a delight as was their new yogurt drink. My kids love yogurt drinks, but many of them are junk food disguised as healthy thanks to the word ‘yogurt’ being there.
Moccia & Urbani make lovely Salami but what was winning hearts and stomachs at the show was their Risotto Balls. I love a yummy and easy snack and these were like tiny balls of comfort food. Yum.
I also loved the dipping sauces from Fazio International. I LOVE a good oil and a good dipping sauce and their Aioli sauces were delicious and locally made here in Vancouver.
It was really interesting to see the world of business behind your grocery store selection. I also think that we need to go beyond loyalty cards for consumer input and we need to speak out to our local chain stores and tell them what sort of products we want to feed our families. The selections are there and we can demand healthier and more Canadian choices.
Go Canada!
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