From mustard makeovers to beef tallow, six food and beverage trends that could take over

Condiments are getting an upgrade. Chefs are taking their signature sauces and dips outside the kitchen. And “swicy” still reigns.

Those food trends were all on display at the Specialty Food Association’s Summer Fancy Food Show, which returned to the Javits Center in New York this week.

From Sunday to Tuesday, more than 2,000 exhibitors showed off a range of specialty food and drinks, offering attendees a glimpse at the products headed for grocery aisles and restaurants in the near future.

“It’s always been the show where people go to see the trends,” said Christine Couvelier, a culinary trend spotter and founder of the Culinary Concierge.

Couvelier, a seasoned show attendee, guided CNBC through three floors of booths, highlighting the trends — and winners — on her radar.

Past show trends that are now making their way to mainstream consumers’ palettes include new uses for vinegar, oil-based hot sauce and lavender as a flavor. But not all trends have that kind of staying power.

“I think I’ve seen six booths that have Dubai chocolate. We won’t see Dubai chocolate next year,” Couvelier said, referring to the chocolate bars filled with kadayif and pistachio that have taken over TikTok, grocery stores and even Shake Shacks nationwide.

The trade show has also traditionally been a springboard for new brands seeking to expand their reach. Honest Tea, Ben & Jerry’s and Tate’s Bake Shop are among the companies that attended the show in their early days on their way to becoming well-known consumer brands.

Here are some highlights from this year’s Summer Fancy Food Show:

Home cooks in the U.S. have been using olive oil for several decades. In recent years, olive oil has branched out, with more focus on the flavor that it offers, whether it’s drizzled on top of ice cream or used in cakes.

But the cooking staple is now getting an upgrade, thanks to infusions of trendy flavors. For example, Castillo de Canena, a family-owned Spanish company, has been making olive oil for centuries, but its booth highlighted two newer additions to its line: harissa olive oil and olive oil finished in sherry casks.

Olive oil isn’t the only pantry staple getting a makeover. The mustard category could be heading for a shakeup, thanks to a few new entrants hoping to enliven the tired condiment.

Pop Mustards pitches itself as the “caviar of mustards” because it uses whole mustard seeds, giving the condiment a new texture. The company also uses fermentation, smoking, brining and other methods to bring more flavor out of the seeds.

Caplansky’s Delicatessen showed off a more traditional take on the condiment at its booth, inspired by classic deli mustards. But its product lineup offers more flavor than the classic yellow mustard or dijon found in fridges today.

Since Beyond Meat’s meteoric rise, plant-based purveyors have displayed their vegetarian substitutes at the Summer Fancy Food Show. But as the category struggles, the number of booths hawking plant-based products dwindled this year.

Still, the category hasn’t disappeared altogether. Instead, exhibitors presented their products by leading with their taste, rather than their vegan or vegetarian bona fides.

For example, Umyum displayed its cashew-based cheese and butter substitutes, with packaging that reads, “Our craft just happens to be plantbased.”

During the pandemic, many restaurant chefs pivoted to selling at-home versions of their beloved sauces, condiments and other foods that can be easily canned or packaged. Even after eateries reopened their dining rooms, some chefs have stuck with it.

“This is a longer lasting trend, and it’s the passion around making the best version of that food that there is, and now the chef wants you to have it at home,” Couvelier said.

At this year’s show, exhibitors included Zahav Foods, the packaged food brand of chef Michael Solomonov, known for his restaurants Zahav in Philadelphia and Laser Wolf in New York. The mustard brand Caplansky’s Delicatessen is also the brainchild of chef Zane Caplansky.

“Swicy” food and drinks have already taken over grocery aisles and restaurant menus, but exhibitors were promoting the next evolution of the flavor trend, a portmanteau of sweet and spicy.

Mike’s Hot Honey, which helped bring back the “sweet heat” trend, showed off its collaboration with Heluva Good for a swicy dip. Smash Kitchen displayed its Hot Honey Ketchup, adding a little heat to the sweetness of the classic condiment. And Slawsa — a portmanteau of coleslaw and salsa — exhibited its sweet and spicy cabbage-based relishes.

Over the last year, beef tallow has been having a moment, thanks to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. Kennedy has touted the rendered fat as a healthier alternative to “seed oils,” although nutrition experts broadly disagree.

Two newcomers displayed their beef tallow products at the Summer Fancy Food Show: Butcher Ben’s Beef Tallow and Beefy’s Own, which cooks its potato chips in beef tallow.