On January 1, 2015, Time Magazine published the “only food trends you need to know for 2015.” So it was quite exciting heading to the 2015 Winter Fancy Food Show in search of insects among the bacon caramel.

So how did the predictions play out? To answer that question, I rounded up a huge collection of reports from folks who gamely sampled their way through the specialty food industry’s twice-annual tradeshow.

Vegan frosting that tastes like the real stuff? Miss Jones Baking Company exemplifies the re-imagined classic foods that wholesale buyers found at the show.

What really jumped out at at me (and into my mouth): ice cream is the new yogurt, as Marcia of Tablehopper also observed. Other major trends include super spicy, ethnic flavors (Thai curry and Indian; didn’t see much harissa); permutations of popular foods with new twists (ala vegan frosting); re-makes of old faves with a sustainable bent (knowing the meat producer and method of production is definitely trending more than “local” which is harder to accomplish in many places).

The reports:

Specialty Food Association’s Trendspotter Panel shares Top 5 Trends of Winter Fancy Food Show
Mary Ladd‘s recap in the SF Weekly highlights the many beverages quenching a desire for the exotic, from probiotic (kombucha’s still going strong) to vinegar and elderflower sodas, one with a colorful backstory of the English garden from whence the flowers came.
Christine and Emma at The Kitchn posted a visual treat of their finds, including one of my faves: Honeycomb ice cream from Nancy’s Fancy.
POPSUGAR highlights 16 Crazy-Addictive Snacks You Need to Try (also zeroing in on those binge-worthy rice crackers)
Jan at Gourmet Retailer rounds up the many offbeat pickles, flavored cheeses, and ethnic sauces like Mother in Law Kimchi’s line of Gochujang spicy / umami / fermented chile pastes.
USA Today’s trend spotter noticed products using toast as a flavor, which just goes to show the lengths companies are going for “interestingness.”
FoodNavigator-USA chimed into the snacks trend, listing its observations.
Mary Orlin chewed through the show for the San Jose Mercury News
Johnathan L Wright shares his finds in the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Subscribe to the Dear Handmade Life podcast for more musings on this show and the upcoming NewHope 360 Natural Products Expo in Anaheim — for which you should register before the Early Bird Deadline (Friday, January 30th) for pricing discounts on Exhibit Hall Passes and the new Super Pass. Oh, and in the meantime you can see the New Hope team’s finds at the Fancy Food Show too!

Interesting grains in accessible snacks

Heritage and ancient grains made their way into foods like these light-crunch, toasty black rice crackers. Lotus Rice‘s black rice ramen (made with their Forbidden Black Rice) and their bamboo green ramen make for more interesting “incidentally gluten-free” twists on popular foods.

Hatch chiles

The New Mexico hatch chile trend will likely grow, if Salem Baking’s hatch chile chocolate chip cookies and L.A. Creamery’s ice cream is any indication.

Hatch Pepper cheddar cheese crackers. Expect more hatch in more products this year.

More non-GMO, innovative popcorns…especially ethnic flavors

Spicy Indian, Thai and Mexican-themed popcorns infuse the show, but Fire Corn, with bona fide slices of jalapeno, sent flames out my ears and smoke through my nose like a snorting bull in some old cartoon. And I went back for more. Fire Corn came to life through their partnership with Pop! which is a great lesson for aspiring popcorn and snack brands. (Pop! sampled their Rogue Creamery blue cheese dusted potato chips…partnership-powered snacks!