Babson at the Summer Fancy Food Show
Last week, Babson food entrepreneurs Michael Scherr (M’14) and Adriana Perilla Glen (M’13) and Food Sol traveled to the Summer Fancy Food Show, called by many “the Superbowl of specialty food.”
Adriana Perilla Glen (M’13) and Michael Scherr (M’14)
Michael and Adriana attended to support Food Sol partner Michael McCarthy’s booth for his business Budi Bar. (Food Sol is a huge fan – and muncher – of Budi Bar.) Adriana brings 9 years of experience in the ice cream business in Ecuador; Michael Scherr has worked on and for an impressive array of snack food ventures and is currently helping Stacy Madison (Stacy’s Pita Chips) with her juice concept.
What a Show it was, and truly a Superbowl. The Specialty Food Association hosted more than 5,000 exhibitors who showcased every shape, manner, and color of product from points all across the globe.
Michael Scherr took me on a tour of his favorite products – pointing out some truly delicious ones. Among my favorites: PreGel, B2B gelato maker; Carolina Creole, a sofi™ award winner and maker of grits and simmer sauce; and Cush’s Homemade totally fresh, totally unadulterated salsa.
Perhaps the loopiest product we discovered was Miracle Noodles, Shirataki Pasta made from the soluble fibers of a plant root called Konnnyaku Imo. According to Miracle Noodles, for two thousand years, the Chinese and Japanese have celebrated Shirataki for its health benefits. But the product contains zero calories, zero fat, zero sugar, zero sodium, zero protein, zero fiber, and only a smidge of carbohydrates. So I’m not sure where the health comes from…
I was invited to the Fancy Food Show in order to sample Specialty Food Association’s education programs, which are fantastic. Food Sol and the Specialty Food Association are planning to meet up next month to discuss ways that we might combine our educational forces. Stay tuned for more on that.
Other Babos who were there included:
- Bob Burke (M’87), Natural Products Consulting, who delivered two of the education sessions
- Andrew Heath (M’12), Regalis Foods – nominated for a sofi™ for its smoked steelhead roe!
- Scott Rousseau (M’11), Beyond the Shaker
- Kris Schumacher (M’04) of Next Door Organics
With Babson’s food-entrepreneur population growing as quickly as it is, we expect to see many more of you there in 2014!