By Anson Tebbetts - Vermont Secretary of Agriculture
It’s no secret Vermont has great food and beverages. And it was on full display at the Vermont Pavilion at the June 2024 Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City.
The Agency was proud to support nine businesses in this international food show. The Summer Fancy Food Show is one of the premier business-to-business trade shows for specialty food products, attracting buyers, distributors, and wholesalers from across the globe each year. Vermont’s strong showing in New York allowed three days of engaging discussions with leading buyers and industry partners, offering great opportunities for growth and bigger exposure. Those selling and telling their story this year were JK Adams, Cabot Creamery, von Trapp Farmstead, Vermont Farmstead Cheese, Freedom Foods, Grafton Village Cheese, Olivia’s Croutons, Chi Chi Wellness and Sugar Bob’s Finest Kind.
This food show is ideal for established businesses with prior trade show experience that are looking to expand market access and explore new retail and wholesale opportunities both regionally and internationally. Joining the Vermont Pavilion provided businesses with enhanced exposure. Vermont’s reputation for high-quality products attracted special attention from buyers throughout the show. You could see the attention as buyers made their way through the Vermont section. Vermont was well represented at this year’s show outside the Vermont pavilion with twelve other companies also exhibiting. It’s an event that hosts hundreds of companies from around the world making it very competitive.
Vermont also stood tall on the award’s stage. The Specialty Food Association only gives out a handful of awards each year and Vermont Creamery and Blake Hill Preserves were awarded “gold” awards for their products. Congratulations!
Also receiving a lifetime achievement recognition from the Specialty Food Association were the co-founders of Vermont Creamery Bob Reece and Allison Hooper. To celebrate this honor Vermont Creamery is launching “Hooper”. It is a new cheese that will be available soon in stores across the Untied States.
We are already planning for next year’s show. We hope to grow the Vermont pavilion and add more businesses. Contact Trevor Lowell at trevor.lowell@vermont.gov for more information and to explore joining the Vermont Pavilion for future shows.
Thank you to all our farmers, producers and small companies that are producing world class products for all of us to enjoy.
Anson Tebbetts - Secretary