Summer Fancy Food Show Press Release 2006

GourmetGiftBaskets.com Returns From A Successful Summer Fancy Food Show in New York, NY

GourmetGiftBaskets.com’s annual pilgrimage to New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Center for the International Summer Fancy Food Show yields exciting new leads for the upcoming Christmas Gifts season. In addition to shopping specifically for our Christmas Gift Baskets and Holiday Gift Baskets collections, we were able to secure new products for use in everyday best sellers such as our Italian, Breakfast, and Fruit Baskets collections.

New York, NY – July 13, 2006 – One of our favorite events of the year, the Summer International Fancy Food Show in New York is an exhilarating business development experience. With 1,100 companies and 80,000 gourmet foods to sample, the experience can be incredibly overwhelming. The NY show is a gift basket industry hallmark as planning for the upcoming Christmas Gifts season is in full swing. A successful show is concluded by finalizing recipes for our holiday designs, revamping our best selling gift baskets with this year’s hot new gourmet products, and sharing some face time with our friends and vendors within the industry. As a gift basket company that actually makes its own gift baskets with award-winning gourmet foods, this show is considered mission critical to our continued success.

What Made This Summer Fancy Food Show Different:

1. More “New” Companies Than Normal.
For the first time ever the Fancy Food Show was a sell-out; there was no space for additional vendors. This is great news for attendees as there were far more companies than normal showing for the first time. Some of the busiest booths buzzing with attention were the first time exhibitors. The organizers did a fantastic job luring in merchants who were on the fence about exhibiting for the first time. Hopefully, these new exhibitors will become staples at the show.

2. Stronger East Coast Showing Than Normal.
The NY show had a much stronger than normal showing for new East Coast companies, particularly companies based in the North East. Additions we found particularly strong are a Maine based chowder company with products that will be added to our Seafood Gift Baskets, and a Vermont based company whose products will be added to our Breakfast Gift Baskets collection.

3. Natural and Organic Food Boom.
It feels like the dam has finally broken when it comes to gourmet food in the Natural and Organic Food segment. No longer a trend in the gourmet industry, Natural and Organic Foods are officially here to stay. When consumers are faced with comparably priced foods with similar taste, quality and price, the Natural and Organic food is purchased more often. We love seeing the price point for the healthier Natural and Organic foods come down as production and consumption grow and thanks to customer requests, we are now finalizing recipes on a line of Organic Gift Baskets.

Our trends and predictions for the 2006-2007 gourmet food and gift basket industry as a whole:

1. Pomegranate Is Absolutely Everywhere.
Following suit with the healthier products craze, Pomegranate products stole the show in the “new products” category. It seemed like every other booth was sampling a new addition to their line with pomegranates as the main ingredient. When we say it was everywhere, we mean it was everywhere: teas, jams, jellies, juices, cocktails, sauces, syrups, there was no unaffected category! Look for the great tasting pomegranate craze to continue into the mass-market food sector as it has been fully embraced by the gourmet market. For lots of information, and links about pomegranates try Pomegranates on Wikipedia.

2. Health Conscious Gourmet Foods Rapidly Rising In Popularity.
Everywhere you look firms were touting the ‘healthier’ benefits of their gourmet food products. Now more than ever, gourmet companies are adding “No Trans Fats” to their packaging and touting “Good Source of Antioxidants,” and any other applicable health differentiation to their foods. As the world continually becomes more health conscious, look for this trend to continue to set companies apart from the pack. Any firm can add a pound of butter to a recipe and get something to taste wonderful; getting it to taste wonderful and not be a full day supply of calories are the types of products that we buy for our line of Healthy Gift Baskets. For healthier gourmet foods, this was a spectacular show!

3. Natural and Organic Foods Continuing to Gain Momentum.
Once a small niche market, the natural and organic segments continue to develop gourmet foods with outstanding flavor. It was not long ago that the natural and organic segment had a significant ‘health’ advantage over traditional segments but fell severely short in the taste category. With consumers embracing healthier lifestyles and being more cautious about what is in the foods they eat, the natural and organic segments finally have the momentum needed to develop products that can compete on taste and health benefits. There are lots of exciting new products entering this market and we are excited about where it is going.

Ryan Abood is President of GourmetGiftBaskets.com, an online purveyor of premium Christmas Gift Baskets.