It’s Me, a Very Big Sausage, and Pat from Konopelski Meats (This Image By Anne Raso, All Others By Gail)

Attendees of the annual Summer Fancy Food Show will offer no argument that the main focus of the event is right there in the name. Fancy Food  – which completely dominates New York City’s Javits Center for three days in late June – is all about Specialty Foods of all varieties and the people who love and obsess over them.

At Fancy Food, your mouth will definitely be doing the heavy lifting, but while you’re feeding your face, trawling the trade show floor in a food-coma, on a continuous quest for your next nosh, important visual cues will alert you to a must-visit pitstop for stuffing yourself with yet another gut-busting bite. Yes, I’m calling out the awesome marketing and design skills that make the big difference in memorable branding. Without it, your delicious and unique food product could go unnoticed, and that would be a  shame.

Savvy and successful exhibitors — Like Copper Moon Coffee, whose astronaut mascot orbited the floor around their booth, posing for selfies while promoting the brand — understand that there simply must be samples of food to hook the customer, but it’s the vibrant images, flashy displays, engaging booth designs, and hilarious mascots which will inarguably keep you in the competition for the brand that attracts the most customers. Win win!

Secret Aardvark Sauce Blue Masked Aardvark: Memorable!

I ate many delicious foods and drank every type of beverage over the two very fattening days I spent at Fancy Food, but for this recap, I’ll be offering tips to future vendors by focusing on what brings people to the table, and that starts with the visuals. It doesn’t matter how delicious your food is if people are not stopping at your booth to eat it and subsequently give you the sale. What’s important is that you are the biggest attention whore. It’s a good thing!

Please enjoy my recap of the 2024 Summer Fancy Food Show as highlighted by the mascot cosplayers, the packaging design, and the amazing booth and product displays that made me stop and say Wow, I Want to Eat That Food!

The true heroes and heroines of Fancy Food are the selfless folks who will don a mascot costume to represent a company’s brand. I spotted this gentleman while picking up my badge in the press room. In case you aren’t sure of what you’re seeing, his real legs are hidden in the hind legs of the cow. Funny!

When I saw him later in the Mmm Jerky booth, his entire team posed for a pic! I love the enthusiasm!

I believe this mascot is a spicy Kimchi. I do not personally eat kimchi but this costume is insane, and I love the pose which says, “Go that way to eat some delicious Kimchi!” I hope he or she helped their brand make a ton of sales!

Ace Natural Organic Produce were represented by ladies dressed as a lovely Stalk of Broccoli and an equally-fetching Eggplant. Look how happy they are!

What an engaging smile is seen on the face of the Hokkaido Japan Popcorn Mascot! Cleary, he loves his job!

You would be so proud of me if you knew how long I had to stand across from the Rameno Noodle booth to get a people-free shot of this woman wearing a  Lemon on her head.

Sometimes you can improvise the mascot vibe with random accessories, like these cow ears and  fashionable cowhide skirt worn proudly by Heidi, brand representative for Vermont Farmstead, purveyors of fine artisanal cheeses! Moo-ve over!

I’ll bet that many more people stopped to discover fun facts about this brand of Shiitake Mushrooms because the nice lady was willing to wear them on her head.

When you can’t fork over the bucks for a genuine human walking around as the personification of your brand, a  reasonable inanimate  facsimile will do. Don’t even think about sitting on the Tari Peruvian Hot Sauce Llama! He is for display purposes only.

He has two teeny Llama friends as well. Oh, the cuteness!

If you happen to collect cute plushies of brand mascots (it’s a thing), Fancy Food is the ideal place to add to your collection for free!  These smiling  Bubble Tea plushies were spotted in the booth for Japan Crate, who sell subscription boxes of Japanese candies and snacks! Squee!

The plush mascot for Caulipuffs— a delicious, non-GMO and gluten free puffed Cauliflower snack — seals the deal for me!

Yes, it exists; a Cheese Fondue Pot plushie from Mifroma, the Swiss specialist in dairy products!

Here’s a crazy mascot: a Giant Potato eating a bread treat made from . . . potatoes. Meta! This booth for Korean brand Gamzabatt (translation: Potato Field) was situated at the very end of an aisle, so it was easy to spot the giant potato and sprint over to check out what the heck was going on. Because, Giant Potato.

This is what Gamzabatt looks like. It has a chewy texture, tastes slightly sweet and is kind of OK! Apparently, they have their own Potato-themed Cafe in Korea. I want to go there.

I also love how people use their creativity and imagination to design their displays with product-related toys and props. Check out this Pink Pig (a dog’s squeaky toy) promoting the scrumptious Maple Bacon Chedder cheese in the Vermont Farmstead booth. Clever!

Surely no one could walk by this adorable chalkboard drawing of a Dabbing Pickle wearing  Sunglasses without pausing to check out the fully-loaded Banana Pickle booth. Not only did they have a massive variety of Pickled Vegetables to nibble on,  they also gave away free brand swag including hats and sunglasses. Very stylish and perfect for this NYC heatwave that just seems to go on and on.

And check out this little guy. OMG so cute.

Tiny Burro Piñatas helped to imbue the Cinco De Mayo vibe for this booth selling Tamales. Ole!

You don’t need much of a budget either. See how these festive Dia De Los Muertos Dolls — which probably cost a few dollars each –totally elevate a Mexican Food products display.

Montchevre, who make the most delicious Goat Cheese spreads, clearly understand that a handful of plastics goats from the Dollar Store turn a cold-case display into a work of art! Art!

Yummy LOL Candy (Motto: Imagine, Play, Eat, Laugh & Enjoy) gets it. When your candy comes inside a package that is also a toy, your display designs itself.

Noodle Head has a pretty solid grip on Asian Stir Fry convenience meals, selling packaged noodles-and-veggies combinations in a variety of  seasoned sauces to suit your taste. Just throw them in pan and dinner is served! Their booth was especially memorable for the Noodle Head Stress Balls swag that made everyone smile!

Dam Tasty Beavers Chocolates Booth Display: Sometimes, the jokes just write themselves! (Note: 12 Days of Beaver sounds kind of dirty).

The Saucy Ladies sell Gourmet Kettle Cooked Potato Chips, but dang if their logo of a woman with a high ponytail seen in silhouette doesn’t totally resemble an established brand that is very much entrenched in pop culture consciousness. Hmm, who could it be?

Maybe these Jelly Bellys branded with the name of a Famous Doll will give you a hint?

If you sell huge rounds of Brie Cheese and you’re not making a fancy tiered-cake prop out of that cheese for your booth, then you aren’t even trying.

Speaking of Cheese, I had all kinds of nostalgic fun visiting the booth for My Three Sons Gourmet Pimento Cheese — which was effing delicious — while whistling the theme song to the 60s-era TV show for which it is named,  that I remember, because I am old.

Here’s some random fun packaging that I liked.

Why Not drink this organic craft soda?

Are you a foreign brand of cookies with a weird name (in this case, Oogiz)? If the answer is yes, you are going in the post!

Mioum, from France, seems to be promoting itself as a healthier brand of cookies made with less sugar and more fiber. OK!

Alaska Fish Snack, which does not sound like something I would want to put in my mouth, ever, nevertheless appeals to my love of cuteness with the smiling (roasted) Onion on the package that seems to say “eat me”!

If you are a brand of Hot Sauce called Blair’s Death Sauce then of course you need a tiny coffin-shaped package with skulls on it.  Don’t be ridiculous.

Little Monsters Crispy Biscuits with Cinnamon. Yes, Please!

Even if you were unable to read, you would know that this package of Saba Banana contains a snack of bananas which are dried in the sun. Whether or not they were on a relaxing  tropical  vacation at the time is up for discussion.

Undercover Quinoa Crisps (check out the logo) are a fantastic, gluten free treat made from crispy quinoa discs lightly covered with premium chocolate. Milk chocolate with currants is my personal favorite but all flavors are delish. Recommended!

Here’s another delicious snack that I just discovered at SFFS: Captain Danny Pop Pop Rice, which is like popcorn but it’s made with rice, which means no old-maids that could crack a tooth or annoying husk-things. Yum!

If this Nantucket Crisps packaging for their South Wharf Cocktail Sauce potato chips (pink, to start with) featuring a fancy prawn holding a martini isn’t the cleverest chips bag ever, I don’t know what is. Best Packaging Design of the Show!

Remember a couple of years ago when Birthday Cake-flavored everything was trending like crazy. I sure do. This year I didn’t notice that much in the way of Birthday Cake related product but I did stop to snap a pic of these (limited edition!) Pretzel Sticks by Pop Daddy which were worth  eating, and what a fabulous bag!

And that wraps up my recap of the 2024 Summer Fancy Food Show. I hope you will agree that my coverage Takes the Cake!