Dairy foods made with milk from grass-fed cows is a trend this year, according to food writers who attended the 2016 Winter Fancy Food Show this week in San Francisco. Other trends are snacks made with crickets, fusion flavors and purple-colored foods.

The Fancy Food Show is owned and produced by the Specialty Food Association, which calls it the largest marketplace devoted exclusively to specialty food on the West Coast. Dairy Foods Ingredients Editor Kimberly Decker attended the show. We will feature some of the new products she saw in the weeks to come.

The trendspotters include individuals who follow and write about food trends for leading media outlets and consulting firms. They scoured the Moscone Center and developed the following five trends for 2016 (shown with representative exhibitors and foods):

Fancy Food Show Trend 1. Southeast (Asia) meets West

Little Red Dot Kitchen - Bak Kwa meat snacks
Saffron Road - Tandoori Seasoned Chicken Nuggets
Wei Kitchen - Shallot Oil
Hey Boo – Thai Iced Tea Coconut Caramels

Fancy Food Show Trend 2. Grazing on Grass

Organic Valley – Vanilla Grassmilk Yogurt
The New Primal - Grass-fed Beef Jerky
Dahlicious, Inc. – Organic Cucumber Mint Lemon Lassi with grass-fed milk
Steve's Ice Cream - Made with grass-fed milk

Fancy Food Show Trend 3. Pushing Protein

Bitty Foods - Chiridos - snacks with cricket flour
Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods - Cinnamon Hemp Heart Bites
Explore Cuisine - Organic Edamame Spaghetti
Chicago Bar Company – Chocolate Sea Salt RXBAR

Fancy Food Show Trend 4. By the Cup

Ricebliss - Acai & Chia Brown Rice Snack
Dr. McDougall's Right Foods - Sweet Potato Kale Quinoa Salad
Purely Elizabeth - Cranberry Pecan Ancient Grain Granola Plus Puffs
LonoLife Chicken Bone Broth in Recyclable K-Cup

Fancy Food Show Trend 5. Purple Reigns

Back to the Roots – Organic Stoneground Purple Corn Flakes
Love Beets - Smoky BBQ Shredded Beets
Lotus Foods – Purple Potato and Brown Rice Ramen
The Republic of Tea – Sonoma Cabernet Iced Tea

The Specialty Food Association is a not-for-profit trade association with 3,200 members in the United States and abroad. The association owns and produces the Winter and Summer Fancy Food Show, and presents the sofi Awards honoring excellence in specialty food.