Next food and beverage trends include honey, tinned fish

The budding trends in food sound like a return to the diet of cavemen: Fish is the hottest protein, honey is the flavor du jour and game meat is an upgrade to charcuterie boards.

That’s according to the hundreds of items on display at the Summer Fancy Food Show, a trade show hosted by the Specialty Food Association that has gained a reputation as a place to spot the next big flavors, foods and drinks that will dominate menus and grocery store shelves. The annual show returned to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York this week, running Sunday through Tuesday.

More than 2,400 companies exhibited their foods and drinks for attendees, which include restaurant operators, specialty food retailers and trendspotters. Past show trends that are making their way to mainstream consumers’ palettes include yuzu, mushrooms and sophisticated alcohol substitutes.

Previous shows have also been a springboard for small brands seeking a wider audience. Honest Tea, Ben & Jerry’s and Tate’s Bake Shop are among the companies that attended the show in their early days on their way to becoming well-known consumer brands now owned by the industry’s biggest players.

Here are some highlights from this year’s Summer Fancy Food Show:

Humans have been eating honey for thousands of years, but it’s taking center stage as a flavor with some food and beverage makers. In the SFA’s preliminary report on the show, its trendspotters called out honey, noting its health benefits.

Honey was the star in both foods and drinks across the show. Green Bee showed off its honey soda, which includes a Honeycomb Cider flavor. Owl Creek Organics & Natural Flavors displayed honey spreads, with flavors ranging from caffe mocha to lemon poppyseed. And Dutch company Klepper & Klepper used honey as a flavor for their licorice.

In years past, tinned fish was relegated primarily to booths in the Spanish and Portuguese pavilions. But this year, exhibitors showed off their tinned fish products across the show floor.

TikTok helped fuel the tinned fish trend last year, boosting sales of canned sardines. Now specialty food companies are responding.

This isn’t the canned tuna of yore. There are more flavors, different seafood varieties and trendier packaging. Wildfish Cannery, an Alaska-based company that was founded in 1987, showed off a new retro design for its sockeye salmon, giving it a more upscale feel. Krill Arctic Foods exhibited its canned krill meat, which may lack the same curb appeal on its packaging but boasts about the food’s nutritional profile.

Exhibitors also showed off new ways to eat fish on the go, hoping to capitalize on consumers’ desire for convenience and more protein in their diets. The…