Food Entrepreneur - January 7, 2020 - 10

FOOD ENTREPRENEUR

Inside the

INCUBATOR
VILLAGE
Winter Fancy
Food Show highlights
early-stage brands
©ERAXIUS - STOCK.ADOBE.COM

BY MONICA WATROUS

oasted mealworms, puffed seaweed
snacks and zero-proof gin and
tonic are among the cutting-edge
concepts that will be highlighted in the
Incubator Village at the Specialty Food
Association's Winter Fancy Food Show,
held Jan. 19-21 in San Francisco.
The Specialty Food Association is
dedicating more floor space in a special
area of the show to early-stage brands
partnering with food incubators to develop and scale their products. Incubators
participating this year include The Hatchery Chicago, Oregon State Food Innovation Center, Portland, Ore.; La Cocina, San
Francisco; KitchenTown, San Mateo, Calif.;

and Hope & Main, Warren, R.I.
"We're committed to the success of the
industry, and for more and more start-ups
these days success starts in an incubator,"
said Phil Kafarakis, president of the Specialty
Food Association. "It's terrific to showcase those early days of business and give
everyone at our shows a look at the future.
Incubator Village began as a sliver of incubators within the show and was initially known
as Incubator Alley. The response from show
attendees and members alike was overwhelmingly positive, which is why we have
expanded it into a 'village' of incubators."
Businesses previously featured at
the Incubator Village and cited by the
Specialty Food Association Trendspotter

Panel include Snow Monkey, a brand of
non-dairy frozen desserts; Nona Lim, a
producer of Asian bone broths, soups, rice
and ramen noodles; and Scraps Frozen
Foods, a maker of par-baked pizzas topped
with imperfect or underutilized produce.
"Innovation is a top draw, especially
for retailers looking to add to their offerings
and these young companies bring an extra
level of excitement to the show," Mr. Kafarakis said. "For buyers, it's an opportunity
to get in at the ground floor of a burgeoning
trend for their customers, for attendees and
other exhibitors it is a source of inspiration,
and for the presenters themselves, the exposure to top press and buyers from around
the world is unparalleled."

Here is a taste of the dozens of brands that will be on display this year at the Incubator Village.

Marketed as a "pre-Hispanic snackeria," San Francisco-based Don Bugito offers chile-lime crickets with
pumpkin seeds, coconut brittle mealworms, cricket flour
granola bites and more. A product description for Spicy
Bugitos with Cancha Corn reads, "We oven toast our superworms to a pleasing crisp and coat them with a spicy,
natural chile flavoring." The company aims to revive old
cultural traditions while increasing insect consumption
in the United States.

Food Business News

UGLY PICKLE CO.

Bugging out

A peck of imperfect pickles

DON BUGITO

Ugly Pickle Co., San Mateo, Calif., transforms
misshapen or bruised cucumbers, squash
and carrots into vibrant, flavorful pickles.
January 7, 2020

Food Entrepreneur - January 7, 2020

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