Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/838473
association news Inaugural Embrace Hunger Relief Month: the West Reigns Supreme T he Specialty Food Foundation's first month-long Embrace Hunger Relief Campaign, which ran through April, was a success with more than 18,000 pounds of product donated, 224 hours volunteered, and $2,340 raised. The call to action, which launched in 2014 with Embrace Hunger Relief Day and was extended to two, week-long events in 2015 and 2016, saw a 25 per- cent increase in member participation, with 50 percent of participating companies being first-timers. As part of the effort, members from the eastern region of the U.S. were challenged to make a greater impact than the reigning Embrace Hunger Relief champions—their coun- terparts in the West. But once again, the West reigned supreme, donating more hours, pounds of food, and money than Eastern members. Following are fundrais- ing highlights: • 34 Degrees sponsored Chefs Up Front 2017 to benefit childhood hunger, and Dined Out for Life, with 25 percent of the bill benefiting Project Angel Heart. • Straub's Markets employees donated $1,454 and 52 hours of time to hunger relief charities. More than 550 pounds of food was collected during food drives (pictured left). • World Finer Foods initiated "Casual for a Cause," a fundraiser whereby employees donated money in exchange for a chance to dress down at work. The $400 raised went to hunger relief charities. • Minerva Dairy donated 288 pounds of product to local food banks. • SFA staff volunteered at the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, helping to portion 100 pounds of rice, and 100 pounds of beans into family-sized bags, and move inventory at the supermarket- style, Manhattan food pantry. Member companies were encouraged to share their efforts on social media using the hashtag #EHRM17. The next Embrace Hunger Relief Month will take place in September, 2017.—Sara Kay LevelUP at Summer Fancy Food Show 2017 T o celebrate the 65th anniversary of the SFA, the 2017 Summer Fancy Food Show will debut LevelUP, an immersive experience that will prognosticate the future of food and commerce, showcase global food innovations, and feature the latest industry research. The experience will include: • The Future Market: Futurist food lab, The Future Market, will present factors that will drive food commerce and allow attendees to "shop" the store of the future. • Five-Year Consumer and Category Forecasts presented by Mintel. • Taste Tomorrow: Samples of leading-edge foods like seaweed pastrami. • Other features including: Shaping the Future of Food for 65 Years: The history of the SFA and the specialty food industry; global innovations and trends just hitting the U.S. market, presented in partnership with SIAL Paris; 2017 sofi Gold and New Product Award winners; and Tomorrow's Products Today, where attendees can use the Exhibitor Locator to create a map to the hottest products at the show. LevelUp will present a lineup of presentations and programming over the three days of the show. Speakers include Phil Lempert, The Supermarket Guru, Trip Straub of Straub's Markets, Shelley Belanko of The Hartman Group, David Lockwood of Mintel, Mike Lee of The Future Market, Jonathan Deutsch of Drexel University, and others. Additional information can be found at specialtyfood.com/levelup.—S.K. . 30 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com