What We Learned at The Fancy Food Show - CookIt Media

This past week our CEO, Laurie Buckle, and VP, Molly Myerson, jetted off to Las Vegas for The Winter Fancy Food Show, a one-of-a-kind trade show filled with hundreds of brands showcasing thousands of specialty food and beverage products.

Laurie and Molly spent two days learning about innovative new products, chatting with up and coming brands, sampling delicious new foods (and a few questionable ones), and walking over 12 miles! They returned to LA with full bellies, sore feet, and a wealth of knowledge about what’s hot in the food industry.

Here are the trends they saw again and again:

Vegan cheese (crumbles, shreds, spreads, etc.)
Pork rinds
Cured meat alternatives
Hot honey
Potato chip alternatives (dehydrated veggies, mushroom crisps, cheese crisps, and plantain chips)
Goat cheese
Chickpea butters
Hemp-based products (chocolates, dressings, oils, and sausage)
Milk alternatives (sesame milk was delicious!)
Boba (boba instant mix, boba ice cream, and ready-to-drink boba teas)
Almonds (snacking, kettle cooked, and almond oil)
Matcha
Products flavored like everything bagels (popcorn, cream cheese, pretzels, potato chips – you name it, it’s been bagel’d)
Plant-based chicken nuggets
Pasta is making a comeback!

Here are some of their favorite brands at the show:

Runamok Maple — we can’t get enough of this sparkling syrup!
Violife
Savannah Bee Company
Death Wish Coffee
Dream Pops
Angela’s Bakery
Ocean’s Halo
Marco Ice Cream
Mae Fine Foods
LA Libations

What trends are you most excited about? Check back soon to see what Laurie and Molly discover next at Tastemaker Conference, The Inspired Home Show, and Expo West!

follow us on instagram

Meet Samantha of @sammymontgoms, one of the newest additions to the CookIt family! 🎉

Samantha grew up in a big Italian family, where homemade pizza, pasta, fresh bread, and wine were always on the table for anyone who walked through the door. Watching (and taste-testing) alongside her parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles instilled a love for nostalgic Italian dishes, especially pasta, that she now recreates in her own kitchen. That same love for cooking shapes the content she shares today - honest, relatable, and achievable, with simple, sustainable recipes for the everyday cook, cooked from the heart and never overly produced.

26 6

Open post by cookitmedia with ID 18009345302956203

Meet Samantha of @sammymontgoms, one of the newest additions to the CookIt family! 🎉

Samantha grew up in a big Italian family, where homemade pizza, pasta, fresh bread, and wine were always on the table for anyone who walked through the door. Watching (and taste-testing) alongside her parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles instilled a love for nostalgic Italian dishes, especially pasta, that she now recreates in her own kitchen. That same love for cooking shapes the content she shares today - honest, relatable, and achievable, with simple, sustainable recipes for the everyday cook, cooked from the heart and never overly produced.

It’s not a CookIt team member’s birthday without delicious food involved! 🍿 @mariah.gr celebrated her birthday at Disneyland by trying all the new foods she hasn’t had yet and rating each one out of 10. Happy birthday, Mariah! 🎉 We’re so excited for everything this year has in store for you! 💛

19 6

Open post by cookitmedia with ID 18126746026704718

It’s not a CookIt team member’s birthday without delicious food involved! 🍿 @mariah.gr celebrated her birthday at Disneyland by trying all the new foods she hasn’t had yet and rating each one out of 10. Happy birthday, Mariah! 🎉 We’re so excited for everything this year has in store for you! 💛

Say hello to Sheila of @shewillevolve, who recently joined the CookIt roster! 🎉

Sheila is a Latina creator and mom who serves up bold, crave-worthy recipes that make people stop scrolling, start saving, and head straight to the kitchen - with an EGR of 10.3% on Instagram and 6.3% on TikTok to prove it. Her concepts are anything but ordinary, including a viral hashbrown series that showcases her out-of-the-box creativity. From comfort food twists to clever family-friendly meals, she knows how to turn everyday ingredients into high-performing content with strong ASMR and audience engagement. That same magic carries into her brand work - Sheila loves partnering with brands to create thumb-stopping campaigns that seamlessly spotlight products in fresh, authentic, and delicious ways audiences genuinely want to recreate.

59 34

Open post by cookitmedia with ID 18556153567073424

One of our favorite parts of this job? The team behind it. 💛 When @molls.benton was in NYC, of course we turned it into a mini food crawl with the team there - because if there’s one thing this team agrees on, it’s that the best conversations happen over a good meal. Here are the stops we hit:

1️⃣ Mei Lai Wah
2️⃣ Tonii’s Fresh Rice Noodle
3️⃣ Nom Wah Tea Parlor

Where should the CookIt team hit up next time we’re all in NYC? 🚕

17 6

Open post by cookitmedia with ID 18178071784427008

One of our favorite parts of this job? The team behind it. 💛 When @molls.benton was in NYC, of course we turned it into a mini food crawl with the team there - because if there’s one thing this team agrees on, it’s that the best conversations happen over a good meal. Here are the stops we hit:

1️⃣ Mei Lai Wah
2️⃣ Tonii’s Fresh Rice Noodle
3️⃣ Nom Wah Tea Parlor

Where should the CookIt team hit up next time we’re all in NYC? 🚕

Sharing some recent brand partnerships that the talent on our roster have been killing it with - proof of what happens when creators know exactly who they are and brands know exactly who to trust! 🌞

Swipe for the recipes that are perfect to enjoy as we soak up what’s left of summer ➡️

🍔 @melissajorealrecipes x @omahasteaks: burger flight featuring the Burger Perfection Flight

🍋 @erinliveswhole x @goultima: lemonade tea refresher hydration drinks

🦐 @imashleybreannn x @betterthanbouillon: cowboy butter grilled shrimp featuring the Roasted Garlic Base

🥗 @allthehealthythings x @thespicehouse: Loaded Bread Dipping Oil featuring the Tuscan Harvest spice blend

🍑 @halezgarciaathome x @landolakesktchn: Buttery Crumble Baked Peaches

30 7

Open post by cookitmedia with ID 17926836906403056

© 2026 CookIt Media, LLC | All Rights Reserved. | Branding & Website Design by The La.Rue Creative Studio. | Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions