Gourmet News

South Beach Wine & Food Festival Draws Nearly 65K Fans

Published March 16, 2023

The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by Capital One took over the Magic City Feb. 23-26 with its largest edition, welcoming nearly 65,000 fans from across the country. The four-day festival featured more than 110 events spanning Miami-Dade and Broward counties and celebrated 22 years of FIU students helping to run the nationally recognized event.

The festival showcased culinary greats such as Bobby Flay, Alex Guarnaschelli and Guy Fieri and major star power with the likes of DJ Khaled, Rev Run, Jane Krakowski, Neil Patrick Harris, David Burtka and many others who descended upon South Beach for the nation’s largest wine and food event. South Florida chefs, restaurants and bars also won big throughout the weekend.

Burger Bash was presented by Schweid & Sons and hosted by Emeril Lagasse with a special performance by Midland.

The Schweid & Sons Very Best Burger Award: BurgerFi
Dish: BBQ Rodeo Burger, All-Natural Angus Beef grilled with Charred Jalapeños and topped with Pepper Jack Cheese, homemade Crispy Haystack Onions, and tangy Memphis Sweet BBQ
Award: $2,500 check

The People’s Choice Award: Motek from Miami
Dish: Areyes Burger, Arayes Lebanese Burger made with Lamb and Beef, Tucked inside freshly baked pita, grilled and served with harissa aioli and tahini
Award: $5,000 check

Art of Tiki Cocktail Showdown was presented by Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum.

Art of Tiki Cocktail Judges Choice Award presented by Appleton Estate: Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel from Miami Beach
Cocktail: Angel Lupiac, Appleton Estate Signature Blend, Aperol®, Mango Purée, Tamarind Nectar, Chili Pepper, Lime, Sea Salt and Tamarind
Award: Bragging rights and bottle of Appleton Estate 21 Year gifted by Appleton Estate

Art of Tiki Cocktail People’s Choice Award presented by Appleton Estate: Better Days from Miami
Cocktail: Shotgun in the Jungle, Appleton Estate Signature Blend, Wray & Nephew Overproof Rum, Campari, Fresh Lime Juice, Guava Purée, Shishito Green Pepper Cordial, All Spice Dram, Roasted Shishito Pepper and Thai Basil
Award: Bragging rights and a bottle of Appleton Estate 21 Years

Coke Zero Sugar presented Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives LIVE hosted by Guy Fieri

Coke Zero Sugar’s People’s Choice Award at Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives LIVE hosted by Fieri: Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken from Memphis
Dish: Sweet Spicy Love Chicken Tenderloins, Chicken breast tenderloins brined in Uncle Lou’s corruption seasoning, fried to perfection and dipped in Uncle Lou’s sweet spicy love sauce
Award: $5,000 check

Hallandale Beach Food & Groove: A Wine, Food and Art Experience part of the Hallandale Beach Event Series

Best of Show Award: Chef Irie from Hallandale, Fla.
Dish: Jerk pulled pork with tamarind plantain sauce and sofrito slaw
Award: $1,000 check

Goya Foods’ Swine & Wine hosted by Enrique Santos and Fernando Desa

Goya Foods’ People’s Choice Award: Apocalypse BBQ from Miami
Dish: Cafecito Ribs, Slow-smoked spare ribs seasoned with a Cuban coffee-based rub and finished with Oro Negro, a colada-infused BBQ sauce
Award: Donation of 10,000 pounds of Goya products to the chef’s charity of choice

Goya Foods’ Grand Tasting Village featuring Publix Culinary Demonstrations sponsored by Sub-Zero Group Southeast

Yelp’s Best Bite on the Beach (Saturday Feb. 25): Ceviches by Divino from Miami
Yelp’s Best Bite on the Beach (Sunday Feb. 26): Café Bastille from Miami

The Festival also continued to honor its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion with three new sold-out events – Overtown EatUp! hosted by Marcus Samuelsson and Amaris Jones, which featured a special performance by Deep Fried Funk Band; The Cookout hosted by JJ Johnson and D-Nice; and Our Sunday Table: Jazz Brunch with The Grey and Friends hosted by Mashama Bailey. which featured a sultry performance by South Florida’s beloved LaVie.

On Feb. 25, the Americana Lawn at the Loews Miami Beach was transformed for the debut of FoodieCon presented by Instagram. The all-day outdoor experience rounded up 15 digital content creators and featured an array of sponsors, activations, cooking demos, and panels including special appearances by Fieri, Andrew Zimmern and hospitality impresario David Grutman.

The 22nd annual Tribute Dinner was a star-studded affair honoring the outstanding accomplishments of the culinary community’s award-winning chef, cookbook author, and television personality Guarnaschelli and chairman and chief executive officer of Pernod Ricard Global, Alexandre Ricard. Masters of Ceremonies Flay hosted the lavish affair, which took place at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel and even featured a flash mob including Jeff Mauro, Samuelsson, Jet Tila, Tiffany Faison, Marc Murphy, Antonia Lofaso and more!

An unparalleled roster of highly decorated chefs came together to curate a menu designed to celebrate these two esteemed personalities, including dishes by Fieri, Amanda Freitag, Eric Adjepong, Ayesha Nurdjaja and Geoffrey Zakarian. Among the evening’s highlights was The Muse Collection Live Auction, which raised over $250,000 and was led by celebrity auctioneer Jeff Mauro, and The Protravel International Silent Auction, which raised over $90,000.

The Goya Foods’ Grand Tasting Village took over a sprawling three city blocks on the sands of Miami Beach and featured activations by more than 80 brands including Stella Artois which debuted three new sauces curated by chef Roy Choi at their Frites Artois activation.

The David Grutman Experience saw a show-stopping set by iconic DJ Cedric Gervais and ended with a special performance by Grammy-winning artist DJ Khaled. Cocktails for this experience were curated by renowned brands such as Belvedere Vodka, Volcan Tequila, Hennessy, and Moët & Chandon champagne. Colombian singer Maluma was also on hand to meet and greet fans and serve up sips of his new brand cristalino mezcal, Contraluz.

This year, the South Beach Wine & Food Festival hired Clean Vibes, a company formed and dedicated to responsible on-site waste management, to implement a three-stream waste collection system to divert as much waste as possible from the landfill through recycling and composting. Between recycling, composting and the festival’s food rescue efforts lead by Dr. John Buschman, the festival’s Green Team diverted over 43 tons (86,127 lbs.) of waste from the Goya Foods’ Grand Tasting and North Venue events.

South Beach Wine & Food Festival will return for its 23rd edition on Feb. 22-25, 2024. Stay up to date all year long by following along with the #SOBEWFF hashtag on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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Scenes From Expo West 2023

Published March 11, 2023

Anaheim’s picture-perfect weather gave way on Friday to clouds and rain, which might have been a good thing for Natural Products Expo West exhibitors as everyone took shelter from the weather. Everyone spoke about how this year’s expo seemed “back to normal” with lots of foot traffic, which should increase in the main halls as the north hall closed on Friday.

Plant-based foods and drinks were omni-present, but still capturing mixed reviews. Proponents talked about how their product was going to grow the small niche in the industry that plant-based products occupy. One CEO, though, mused that it will be a shame when those companies won’t be exist next year. Ouch. When I asked if a seafood snack was real seafood, I was told, “It’s fish-based seafood.” Good one.

Wicked Kitchen continues to roll out plant-based products. I tasted the new Good Catch breaded fish filet, partnered with VioLife, and it was tasty with good consistency. Wicked Kitchen’s products with partner Beyond Meat continue to innovate, with a new Korean-inspired bowl.

Wicked Kitchen also has two new plant-based ice cream flavors, Birthday Cake and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. I tasted the cookie dough ice cream and liked how it wasn’t super-sweet.

Over at the VioLife exhibit, I enjoyed tasting the company’s new queso on some tortilla chips.

Tired of PB&J? Or maybe tired isn’t the word. How about a tasty option. SesaOle sampled its Maple Black Sesame Bread Spread. I could eat a whole jar, I swear. Yum!

Jayone Foods cooked up its frozen Scallion Korean Pancakes. Delicious!

I stopped by Sensapure and Factory 6’s booth for a refreshing taste of its new Mixed Berry gut health beverage. It has 2 grams of inulin from agave, a prebiotic that may helf diversity the gut microbome; 250 mgs of Berriotics, a fermented berry blend that helps stimulate growth of native products; 250 mgs of FiberJuice Strawberry Juice Powder, a prebiotic fiber from strawberries; and 250 mgs of Vitamin C.

And it’s delicious.

PuraVida served up delicious samples of its Teriyaki Chicken Fried Rice, using antibiotic-free grilled chicken with brown rice and riced cauiflower, and its vegan Tahini Buddha Bowl. Both were tasty.

Ghia had a bottle of what looked like Bloody Mary mix, but it was really a wine-based, non-alcoholic mixer. I tasted a She Bites aperitif, mixed with ginger beer and a lime wedge with lime zest. Delicous

I greeted at the La Viuda Food Co.’s booth by COO Antonio Silva, holding out a plate of cute mini tacos, with splashes of the company’s red and green hot sauce. La Viuda is a well-known brand in northern Mexico that started in 1920, but is just now crossing the border. Bienvenidos! Hear more about this brand in the May issue of Gourmet News.

Back later with more tasty tidbits from Natural Products Expo West.

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Peruvian Exports Reach Record $63M in 2022

Published March 3, 2023

Peruvian exports have grown steadily over the last two decades thanks to the joint and coordinated work of the public and private sectors. In 2022, Peru achieved a record $63.193 billion in exports, up 3.7 percent from 2021.

Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Fernando Helguero explained that last year 9,127 Peruvian businesses (+6 percent) exported 4,953 products (+3 percent) to 168 markets.

Reports show that the non-energy and non-mining sectors (not related to mining or oil) accounted for 34 percent of total exports or $21.190 billion, a 12.3 percent increase over 2021.

These results have been achieved thanks to the work of over 8,364 Peruvian businesses (71 percent MSMEs), which exported 4,795 products to 165 markets.

The United States was the main destination market ($6.007 billion / +19.6 percent), followed by China ($2.262 billion / +1.3 percent), the Netherlands ($1.551 billion / +3.6 percent), Chile ($1.271 billion / +10.2 percent), and Ecuador ($1.227 million / +44 percent).

Peru’s regions were the main drivers of this growth, accounting for 58 percent of total non-mining and non-energy exports, worth over $12.222 billion and up 11.7 percent from 2021.

As part of its international promotion strategy, Peru seeks to position itself as a reliable, quality strategic partner across all of its industries. The agricultural ($9.807 billion), fishing ($4.023 billion) industries also posted record exports.

There were 1,018 products originating from Peru’s biodiversity, which boasted unprecedented sales, positioning the country as the leading global supplier of products such as blueberries, fresh grapes, and quinoa, to name just a few.

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