Gourmet News

Niagara Chocolates’ New Flavors Sweeten Up Valentine’s Day

Published January 18, 2023

Niagara Chocolates, a fastest-growing premium chocolate brand, has releases four limited-edition flavors just in time for Valentine’s Day. A recent survey confirms that while consumers from Gen Z and beyond still choose chocolate and romance as Valentine’s Day signatures, a spirit of adventure and an interest to try new, exciting experiences accompany these traditional celebration elements.

Other key findings include an overwhelming preference for bold flavors inspired by dessert favorites, popular bakery indulgences and special holiday offerings.

Niagara’s new flavors include:

Dark Chocolate Fondue – Mess-free and easy to recreate at home, our Dark Chocolate Fondue is ready in under 2 minutes and perfect for creating a fun dessert activity with a loved one or as a fun entertaining element.
Red Velvet Cheesecake Cups – Delicious notes of red velvet and cocoa complemented by the delicate tang and smoothness of cheesecake. Also available in 12-ounce gift boxes.
Snickerdoodle Cookie Clusters – Creamy milk chocolate with notes of zesty cinnamon and crunchy vanilla cookie pieces, our Snickerdoodle Clusters will surely make your heart flutter.
Double Chocolate Frosting Cups – Enjoy our twist on a cupcake! Smooth, milk chocolate frosting flavors in rich, creamy, decadent dark chocolate will satisfy your sweet tooth any day of the week.

“For Valentine’s Day 2023, every generation declared a preference for celebrating romance – either with a loved one, boldly going on a first date or even fantasizing about a secret crush,” said Joe Annunziato, director of marketing at Delica North America, parent company of Niagara Chocolates. “No matter how they choose to celebrate, there was an overwhelming agreement that chocolates are the best gift to give and receive, and our hand crafters are excited to share their bold new flavor innovations.”

Additional Survey Findings:

The #1 gift that consumers want to give themselves, their loved ones and receive for Valentine’s Day is chocolate.
Over 50 percent of recipients would love to receive a Valentine’s card from their secret crush.
Over 85 percent of respondents would be willing to go on a first date on Valentine’s Day – but 16 percent would only be interested if given a box of chocolates as an invitation.

Made with simple, non-GMO ingredients, Rainforest Alliance Certified Cocoa, and small batch hand crafted chocolate, these limited-edition products are available on Niagarachocolates.com, Amazon, and national retailers such as Safeway Albertsons, Fresh Market, Walmart and more.

*Results from Pollfish Survey conducted January 2023

Niagara Chocolates launched nationally in 2021 and is the fastest-growing brand in premium chocolate, led by top-selling flavors such as Toasted Coconut Clusters, Sea Salt Caramel Cups, Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups, and Dark Chocolate Coconut Clusters, as well as the Almond Toffee Milk Chocolate, Salted Almond Dark Chocolate and Almond Butter Dark Chocolate bars.

The brand was established in 1956 with a focus on simple ingredients, a hand crafted process, and delivering indulgent products, which remain the brand pillars to this day. Niagara Chocolates has proudly invested in local communities since the brand’s inception through fundraising programs, enabling local schools and organizations to raise millions of dollars to support efforts of all types and make dreams possible. The brand is owned by Migros Group, the largest company, and retailer in Switzerland.

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SIAL America Cross-Country F&B Show Returns in March

Published January 18, 2023

SIAL, the cross-category food and beverage industry network, announced that SIAL America, will take place from March 28-30 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The USDA-endorsed networking and lead-generation event will provide importers, food service companies, distributors, retailers, wholesalers and restaurateurs the opportunity to network with exhibiting food companies from around the world. Attendees will explore the latest in food products and technology via SIAL Innovation, and attend educational seminars devoted to the latest food industry trends.

This extensive how floor features product categories that include Organic & Wellness, Beverages, Grocery, Sweets & Bakery, Fruits & Vegetables, Seafood, Dairy Products, Frozen Foods, Snack Foods, Meats.

Last March, SIAL America made its debut welcoming over 4,600 industry professionals worldwide, delving into cutting-edge food trends such as plant-based alternatives, animal-product traceability, and chocolate and sweets innovations. SIAL will stage six months after the SIAL Paris flagship event drew more than 7,000 exhibitors in October 2022. Domestic and international exhibitors including Real California Milk, Supreme Crab & Seafood, and Haig’s Delicacies have already signed on to participate, along with USA Rice, Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, Godshall’s, American Beverage Markets, Skechers, Source Logistics and more to be announced.

SIAL America will again feature matchmaking services and VIP networking spaces to connect like-minded businesses. The show will take place next to Emerald’s International Pizza Expo.

Attendee registration for SIAL America is open,

SIAL America is presented in partnership with Emerald and Comexposium. The partnership leverages the respective strengths of Emerald’s leading live events footprint in the United States and Comexposium’s preeminent SIAL global food brand and network.

SIAL Network is the world’s largest network of food and drink fairs. Its 11 regular shows (SIAL Paris, SIAL Canada Montreal, Toronto, SIAL China, SIAL Shenzhen, Food & Drinks Malaysia, SIAL India, SIAL Interfood in Jakarta, Gourmet Selection, Djazagro and The Cheese & Dairy Show ) bring together 16,000 exhibitors and 700,000 visitors from 200 countries.

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Winter Fancy Food Day 2: Chefs and Cheese

Published January 17, 2023

By A.J. Flick
Senior Editor

The second day of the Specialty Food Association’s 2023 Winter Fancy Food Show was my day of meeting chefs and eating a lot of cheese.

The prsonal highlight was meeting Chef Stephanie Izard, who was the first woman named “Top Chef” (season 4) and one of my favorite Top Chef chefs. She also is from Arizona, as I am, so I was rooting for the “home chef.” Chef Izard has a new line of sauces, spices and add-ons developed out of her esteemed Chicago (and now LA) restaurant, This Little Goat. When I walked up to her booth, she was stirring a pan of halved Brussel sprouts, bathed in her Asian sauce. They looked good, but I’m not a Brussel sprouts fan. A friend of mine, Robert, loves them and so wants me to love them when he roasts them and slathers butter on them, but I just don’t like Brussel sprouts.

Until now. I have to break the news to Robert that I do love Brussel sprouts now, Chef Izard’s Brussel sprouts! She adds her new Everything Crunch puffed rice toppers on them for the contrast in textures that she’s famous for. I’ll have to make them for Robert now and show him how good Brussel sprouts can really taste!

I also was looking forward to meeting Chef Michael Tashman, who was a fabulous line of flavored butters. I was especially impressed with the Truffle Butter flavor, such a balance of truffle and high-quality butter. Chef Tashman is new to the CPG world, but he has plan to present more “chef forward” products to the specialty food market. He called it “chef to table.” (He didn’t coin the term, but likes calling it that.)

As for cheese, I stopped by a wine and cheese party thrown by the nice folks at Beehive Cheese. I tasted some of their cheeses last summer in Portland at the American Cheese Society Conference. Here, they presented a whole table of artisanal cheese at a Las Vegas wine bar, Garagiste. Beehive Cheese is a family business, not only the family who started it, but each Beehive team member I talked to spoke about how great it is to work there and how they are all treated life family. You’ll be hearing much more about Beehive in Gourmet News!

My second stop of the night was at the top of the Mandalay Bay Casino and Resort, in the Foundation Room, UK in Las Vegas, held to celebrate cheese from the United Kingdom. Yes, there was everything from Stilton to a truffle cheddar (which was gone by the time I got there!). So I ended up having Utah cheese for appetizers and British cheese for the main course. I’m not complaining!

Earlier in the day, I stopped by to visit our friends at The French Farm. They’re excited to introduce an award-winning line of artisanal from Francis Miot from the southwest of France. Not only that, but The French Farm has added to its own Epicurian line of products, jars of tasty spring and summer veggies such as Zucchini & Ramp Spread, and some aiolis. Yum!

I also spent some quality time learning more at Le Gruyere, the fine cheese from Switzerland. And you’ll learn more, too, in our upcoming Spring Cheese Guide.

I had more time yesterday to do some wandering, I sampled chicken jerky from Brave Good Kind; Simply Animals, a better-for-you lightly frosted animal crackers; lemon and ginger Snaps from Stauffer’s, Pink Sauce from Dave’s Gourmet (you’ll be hearing more about that) and delicious dumplings from Chef Kim’s.

I had fun decorating (and eating) a little gingerbread man at the Signature Brands booth. I got a tour of the new Jelly Belly products – at long last, the Butter Beer jelly beans have landed! And, there’s another Harry Potter product on the horizon that fans will love (but I can’t say what it is yet!) Jelly Belly is expanding its reach into the greeting card market with a tasty new Easter greeting card, too. You’ll read more about it in the March issue of Gourmet News in our Winter Fancy Food Show roundup.

One more day to go – can we make it? Yes, we will!