Fancy Faire San Diego 2026: Small Show, Big Signals.

San Diego Winter Fancy Faire wasn’t the biggest Fancy Food Show, but it showed well.

This year felt edited. Human-scale. The setting and the sunshine didn’t hurt either—a welcome contrast to Vegas. It was the kind of show where real conversations happen. For Forklift, it was a reminder that momentum isn’t always loud. Sometimes it’s the food leading again.

What stood out

Peru is still having a moment.
All that investment in Peru’s food identity keeps paying off. Seeing multiple Peruvian startups together wasn’t a coincidence; it was proof of durability. From Kusi sauces bringing true Peruvian pepper flavors to market, to canned Chicha Morada from The Purple Drop, to the bold footprint of Tari Sauce, the through-line was clear: craft and provenance remain Peru’s export language in the U.S. specialty.

Innovation without theater.
We loved Tru Cinnamon, a drink built not on some obscure ingredient, but on a flavor people already know and love, wonderfully drinkable, now supported by real health benefits. It’s the kind of innovation that feels intuitive, not engineered. Our only wish: a sachet format for everyday use instead of glass, but something tells us the founder will get there.

And TCHO keeps showing how to evolve smartly: a strong Blue Bottle collaboration, a standout new Lemon Twist flavor with sea salt and olive oil, their Alaska Airlines program, and meaningful growth in food service. Thoughtful moves, no gimmicks, lucky pastry chefs.

Craize, continues to charm us with a line of wafer-thin, crunchy corn crackers inspired by the Latin American arepas (shout out to Manuel), reimagined as an everyday snack. Their innovation is amazing, and we can’t get enough of their guava crackers. Their flavor work is confident and fun, and we can’t get enough of the guava. Backed by Mondelez’s SnackFutures Ventures, the future feels bright.

Devin’s Good Gut Yogurt stood out for one simple reason: a real point of difference. 300x more probiotics is a clear functional edge in a crowded category. Serious product, serious intent.

Daguzan Charcuterie from Hawaii was quietly powerful. Pierre’s work shows true craft, but what really resonates is the sustainability story, using invasive species like deer, a genuine ecological challenge in Hawaii. It’s charcuterie that tastes good and does good.

Old-world craft, modern relevance, welcome to the US, Tartuflanghe.
Tartuflanghe reminded us what heritage plus innovation really looks like. Far more than truffles in a jar, their heroes span fresh white Alba truffles, black truffle oils, salts, and butters alongside category-defining creations like shelf-stable carbonara base sauces, Tartufissima® (widely credited as the first truffle pasta), and Perlage® spherified truffle pearls that turn truffle juice into a caviar-like experience. Add basil-truffle pesto and anchovy-truffle butter in a tube and you see a brand not extracting from tradition, but expanding it. Even their freeze-dried basil pesto and capers, originally developed for astronauts, now serve chefs on Earth. Paolo’s vision has always been bigger than ingredients. It’s about building products that delight year-round, across kitchens, price points, and occasions. Piedmont tradition, made modern.

Relationships still matter most.
Great seeing old friends and sharing stories. Watching start-up brands like Maazah not just survive but thrive was one of the best parts of the show. Seeing OMED continue to produce great quality Spanish olive oil and outstanding vinegars, tasting Marieke’s fantastic aged Gouda, and enjoying Chris’s outstanding charcuterie from The Smoking Goose. Growth with integrity always reads differently.

Packaging that earns its shelf space.
F. LLI Chiaverini’s rebrand from Florence was a masterclass: jams, marmalades, creams like hazelnut and cocoa, chestnut cream, all in collectible, reusable cups you actually want to keep. And those new Shiver Sticks with the penguin visual? Whimsy done right.

Bright ideas win quietly.
Single-serve, one-tablespoon tomato paste from Pantry Gems. No waste. No half-used cans. Just practical brilliance. We hope Gina gets properly funded.

One Chinese brand leaned into visual play, shaping banana bread like bananas and cornbread like ears of corn. Fun, yes—but it proved how a simple idea can do all the work.

Isignyamerica somehow made an 11-lb tub of butter go viral, and now they can’t keep it in stock. Turns out joy sometimes comes by the pound.

Robots, finally practical.
We also saw more robotics than ever, and for once, it felt usable. Tutor’s robot leasing model stood out in particular, lowering the barrier for small and mid-size food companies to access automation without massive capital risk. Not futuristic theater. Real operational support.

Storytelling that feels personal, not performative.
Nowhere’s award-winning non-alcoholic cocktails stood out for one reason: landscape-driven narratives that feel lived in. Each SKU is tied to place, one they genuinely care about, not a trope, but a point of view.

The bigger takeaway

This wasn’t a show about spectacle. It was about signals:

• Craft is scaling without losing soul.

• Packaging is becoming a strategic asset, not decoration.

• Origin stories matter—but only when they’re real.

• Automation is becoming accessible, not intimidating.

• And the most compelling brands aren’t shouting. They’re building.

San Diego reminded us that the future of specialty food isn’t louder. It’s sharper.

And gratitude where it belongs—to everyone who made this feel less like a trade show and more like a community in motion.

Smaller show. Strong year ahead.