Although it may seem that all I did in New Orleans was eat, I did spend most of my days at the IFT conference. Here's some proof:
I admit that I am short, but J. (the guy behind me) is like 6 feet something so it's even more apparent. In Hawaii, my height is not that noticeable.
Check out the different flavors or salsa. Blueberry& Bacon; Kiwi, Tomatillo, and Watercress; Acai Roasted Salsa. I thought that the tomatillo and kiwi would work well together because they both have a light green tinge and seeds. Nope, all three salsas were borderline disasters.It's interesting to note that there was another company there which produced food bars made out of the scraps of vegetables and fruits. Some of the bars they made incorporated potato peels, cantaloupe rinds, carrot peelings... I do not know what the company was thinking...okay, let me rephrase this, I know what the company was thinking. They were trying to eliminate waste and create a food product that people would enjoy. Ewww....seriously, I am all about saving the environment, but really I do not think pets would enjoy these products.
When I spoke to the lady at the booth she told me, "Yes, we're a new company, and we just developed these products three weeks ago." All the while, I'm thinking to myself, "This is why companies should do consumer insight testing and/or hire sensory scientists."
Griffith Laboratories pulled pork sandwich with slightly sweet lime pita chips was delicious! I would have tweaked the flavoring a tad bit, but the pulled pork and slaw flavors were spot-on. They also had plantain chips that were quite tasty too! When you are a company that produces flavoring blends, your food should taste good! There were many other food companies with delicious foods at the Expo. Tate & Lyle was promoting "Promitor" which is a corn soluble fiber and the Kerry Group had a bunch of tasty products and I tried a lobster broth that one of my friends developed.
If you're interested, Mintel had a booth showcasing the International food trends. Last year I checked out the booth and most if not all of the trends they forecast were seen in the market.
Posts
3 comments:
Wow! This sounds really interesting and I'm jealous you were in New Orleans (ahh! Pat O'brien's!). I read through many of your recent posts but I'm guessing that you're in grad school as a food scientist? Hang in there! I know it's a tough road right at the end, but it's soooo worth it when it's all over! Thanks for coming by my blog to say hello - I was happy to find you (even if you are on the mainland these days). Oh! And congratulations on an up and coming wedding - same thoughts there - all that work will be so worth it when the day arrives! (I'm celebrating my 1 year anniversary in August).
michelle,
hi! yup, i'm a grad student in food science working towards my phd. there have been many times i've contemplated quitting, but i uprooted myself from hawaii so i could potentially apply for an academic posision back home in the years to come.
congratulations on your phd and job in hawaii. i'm assuming you're teaching at hpu?
oh and if you're ever on the other side of the island, you might want to check out chinatown or the kam swap meet for fruits and veggies.
Yep, I was teaching at HPU, but luckily that's over now (I loved it but it was oh so busy for summer classes since they are 3 hours for 3 times a week and I was teaching lab AND lecture!). Thanks for the tips - I'm going to go through the Chinese chamber of commerce and do a Chinatown tour for $10 to get myself acquainted with the place and I'll see if I can find the Kam swap meet!
Post a Comment