"Innovation” isn’t just a buzzword for the Specialty Food Association, which is reimagining the 2025 Winter Fancy Food Show as the Winter FancyFaire* in 2026. In its final iteration as the Food Show, 12,000 food-industry professionals descended on Las Vegas for the fourth-consecutive year to sample the latest F&B innovations and network with industry professionals. 

It all went down Jan. 19-21 in the Las Vegas Convention Center’s 1.4 million-square-foot West Hall, where 1,100 exhibitors—180 of which were first-timers—from around the world exhibited across 45 specialty categories, including popular flavors like the Japanese citrus yuzu and black truffle, as well as trends like upcycled packaging. “We’ve remained consistent in our numbers,” SFA’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications Leana Salamah said of attendance and exhibitors alike at the 2025 Winter Fancy Food Show—the 49th of its kind. 

Consistency wasn’t, well, consistent, throughout the whole show, though. Salamah emphasized the SFA’s commitment to “innovation and trendsetting” with each of its shows. As a result, “this year’s event delivered on attendees’ appetite for discovery and innovation,” she said, pointing to these five new show features that took center stage: 

• The Spark Showcase area was new to the exhibit hall “where we [the SFA] co-hosted daily programming,” Salamah explained.  
• Interactive Ask the Experts sessions on the show floor took place in a "space dedicated to one-to-one and small-group sessions where attendees and exhibitors could receive personalized guidance from industry pros,” she shared. 
• The First Taste Experience was the Winter Fancy Food Show’s first-ever food hall that boasted the newest products on the market. On each day of the show, the experience took on different themes (global flavors on day one, holiday treats on day two, and top trends on day three). 
• After debuting at the 2024 Summer Fancy Food Show, the Debut District launched at a Winter Fancy Food Show. This is where first-time exhibitors, exhibitors with new products, startups, and incubators had an opportunity to showcase their products among the most high-traffic area of the show floor. 
• The first SFA Maker Prep Graduation was “a celebration of the first class of manufacturers to complete the reimagined six-month Maker Prep Course,” Salamah said.  

The SFA capped off the three-day itinerary with a major announcement: As it looks to the 50th-anniversay milestone of the Winter Fancy Food Show, "innovation” is going to stay top-of-mind as it rebrands to the Winter FancyFaire*.  

In case you were wondering, the asterisk in the show’s new name is intentional, representing a snowflake for the winter season. And in a further nod to the wintertime, the inaugural FancyFaire*—taking place Jan. 11-13, 2026—will put an increased emphasis on “products and inspiration for holiday purchasing,” according to Salamah. 

The reimagined show will be finding a new home at the San Diego Convention Center, with plans to travel to new destinations each year (San Francisco is already on the books for 2027.). When asked how the SFA plans on picking its locations in the future, Salamah said, perhaps unsurprisingly, that it will come down to audience tastes. The SFA “will make our decision for 2028 shows and beyond based on where we think will deliver the best possible experience for exhibitors and attendees,” she said. 

Though it wasn’t immediately clear if any of the Food Show’s new features will return for FancyFaire*, Salamah teased that there will be “new experiences—and for brand-new audiences.” 

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