From Wednesday through Friday, exhibitors and attendees walked the aisles of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre checking out the latest food products for the grocery, retail and foodservice markets.
Highlights included the competitive Olive D’Or competition, which pitted dozens of olive oils from around the world against one another to pinpoint the best of the best. This year’s Attendees Choice winner was Acropolis Organic, a biodynamic extra virgin olive oil from Greece.
A display at the show’s entrance showcased this year’s crop of products recognized in the SIAL Trends and Innovations Awards. After sorting through some 40 candidates earlier in April, the judges narrowed the list down to the top 10. And, after some spirited debate, this year’s Grand Winner, announced at the show, was Fruit and Fruit, a single-serve fruit bar, made by the Lasalle, Que.-based, Your Bar Factory.
While attendees could literally trot the culinary globe, with national displays from countries such as Morocco, Mexico, Cyprus and Brazil and, of course, Canada, this year’s featured country was Italy, which made sure to wow attendees with a broad range of products on offer. “The Italian Trade Commission’s attendance at SIAL Canada 2011 is a testimony to the importance of the Canadian market, where Italy has reached the position of fifth-largest supplier,” said Ambassador Umberto Vattani, president, Italian Trade Commission.
