Fancy Food Show Day 3: Food Doing Double-Duty

Dozens of products are committed to tasting good while doing good.

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Three days of nonstop munching, sipping and schmoozing have come to an end for the Fancy Food Show’s first stint in Washington, D.C. More than 2,400 exhibitors gave attendees a taste of products that were ceaselessly innovative, sometimes bizarre (in a good way) and just plain delicious.

More products than ever wore halos on their packaging: USDA Organic, Fair Trade Certified, Rainforest Alliance Certified, and several took their products a step further by giving back to communities and programs in need.

Ajiri Tea

Taking home the sofi Gold Award for Innovation in Packaging Design or Function for its Kenyan Black Tea, Ajiri Tea Company doesn’t just provide aid to women and children in western Kenyan—they’ve created employment for those women, who hand-craft every single label using recycled and sustainable materials, creating a truly unique and beautiful line of products.

Palestine-focused companies Canaan Fair Trade and Equal Exchange shared similar efforts to empower the communities behind their respective products. Canaan produces olive oils, couscous, tahini and other products that, in return, aid local farmers devastated by war or natural disasters, awards scholarships to young women and offers microloans to new farmers. Equal Exchange hosts fair-trade, organic coffees, teas and chocolates—and has just introduced a line of olive oils—to support farm cooperatives and sustainable farming. (See an exclusive Meet the Producer interview here: Canaan Fair Trade Founder Dr. Nasser Abufarha.)

Looking toward home for causes to support, Root Cellar Preserves donates a portion of its pickle-line proceeds to historic preservation projects around the U.S. And they make a mean sweet-and-spicy dill. On the other end of the spectrum, Madécasse takes its entire business abroad: establishing a bean-to-bar chocolate company entirely in Madagascar—one of the world’s poorest countries. The company’s model is said to have more than four times the impact of fair-trade certification.

Root Cellars at the Fancy Food Show

These businesses, and plenty of others, remind us of the impact and influence of food that goes beyond a satisfying meal or snack. Choosing products that give back in some way shows support not only for those businesses, but for all efforts that strive to have a positive impact, whether for the environment or communities near and far. And it makes the food taste that much better.—Eva Meszaros