Mining Nuggets in the Desert

For the last couple of days I’ve thrown myself into the (largely healthy) ingredient and educational showcase that is SupplySide West. Vegas is bright and clear—and so is the industry, for the most part. Despite current economic rumblings ’round these parts of late, everybody has to eat, and innovation continues to flourish along the supply chain. Educational sessions digging into the consciousness of the often-contradictory consumer, ultra-cutting-edge ingredient research, and more have rounded-out interesting ingredient investigations on the show floor. And of course, Vegas always manages to entertain (and satiate—seems like there’s a dozen new restaurants every time I return to this urban anomaly ... Vegas is quite the playground, and my favorite angle is definitely edible; even ran into Mario Batali last night on my way up for some much-needed horizontal time ... the combination of red ponytail, chef’s coat and orange crocs was unmistakable).

Some ingredients and detected trends of note: marine omega-3s aplenty (improved stability, varied sources, ingredients that combine them with other nutrients, etc.), a steady spotlight on antioxidants (and the higher ORAC the better) and cool emerging ingredients like kokum, nopales and Indian gooseberry (granted, I’m a sucker for strange fruit...). Even the baobab (which I commented on recently) has shown its face in a couple of spots. And did I mention cosmeceuticals galore? Beauty from within is quickly shaping up as the next big thing—and creating an entirely new product category in the process.

Well, the sun is just beginning to peek across the horizon in this strange desert oasis we call Vegas. Time to swing back into the SupplySide thing with a series of sessions on deck this morning highlighting insight from members of the Research Chefs Association and then back onto the show floor for more nugget mining. Stay tuned.