Although we knew we weren’t going to be writing about the show itself for TasteTO, we still headed off to the Canadian Food and Restaurant Trade Show this past weekend to check stuff out and look for story ideas.
This is the largest food and restaurant trade show in Canada, with exhibitors promoting pretty much anything you would need if you ran a restaurant or food service operation. All the things people never even think about when they dream about opening a restaurant; from cutlery to chairs to dishwashers, computer systems and take out containers. The food section is full of packaged and processed foods, from frozen French fry vendors to bakeries offering bread and cakes. and of course things like condiments, coffee, or ingredients like baking chocolate… It’s a cornucopia of delights, with most of the food vendors handing out plentiful samples. We ate bite-sized versions of pizza, chicken wings, ice cream, cheesecake on a stick, prosciutto, dried fruit, yogurt, single-origin chocolate, pate, vegetarian caviar, panko-fried pickles, fruit cups, and Campbell’s high-end line of soups. Plus beer, fancy water, kool-aid slushies, coffee, tea, fancy soda… Then we came home and downed half a bottle of Pepto Bismol.