Naturally Network @ SFA Summer Fancy Food 2025
We’re still riding the wave of energy and connection from this year’s Summer Fancy Food Show in NYC. Naturally Network showed up bigger than ever, bringing the largest pavilion of emerging, better-for-you brands to the show floor, and anchoring meaningful activations like two Big Idea Stage panels and a celebratory happy hour that brought the community together.
This year marked a major first for many of our community’s founders – first trade show, first time meeting dream buyers in person, first moment seeing all their hard work come to life on a national stage.
“The Summer Fancy Food Show was our very first trade show, and we couldn't have asked for a better experience!” shared Alessia Vettese of Pari. “Naturally Network ensured all of our questions were answered in preparation, made valuable connections on our behalf before and during the show, and enthusiastically provided booth support when we needed to step away.”
From high-energy booth visits with exciting buyers to celebratory happy hours with fellow founders – this was community in action!
“Being part of the Naturally Pavilion was instrumental to the success of our first trade show,” said Jill Weissman of Beyond the Bib. “We had an awesome location with steady foot traffic and being surrounded by other like-minded founders made it feel like a supportive space for connection and community.”
Our exhibitors shared some of their favorite moments and wins from the show:
Andrew Bruck, Baobest: Loved the overall vibe of the pavilion – busy all 3 days from start to finish, good mix of people stopping by the booth, and great location
Vikram, Everiday Foods: Great buyer interactions! Loved collaborating with Dumpling Daughter and our neighbors. It was a lively group of people and I would definitely like to stay in touch.
Ali Lazowski, Bare Life: Meeting the buyers from American Airlines, TJX, QVC, Fresh Thyme, Sprouts and more! Also just connecting with great entrepreneurs in our section!
Big Conversations on the Big Idea Stage
We also hit the stage twice with programming designed to get real about what it takes to build a conscious CPG brand in today’s market. The takeaways were tactical and transparent:
“Teams need not only a great white-space idea rooted in customer needs—they need a vision and preparations to scale, a clear understanding of their priority retailers’ goals, and strong relationships,” said moderator Bianca Difonzo of New Nexus Group. “Preparedness is key for the major moments that could launch brands.”
Panelists got candid about today’s retail realities, reminding founders to focus their energy where it matters:
“To win in this cautious economy, CPG brands need to defend their position on shelf by focusing marketing dollars on velocity, not just more doors,” added Ashlie Winson-Jones of Social Nature. “Focus on functional benefits for consumers and hero SKUs for retailers.”
A Pavilion That Brought It All Together
Across the board, exhibitors cited the prep, support, and community that Naturally Network provided before and during the show as a major reason their experience was successful.
“From pre-show calls with Naturally Network, SFA Ops, and SPINS to help us understand logistics, what to expect from attendees, how to be prepared for questions, sampling, etc. to in-person support at the show and the ability to network with other brands in the Pavilion, our experience was extremely positive. Also, having Benji from SPINS provide insights about our categories was really valuable,” said Andrea Uribe of Josephine’s Baking Co. “The location of the pavilion was unbeatable and got a lot of attention from attendees (buyers, distributors, and press) looking for emerging brands”
From making dream retailer connections to sharing wins (and snacks) with table neighbors, this summer’s Fancy Food was a moment of real momentum. Thanks to every founder, speaker, partner, and supporter who made this possible.
Thanks especially to our partners: SFA, RSM, Wayflyer
Next up: Newtopia Now 2025. See you all there!
