Welcome to my 2013 CHFA Roundup!
The CHFA Show is a large trade show created by the Canadian Health Food Association where brands come together to try and convince retailers and media to buy and promote their goods. It’s one of my favourite things to do all year. I spent around 12 hours on the show floor this year testing new foods, enjoying ones I already knew about, and talking to some incredibly nice people who love healthy food too.
Although I don’t write bad reviews, and despite the fact that I really LOVE my time at this show every year exploring the new stuff, I would like to take this opportunity to say that it’s completely ludicrous that a “health food” show at this point allows GMOs to be there. I really would like to request that the whole show be totally non-GMO, as that would get bogus claims like “all-natural” out, especially when they use conventional canola oil. I even saw an exhibitor drinking coca-cola out of a plastic bottle there, which is so crazy considering there are so many great drinks at the show for enjoying and they are supposed to be selling health! My mom and I talked about how there is so much waste because of all of the sampling (little spoons and cups) and how the show could make everyone use compostable stuff at the very least, or use nothing at the very most. I do feel badly about how many taster cups I used. I really liked how Mary’s Crackers did their sampling. It was neat and clean – a bowl with tongs. Best crackers at the show, no waste at all.
I hope you enjoy my pictures (they are at the very end of the post), sorry there are so many of me instead of close ups of the products, but I hope you try to look for some of the things that I liked at the show, though some aren’t in stores yet, they will be by the end of the year.
Now onto my top products at the CHFA this year (in no particular order):
1. Liquid Light. It’s not a delicious food, but it’s a liquid mineral complex that woke me right up after eating a few too many samples, and it didn’t taste gross like wheatgrass does! It’s a natural fulvic acid that’s loaded with good stuff.
2. Sacred Heart Mylk Chocolate. Notice I spelled “Mylk” with a “y” because it’s vegan, so there is no dairy. Now I love dark, raw chocolate, but this bar was out of this world good because it was so creamy and rich. It’s healthy enough to have for breakfast too!
3. Sea Snax. These roasted seaweed snacks are crazy good, and come in so many flavours. Their seaweed is from South Korea, so it can be organic and isn’t contaminated from Japan. Special mention to Sea Snax for their new Oodles which are seaweed noodles that are great to mix with organic soba noodles and black sesame seeds – these noodles don’t even need cooking, just rinse them when they come out of the bag and put right onto your plate. And, I did try and new roasted seaweed snack called Gimme that were also good. Seaweed is getting popular and that’s a great thing – just make sure they don’t use canola oil on the roasted snacks!
4. Rise Kombucha. I’ve written about these guys a lot, because it’s not only my favourite kind of kombucha (fermented fizzy drink, like healthy pop), but their entire team definitely wins my award for nicest people ever at any booth at any show! They are also the only fair trade kombucha on the market.
5. Begley and Bill’s Soda. It’s pop, but because it’s from California, they call it soda. Thanks to Matt from Organic Garage for recommending that we go over and try it. It’s sugar-free and in glass bottles! The guys there were so unbelievably kind and friendly, it was just as refreshing as their drinks!
6. Bare Fruit. Although we have a dehydrator, and it’s best to make our own, these dried apples, apricots and mangos are stupendous! The fruit is grown, dried and packaged in the US and there is no sugar added, although they are naturally sweet. They are organic and nut-free, which is also why they made this list!
Now for my highlights in pictures:
