More hot food fans flocked to Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show

"The 24th edition of the National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show saw an increase of about 3,500 attendees from last year.


The show, held at Sandia Resort & Casino March 2-4, had 17,500 attendees over the weekend, giving a boost to a number of local entrepreneurs.


Apple Canyon Gourmet sold out of its Santa Fe Mixes Sunset Margarita Mix on all three show days and landed wholesale orders and leads, said Anna Shawver, the company founder. The business manufactures several foods under the brands Santa Fe Mixes, Santa Fe Seasons, Comida Loca Soup Mixes and Holy Chipotle!, all made in Albuquerque.


Two entrepreneurs with roots in the South Valley Economic Development Center’s commercial kitchen saw a big boost in sales as well. Stephen Hoffman, owner of AlbuqCOOKIE, called 2012 his best year yet at Fiery Foods.


'We sold out our inventory of 320 bags at the end of the second day, and practically sold out the third day,' he said in a news release.


Hoffman’s line of cookies include green chile pecan Sandia cookies and chocolate pepper chile cookies. The company is in La Montanita Co-op in Albuquerque and in Santa Fe, and has landed its first location outside New Mexico.


Steve and Kris Monteith have been producing small batches of their spicy fresh mustard at the SVEDC since 2008. The Lusty Monk Mustards line includes cheeky product names such as Burn in Hell, Altar Boy Honey Mustard and Original Sin. They saw a 17 percent increase in sales over last year’s show, Steve said, and sold nearly 700 jars.


Bonnie Burchell, creator of Bonita’s Mixes, made inroads with a regional buyer from a large warehouse chain at the show. She and Sean Hetherington founded the company in 2010 to offer sugar-free, low-carb cocktail mixes made with real juice.


The Fiery Foods show is one of the largest spicy foods and barbecue shows in the world. It was founded by Dave DeWitt, who’s known as the 'Pope of Peppers.' ”


http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/news/2012/03/06/more-hot-food-fans-flocked-to-fiery.html


email:  newmexicocuisine@gmail.com


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