Spill & Dish: A Specialty Food Association Podcast Heritage Radio Network

Cold-pressed grapeseed oil produces a high-quality, nutrient-rich product that can be used to bake, sauté, top salads, and more. Salute Santé’s upcycled, chef-inspired grapeseed oil is a recent 2023 Gold Sofi Award winner and has been a leader in the alternative oil category for decades. The company also makes infused oils and grapeseed flour.

In this episode of Spill & Dish, George Hajjar, content development associate at the Specialty Food Association, speaks with co-founders and life partners Valentin and Nanette Humer about the company’s mission to bring sustainability to the industry, how it began, and how its suite of products is produced.

In this episode, Megan Rooney, Program Development Manager at SFA, chats with Shawn Askinosie, the visionary founder & CEO of Askinosie Chocolate, about being a bean-to-bar chocolate trailblazer, making a positive impact on the lives of cocoa farmers worldwide, his upcoming Chocolate University trip to Tanzania, and how SFA was pivotal in connecting him with buyers.

Patrick Ford is the vice president of Ford’s Gourmet Foods, the family-owned brand that makes Bone Suckin’ Sauce, rubs, and seasonings, and is constantly innovating flavors and recipes to bring a dynamic breadth of products. In this episode, George Hajjar, associate editor at the SFA, speaks with Ford about working in a family business, and how it developed from humble origins into an award-winning brand.

Cynthia Duran, owner of Xinca Foods, had been seeking a vegan cheese to accompany her pupusas when, at the 2022 Summer Fancy Food Show, she met fellow exhibitor Dina DiCenso, cofounder of RIND by Dina and Joshua, who was debuting RIND's Carrot Cheese. In this episode, recorded on the 2023 Summer Fancy Food Show Big Idea Stage, Julie Gallagher, SFA’s director of content development, delves into how their serendipitous meeting led to the launch of Carrot Cheese and Loroco Pupusas.

Emre Imamoglu saw an opportunity to bring healthy eating habits from the Mediterranean to a U.S. audience in the form of CiboVita. In this episode, George Hajjar, associate editor at the Specialty Food Association, spoke with Imamoglu about the company’s health-first approach, its sofi award-winning product, and the business strategies that enabled its success.

Twenty years ago, Jonathan Milo Leal launched Milo’s Whole World Gourmet, an Ohio-based specialty food maker of Sofi Award winning products, that also offers boutique co-packing services. In this episode, Julie Gallagher, director of content development at SFA, chats with the entrepreneur about how he got his start, the business lessons he’s learned through the years, and the unique perspective he brings to the co-packing world.