Virginia Food and Beverage Expo Showcases Specialty Products From Nearly 200 Virginia Businesses

March 28, 2024
Virginia Food and Beverage Expo Showcases Specialty Products From Nearly 200 Virginia Businesses
Governor Glenn Youngkin announces award winners of the Best New Product Competitions
Contact: Michael Wallace

More than 1,000 food industry buyers attended the Virginia Food and Beverage Expo in Richmond yesterday to view some of the finest specialty food and beverages the Commonwealth has to offer. Sponsored by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, this popular, biennial trade event connects retailers, wholesalers, distributors, and food service buyers directly with the creators of the specialty food and beverage products. Nearly 200 Virginia-based specialty food and beverage businesses exhibited at this year's event.

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin attended the expo and announced the Best New Product Awards for the 2024 expo during a brief ceremony. A total of 40 entries were received for the Best New Food, Best New Beverage, and Best New Product competitions. The following are the 2024 award winners:

• Best New Product - Owl Spoon Water Kefir Company's Yule Mule. This specialty beverage is a blend of organic Cranberry, Pomegranate and Ginger water kefir.
• Best New Food - Keya & Company's Masala spiced kettle cooked potato chips. A special blend of a black salt-laced kettle cooked potato chip.
• Best New Beverage - Ninja Kombucha Brewing Company's Blackberry Hibiscus Kombucha. This beverage features rich, earthy notes of premium oolong leaves, heightened by the juicy burst of plump blackberries and the exotic allure of hibiscus petals.

Other expo highlights included the Virginia Grown pavilion which showcased local produce and growers, the Hatch Incubator Section featured new start-up businesses, the Virginia Specialty Food Association Accelerator Section emphasized emerging businesses that are ready for full retail expansion, and the Virginia Spirits Board Beverage Garden included nearly a dozen of the Commonwealth's distillers and their products. In addition, blue catfish filets were prominently displayed and freshly fried samples were served to increase wholesaler, restaurant, and retail market awareness.

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