The Sial Canada Show returned to Toronto after a few years of online and only Montreal shows. They are Montreal Based. It returned to the Enercare Centre at Exhibition Place from May 9 to 11, 2023.
Noteable were the Montreal Celebrity Chefs in attendance with products and demos such as Chuck Hughes, Stefano Faita and Michele Forgione. The lone Torontonian was the eclectic Matty Matheson who is also involved in the show The Bear.
I haven't been to the show for a few years so there were a few notable differences.
The one thing I noticed was that the show seemed smaller this time. The one thing that was the same was the amount of cheese vendors because of the Cheese Competition. I couldn't try all the cheeses unfortunately, there were 3 rows of them. That's a lot of cheese.
The presentations seemed to be set up differently. There was a cuisine stage and an area for the cheese pairings but I didn't see the speakers stages.
I got there around 11 and went through the whole show by 1:30 which is pretty fast for the size of the show.
The reason it was faster was that we decided to only try a couple of cheeses. We have seen most of them already at different shows and we were looking to sample new things.
This show is catered to food distributors more than food bloggers. We did feel the lack of interest from some of the vendors. We were there to sample new things and share the things we liked that will be coming to restaurants and grocery stores in the future.
I was quite surprised at home many of the vendors had booths with just a display of packaged products without samples. The other noticeable thing was that there were many vendors who were on their phones and seemingly ignoring attendees walking by the booths.
I understand that they are only interested in sales but we could find a product we love and share it with someone that is in the position to purchase that product. This is not a reflection of the event organizers. It was organized well.
What I noticed were the dominating products were:
- Rice and grains
- cured hams
- Olives and Olive Oil
- Pickled products
- snack foods
- sauces
- functional beverages
We didn't try many samples but most of what we tried was very good.
Favourite samples of the day:
- Matty Matheson's Brisket sliders with his special sauces
- Stephano Faita's penne with his vodka pasta sauce
- Bison Tacos, my friend said she didn't like gamey meat and liked it.
- Milzu Hemp Crunch in Grilled Paprika. they were round crunchy snack balls, healthier than chips. One of the innovation award choices.
- Long Chips in Bacon flavour - long flat chip strips with perforated sections.
- The Bio Safe- Sour Cherry Mixology. - It tastes like a fresh sour cherry drink.
- Siciliana sodas in Lemon and Blood orange- I went back for more because it was so refreshing and not too sweet.
- Chocolate covered everything fruits and nuts. I tried the chocolate covered strawberries and it was so flavorful.
We didn't get to try the Sial Innovation Award winners but we did get a sample of the aluminum bottle.
Here are the 2023 Winners:
Gold medal: MILLENNIA TEA INC for their FROZEN SUPERFOOD TEA, a raw organic tea made
from camellia sinensis with flash freezing preserving nutrients. (millenniatea.com)
Silver medal: LOC INDUSTRIES INC. for their PLANT-BASED EGG SUBSTITUTES (WHITE, YOLK, WHOLE) from Yumgo by Alternative Kitchen, a plant-based range of allergen-free powdered egg substitutes. (locindustries.com)
Bronze medal: LA PRESSERIE for their COLD PRESSED COCKTAIL MIXERS, a frozen mocktail base with cold-pressed ingredients. (lapresserie.com)
Own the change - Special award: KINGSTON ALUMINUM TECHNOLOGY INC. (KAT) for their
SHAPED ALUMINUM BOTTLES for beverages using less aluminum. (katinc.ca)
And the winners in the Olive Oil Competition were:
Here are the 2023 winners per category:
- Aromatic flavour winner: Basil Fused EVOO by Sarafino - Famiglia Pata (Italy)
- Ripe Fruity winner: San Bartolomeo by Soc. Coop. Agr. San Bartolomeo (Italy)
- Intense fruit flavour winner: MonoCultivar Coratina Bio Extra Virgin Olive Oil by Monini SpA (Italy)
- Medium fruit flavor winner: Pago FG Picual by Hacienda La Serrata, S.L. (Spain)
- Light fruit flavor winner: MonoCultivar Frantoio Bio Extra Virgin Olive Oil by Monini SpA (Italy)
For the Sial Start Up winners per category:
Beverage Category, Souper Troopers claimed the 1st Prize
with their delicious shelf-stable chicken broth in convenient single- serving packaging.
The Heal Tea secured the 2nd Prize with its
selection of organic, low-carb, plant-based herbal teas in recyclable cans.
In the Technology or
Service Category, Spatula Foods took home the 1st Prize with their gourmet flash-frozen ready
meals prepared by top local chefs.
What I would like to see at the next show is more panels, samples of all the innovative products and a seating area in the show to stop and have a drink and get organized.
Some of these products may be available already but more will be coming to your grocery or specialty store or restaurant soon.
