VanFoodies.com

A few weeks ago, Joyce and I were invited to attend the Grocery Showcase West show. It’s a trade show that features new grocery products and equipment to retailers. You can think of it as the EAT! Vancouver for businesses.

So I’d like to take a moment, just sit right here, and tell you about what I liked (and didn’t like) at the Grocery Showcase West.

Stuff that piqued my interest and tasted great

Trugs Gourmet Vodka Tomato Ketchup

The good folks at Schneiders served everyone hot dogs. Condiment makers from the show saw this as a great opportunity to feature their products, and so they did. Among them was the Vodka Tomato Ketchup from Trugs. And holy crap it’s good.

Trugs Gourmet Vodka Tomato Ketchup

Even though Vodka is tasteless, cooking the tomatoes with it apparently releases more of the tomato flavours. I don’t know too much about the science behind it, but I do know it was one of the most fresh/flavourful ketchup I’ve ever had. I walked around the entire show just to find their booth.

Spinach and Roasted Garlic Wheat Thins

All I can say is, bye bye Veggie Thins, these babies are better in every way.

Spinach and Roasted Garlic Wheat Thins

Brothers-All-Natural Crisps

These are freeze-dried fruit pieces in a bag. Because they are freeze-dried, they remain crisp and airy. They are all made directly from real fruits, with nothing weird added in. Great for snacking – and the best part is that each bag has 2 servings of fruit!

Brothers-All-Natural Crisps

Other interesting things

Rockwell Liquid Coconut Oil

Typically speaking coconut oil remains a solid under 25 degrees. Through some sciency process we now have coconut oil in a liquid form at room temperature. It will make it easier for cooking.

Rockwell Liquid Coconut Oil

You should take this time and do a little search on other uses of coconut oil. You would be surprised at all the things it’s good for.

Chapman’s Sport Popsicles

I can’t believe how simple, but great this idea is. I think many of us have gone through of freezing our sports drinks for those hot summer days. Well, now you can have it as a popsicle. Oh, it’s also gluten-free and peanut/nut free.

Chapman’s Sport Popsicles

Frozen Hydration

Why… whyyy?

Mio and Dasani Water Flavour Enhancers

Is this really a thing now? Here are a few things you can do besides adding in overpriced, artificially flavoured and coloured liquid in your drinking water.

1. Drink plain water. People have done it for centuries, and survived. You should try it.
2. If water tastes so terrible to you that you will dehydrate before you natural survival instincts kick in, perhaps try adding a slice of lemon/cucumber/strawberry.
3. Oh so you enjoy drinking stuff with flavouring agents and food colouring? You can buy powders to add in water. They cost less, and are more concentrated.

Dasani Water Flavour Enhancers

If you truly enjoy blowing your money away on overpriced gimmicks that are bad for you, please contact me directly, and I will provide you with instructions on how to transfer funds to my bank account. Thank you.

Come back next week for Part 2 of my other tasty (and not-so-impressed) finds at the Grocery Showcase West.