Friday, January 16 – Tuesday, January 20

NOTE: Admission to educational programs at the Fancy Food Show is not included in the price of the badge and must be purchased separately. 

Friday, January 16                                     REGISTER NOW
TIME/PRICE	TITLE	MODERATOR
8:30-3:30pm Workshop/ Networking Lunch NASFT Member Price: $130 Non-Member Price: $230	The Basics: The Business of Specialty Foods Geared for producers, marketers and importers of specialty foods, this workshop positions specialty foods within the larger industry, provides a history of specialty foods in the U.S., and covers various trade segments (brokers, distributors, retailers) and how they function in detail.  Delivered by a panel of successful specialty food manufacturers, the workshop tackles these topics: • Understanding the Past, present, Future of the Specialty Food Industry, its Key Segments and Standards • Working with Brokers and Distributors: Roles, Rules and Relationships • The Ins and Outs of Selling to Supermarkets and Specialty Retailers • Protecting Your Profit: Pricing Your Product and Extending Credit • Marketing to the Trade: maximizing Promotions, Shows and Other Activities You will leave with an information- packed workbook, a clearer understanding of the industry, and real-world answers to your questions.	Ann Daw, NASFT; Jack Acree, Alexia Foods; Cara Figgins, PARTNERS, a tasteful choice company DBA Partners Crackers; John Roberts, Blackpoint Management; Tom Brown, LesserEvil Brand Snack Co. Moderator: Ron Tanner, NASFT
8:30 am – 12:00 pm Workshop NASFT Member Price: $60 Non-Member Price: $90	Specialty Food Retailing: The Fundamentals This workshop that focuses on the basics of specialty food retailing will help entry level entrepreneurs critically analyze opportunities and resources available.  Through a series of instructor-led segments and breakout sessions, you will leave with the tools necessary to create and grow a successful specialty retail venture.	David Grotenstein, Union Market; Robert Heiss, Cooks Shop Here
2pm-5:30pm Workshop NASFT Member Price: $60 Non-Member Price: $90	Sales and Marketing in a Down Market: How to Sell Value Not Price Premium and luxury brand marketers are now facing their biggest challenge in decades – How to resist degrading their brand by selling price in a sustained down market. We’ll review examples and discuss several down market strategies that have worked for various premium marketers over the years. In an interactive format, we will facilitate the sharing of examples of sales success and failures and why premium brand marketers should not give in to losing already slim profit margins by selling strictly based on price. Participants will learn how to: ∙Identify intrinsic brand value ∙Identify brand value in the market ∙Sell brand value through the value chain Workshop session will cover hands-on strategies and tactics to learn how to sell their brand value and not price through all sales channels including grocery, specialty retail, direct, distribution, food service and alternative channels.	David Schwartz, SOS Premium Brand Marketing Advisors
Saturday January 17                                 REGISTER NOW
NEW: Start Up Saturday Series includes three seminars: • Taking Your Products to the Marketplace • Understanding Pricing for Beginning Manufacturers • Newbie Networking NASFT Member Price: $150; Non-Member Price: $210 Each of these sessions can be purchased separately, but when purchased together, lunch is included.
8:30 – 10am NASFT Member Price: $45 Non-Member Price: $65	Start Up Saturday Series: Taking Your Products to the Marketplace Explore important business issues that will help you take your product concept to the retail shelf. Join a legal expert, co-packer and retailer and learn from the pros about best practices for getting your product concept off of paper and on to the shelf.  Hearty Q&A at conclusion of presentation.	Lawrence Ames, Golden West Specialty Foods; Linda Sikorski, The Pasta Shop/Market Hall Foods Moderator: Marsha Echols, NASFT Legal Counsel
10:30 am – 12:00 pm NASFT Member Price: $45 Non-Member Price: $65	Start Up Saturday Series: Understanding Pricing for Beginning Manufacturers Aimed at those who are just getting started, or in the business less than 2 years, who want to learn the intricacies of pricing in the specialty food industry.  Learn about starting from Cost of Goods to establish various pricing levels: wholesale, distributor, private label, and export.  Discuss freight and how this affects your final cost.  Understand the margin structure for your company, as well as the distributors and retailers you'll be working with.  Practical, hands-on examples will be provided -- bring a calculator as we run the numbers on multiple pricing scenarios.  We'll also discuss how to start with a target SRP and work backwards to see what your target COGS should be to be competitive.  In addition, we'll discuss common pricing pitfalls and steps you should take to be sure you're protecting your profit margin and growing safely.	Speaker:  Jonathan Milo Leal, Milo’s Whole World Gourmet
2-3:30 pm NASFT Member Price: $45 Non-Member Price: $65	Start Up Saturday Series: Newbie Networking: Build Relationships to Build Your Business Networking strikes fear into the heart of the most confident businessperson. What if you don't know anyone? How do you introduce yourself? How do you enter a conversation in progress, and how do you exit when you're ready to move on? This workshop covers the nitty gritty of talking to strangers and building relationships and partnerships through networking, including preparing an "elevator speech," how to "work the room," and following up with new contacts.	Lisa Braithwaite, Lisa B Public Speaking and Presentation Skills Coaching
8:30 – 10 am NASFT Member Price: $45 Non-Member Price: $65	Building a Powerhouse Clientele This session will describe numerous proven techniques and strategies to develop customer loyalty, which, in turn, leads customers to support the store by regularly purchasing products, volunteering to work, and to participate in aggressive word-of-mouth marketing.  Participants will learn how to use the pre-opening market study to begin the process of building a customer base; software and management techniques to build a useful customer database; tips and tricks to collect customer mailing information; strategies for using email promotion that doesn’t get deleted; and the role of community building in building support.	Rob Connoley & Tyler Connoley, The Curious Kumquat
10:30 am – 5:30 pm NASFT Member Price: $100 Non-Member Price: $125	Bus Tour: The New Napa There’s a new food destination in town and it’s called the Oxbow Public Market in Napa.  Downtown Napa has totally transformed into a destination for food and wine lovers.  OxBow Public Market (same creators as Ferry Building Marketplace) features more than 15 specialty food and wine retailers with whom we will talk about their businesses; Three Twins Organic Ice Cream, Oxbow Wine and Cheese Merchant, Fatted Calf Charcuterie, Ritual Roasters, The Model Bakery, Five Dot Ranch, Tillerman’s Tea, Whole Spice Company, The Olive Press, Anette’s Chocolates.  Also, the locals love their family-owned markets.  We will visit two of the area’s most beloved – Vallergas and Sunshine Market.
Sunday, January 18                              REGISTER NOW
8:30 – 10 am NASFT Member Price: $45 Non-Member Price: $65	Ten Ways to Beef Up Your E Commerce and Improve ROI You’ve either invested in e-commerce or are about to do so. Are you attracting a satisfactory number of visitors? Do you know who these people are or what they’re doing once they’ve entered your site? More importantly, are you recording reasonable levels of sales activity and obtaining a worthwhile return from your e-commerce investment?  In this seminar, we’ll highlight ten ways you can improve the performance of your e-commerce environment with insights from both design and engineering perspectives.	Jeffrey Spear, Studio Spear; Rob Ierubino, M Prime Systems
8:30 – 10am NASFT Member Price: $45 Non-Member Price: $65	The Millennial Diner: Gen Y Food and Flavor Attitudes Today’s headlines are full of how unique and demanding Millennials can be, as employees, as students and consumers.  But what do these young adults demand from their foods? How do they relate to trendy foods when dining out and what flavors and forms are they really craving? And, how can these food preferences be translated to the specialty food market? The Center for Culinary Development shares revealing insights from its proprietary research delving into Gen Y and their reactions to flavor-forward menus. How bold flavored will they go? What ethnic cuisine calls out the most? What says “healthy”? We’ll outline our one-of-a-kind Gen-Y research methodology and present our informative findings via quotes, images, video clips and a food tasting to bring Gen Y’s flavor likes and dislikes to light to help specialty food marketers develop and market foods to attract this important target.	Kara Nielsen, Center for Culinary Development
10:30 am – 12:00 pm NASFT Member Price: $60 Non-Member Price: $90	Tasting Tea: A Primer Guided Tasting We will explore the signature characteristics of the major classes of tea.  This seminar will be an exceptional opportunity to learn how to recognize the unique nuances and clear differences offered by the major classes of tea.  During this guided tasting attendees will learn the visual and flavor attributes of the various manufacturers of tea; why oxidized tea differs from green tea, why Chinese green teas express terroir while Japanese green teas reflect the craft of artisan manufacturing, why a particular technique is appropriate for steeping one type of tea and not another and how to brew the perfect cup, no matter what type of tea you have.	Robert Heiss & Mary Lou Heiss, Cooks Shop Here
2:00 – 5:30 pm NASFT Member Price: $75 Non-Member Price: $100	Bus Tour: Specialty Food Retailers of San Francisco We will visit retailers who have their finger on the pulse of what people are eating now for an up close look at the city’s most popular specialty food markets loved for their selection and quality, from produce to preserves and prepared foods.
4 – 5:30 pm NASFT Member Price: $60 Non-Member Price: $90	Name Your Occasion – Create Make and Take Gift Baskets DIY Hands-On Gift Basket Creation Seminar. This Hands-On gift basket workshop is designed to give your client the "WOW" factor - whatever the occasion - quality low cost items and a handsome profit for you.  Presentation is everything! Even the most seasoned gift basket designers will walk away with extra tips for higher profits. You will leave the session with your own gift basket to take home.	Vivian Shiffman, Creative Gift Basket Services
Monday, January 19                                 REGISTER NOW
8:30 – 10 am NASFT Member Price: $45 Non-Member Price: $65	Brand Identity and Packaging: 8 Simple Guidelines This session will provide insights for those who want to create breakthrough identities for their specialty food product (or product line).  Seminar attendees will walk away with simple guidelines that can help inform the development of breakthrough branding and innovative structural and graphic package design.	Scott Fisher and Lori Liss, CBX Strategic Branding
8:30 – 10 am NASFT Member Price: $45 Non-Member Price: $65	Today’s Specialty Food Consumer Today's Specialty Food Consumers are the fastest growing segment in the retail food industry. But you'd be surprised who is buying these products. The consumers driving this double-digit sales growth are young, culturally active and physically fit. This session will help you understand who is buying specialty foods.  A question-and-answer period will follow the presentation, so you can discover who these consumers are and how they can influence your business.	Marcia Mogelonsky, Mintel International; Ron Tanner, NASFT
10:30 am – 12:00 pm NASFT Member Price: $60 Non-Member Price: $90	Guided Tasting: Food with Integrity: Purchasing Local, National and International While Supporting Your Community Please join in on the "Food With Integrity" conversation and a tasting tour of the panelists culinary delights. Guest speakers will share their knowledge on how they support producers who stand out in the culinary world. In addition to their commitment to purchase local products, they will share how to incorporate national and international products while educating their staff and customers on how these products are selected. The conversation encompasses how each retailer builds relationships with their cheesemakers, winemakers, bakers, butchers, gardeners and farmers. In addition, the speakers will share how they are differentiated in the specialty food marketplace. There will include a questions and answers session along with handouts from each guest panelist on how they aspire to serve Food with Integrity!	Steve Ehlers, Larry's Market; Sam Mogannam, Bi Rite Market and Creamery; Steve Rosenberg, Liberty Heights Fresh Moderator: Sheana Davis, The Epicurean Connection
2-3:30pm Member: $30 Non-Member: $45	Japanese Foods: Get in Front of Two Upcoming Trends in U.S. Food Consumption With the growing popularity of Japanese food and increasing health consciousness across America, adding Japanese products to your line up could help you meet demands coming from both trends. Meet with Japanese food professionals and learn about the quality and naturally powerful health benefits of Japanese foods. Get an introductory tasting to key Japanese ingredients and beverages and learn the benefits of carrying Japanese ingredients and beverages in your product line. The discussion will include three sections with three dynamic speakers: Nutrition of Japanese Food: Get an introduction to the nutrition and health benefits of Japanese cuisine and ingredients Speaker: Yumi E. Satow, PhD., San Francisco State University Marketing Tips for Selling Japanese Ingredients: Learn keys to successfully localizing Japanese ingredients and introducing new ingredients to your customers. Speaker: Eric Gower, author of The Breakaway Cook and The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen Guided Tasting Featuring 5-6 Japanese Ingredients. Made by top San Francisco chef, Sho Kamio of Yoshi's, who will be providing descriptions and comments. Speaker: Sho Kamio, Executive Chef, Yoshi’s San Francisco Moderator: Rona Tison, Vice President Corporate Relations, Itoen Presented by the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco and JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) San Francisco	Presented by the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco and JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) San Francisco Speaker: Yumi E. Satow, PhD., San Francisco State University Speaker: Eric Gower, author of The Breakaway Cook and The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen Speaker: Sho Kamio, Executive Chef, Yoshi’s San Francisco Moderator: Rona Tison, Vice President Corporate Relations, Itoen
Tuesday, January 20
8:30 – 10am NASFT Member Price: $45 Non-Member Price: $65	Enhance Your Product Offerings – Gift Basket Trends Join Ronda McConnell, owner of Gifts, Greetings & Gourmet and award-winning gift basket designer, as she shares with you the latest in gift basket design trends, design techniques and innovative gifting solutions!  Learn how to incorporate customer-provided promotional products in your designs, how to utilize unique containers to make a statement, and how to incorporate some of the hottest products from the trade show floor.  Learn how to create stunning gifts without breaking the ‘labor’ bank, how to incorporate stand-alone gifts in your baskets and how to create themed designs appropriate for both corporate and consumer gift-giving!  Finally, learn how to put the finishing touches on your creations with a fabulous bow!  In this class, participants will get hands-on experience with bow making!  Take home not only gorgeous bows, but also the skills to continue making your own beautiful bows at home!  Enhance your gifts with incredible bows!	Ronda McConnell, Gifts, Greetings & Gourmet
8:30 – 10 am NASFT Member Price: $45 Non-Member Price: $65	Industry Trends in Specialty Gourmet – What’s Driving Growth at Retail Interested in the channel dynamics and overall market trends in our industry? SPINS VP Michael Movitz Peters will overview category, brand and segment trends across the Natural/Organic and Specialty/Gourmet industries. What are some of the ingredients that are differentiating? Which segments are driving growth and how are companies differentiating through product assortment? Within the context of mass market and natural supermarket channels, specific growth drivers of retail sales and distribution also will be discussed. Gain insight into emerging segment opportunities and information on ingredient, attribute and channel trends as well as practical applications for these trends for your business.	Michael Movitz, SPINS
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