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Chesapeake Spice, Elite Spice triumph in SNAXPO 2023 Flavor Showdown

The two ingredients companies beat out stiff competition at the SNAC International event.

The Flavor Showdown (sponsored by Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery) has become a hotly anticipated snack industry event. After two days of voting, SNAXPO 2023 attendees tasted the entries, then named the winners in each category.

Chesapeake Spice won first place in the sweet category with their French toast flavor. Their winning entry evokes the comforting flavors of this traditional breakfast treat, with melt-in-your-mouth butter flavor blended with sweet maple syrup. Elite Spice took second place with its entry, gooey butter cake with chocolate drizzle; Revela Foods took third with its strawberry cheesecake frosted chow. Other entries included chocolate truffle, salted caramel tres leches, mango sticky rice, ginger snap cashews, hot honey, and hot honey butter.

In the savory competition, Elite Spice took the top prize with their entry, DC Signature Mambo Sauce. The entry’s namesake is a sauce popular with Washington DC residents, and the flavor is intended to evoke the rich and tangy flavors of its namesake. Griffith Foods came in second, with its aquachile cashews entry; Wixon took home third place, with its pickled sweet onion flavor. The rest of the field included grilled cheese and tomato soup, birra, smoky French onion, Japanese curry, cotija and jalapeno, Cuban mojo, and Szechuan hot: Intended to mirror the flavors of a traditional hot pot, this entry combines notes of soy sauce, garlic, onion, and Asian pepper powder.

The Flavor Showdown took place during SNAXPO 2023, an annual industry conference and exposition produced by SNAC International, the competition invites flavor producers to put their taste talents to the test. Each year, companies work on sweet tastes, and flavors on the savory side, then bring them to the show so attendees can taste and vote on which is the best. The full list of companies participating in this year’s competition includes Carolina Ingredients, Chesapeake Spice, Elite Spice, Fuchs, Griffith Foods, Land O’Lakes, LifeSpice, MANE, Revela Foods, and Wixon.

For more detailed coverage of the 2023 Flavor Showdown, keep following the news at snackandbakery.com.

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Jenni Spinner is the chief editor of Snack Food and Wholesale Bakery with more than 25 years of experience in business-to-business communications. She has written extensively about food production, safety and packaging; pharmaceutical drug development; concrete and masonry construction; and more. She holds a Bachelor’s in Communications from the University of Illinois. Jenni can be reached at spinnerj@bnpmedia.com.