From left to right, Harris Ranch models/greeters Lorena Arbelaez, Mia Foley, and Erica Lynn welcome visitors to the CBI Saloon at the Cheney Brothers Food Show at the Americraft Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Bruce R. Bennett/The Post

For all the financial woes local restaurants are facing, food supplier Greg Bates believes there is hope.
And it comes in the form of a duck wing.

“They’re taking off in sports bars,” said Bates, of KeyImpact Sales, one of an estimated 400 vendors pushing their products at a restaurant trade show Tuesday at the South Florida Fair’s Americraft Expo Center.
The annual event, organized by Cheney Brothers Inc., a Riviera Beach-based food distributor, is all about giving restaurateurs a way to hook customers. And when many are struggling to stay afloat, especially during the off-season, it’s a message they wanted to hear: Attendance soared to an estimated 5,000 restaurant owners, country club managers and other food-service professionals, a 20 percent increase over the previous year.
“They’re looking for new products or innovative ways to use old products,” said Kinna Denowitz, a marketing director for Cheney.
The 84-year-old company, which has produced the restaurant “buyer’s show” for nearly two decades, serves as the year-round local sales representative for companies and brands at Tuesday’s event. But it’s one thing for a chef to read about a product in a sales brochure; it’s another to taste a Cuban spring roll (think a Cuban sandwich in the form of an egg roll) or a “crisscut” sweet potato fry.
Nicolle Baker of ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston (“North America’s premier supplier of frozen potato, appetizer and vegetable products”) was hawking the latter, saying the whole sweet-potato-fries category was attracting interest.
“They have that better-for-you appeal, even though they’re not necessarily better for you,” she said.
But will any one menu item keep a restaurant in business?
It’s not so much about a single item as about staying on top of trends, said Kevin Walters, food and beverage vice president at The Breakers in Palm Beach. The smart restaurateurs — and the ones most likely to survive — are always looking for the next big thing, he said.
“Ten years ago, it was espresso. Five years ago, it was olive oil,” Walters said.
Of course, there’s a whole behind-the-scenes aspect to the restaurant biz. Which is why for every company hawking such would-be culinary classics as pizza “logs” and pretzel rolls, there were ones pushing such none-too-sexy staples as floor mats and dishwashing detergent.
And in a center-of-the-floor showcase, Cheney Brothers reps were promoting a $15,000 dishwasher with four wash cycles.
Even during tough times, restaurateurs and other food-service professionals must value clean plates. When asked how the dishwashers were doing, Cheney exec Ron Hall pointed to the floor model of the $15,000 machine.
“It was just sold to a country club,” he said.

Coming soon to a restaurant near you?

What’s the hot new food item that may appear on your local restaurant’s menu? Here are five noteworthy items featured at Tuesday’s restaurant trade show at the South Florida Fairgrounds, which drew nearly 5,000 food-service pros and 400 vendors:

Duck wings at the Maple Leaf Farms booth at the Cheney Brothers Food Show at the Americraft Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Bruce R. Bennett/The Post

Nicolle Baker displays a variety of fried items, including sweet potato fries, at the Lamb Weston booth at the Cheney Brothers Food Show at the Americraft Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Bruce R. Bennett/The Post

Sweet potato fries
Vendor: ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston, Eagle, Idaho
Why they’re hot: Consumers are tired of the same old fry — and like the ‘healthy’ aspect of sweet potatoes (even if they’re still fried). Plus, the fries can be used as dessert.

Sugar-free cocktail mixers at the Bevolutions Good Spirits booth at the Cheney Brothers Food Show at the Americraft Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Bruce R. Bennett/The Post

Sugar-free cocktail mixers
Vendor: Bevolution, Miami
Why they’re hot: The standard margarita has 500-plus calories — not exactly fashionista fare. Bevolution is aiming to target the ‘skinny girl’ bar-hopping crowd with mixers that have no more than 10 calories a serving (alcohol not included).

The Big Chocolate Cake at Sweet Street Desserts' booth at the Cheney Brothers Food Show at the Americraft Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Bruce R. Bennett/The Post

Big chocolate cake
Vendor: Sweet Street Desserts, Reading, Pa. (represented by distributor AFM)
Why it’s hot: Sweet Street’s Big Chocolate Cake (yes, that’s what it’s called) is designed to make a statement — it’s dense, dark and very, very big. Restaurants like it because it costs them under 3 bucks a slice, but that slice can easily sell for three times that when nicely plated.


Ready-to-serve pulled pork and beef
Vendor: Brookwood Farms, Siler City, N.C.
Why it’s hot: True barbecue restaurants have the time and tools to make pulled pork the right way, slow cooking it for hours and then shredding it for sandwiches. But most other restaurants don’t. This ready-to-serve product, made the old-fashioned way (over a charcoal fire) but packaged in a sealable container, gives those non-’cue establishments a chance to still serve authentic ‘cue.