IFT Dinner: An Experience to Remember

Recently, I attended a dinner held by the Chicago Section Institute of Food Technologists (CSIFT) that featured the company Bell Flavors and Fragrances, which talked about recent food trends we can perceive from social media. The event began with a cocktail hour, then was followed by a dinner where college students and members of the food technology community could mingle and make connections. Immediately afterwards, the interactive presentation on flavor trends took place, making the event as a whole 3 hours of endless interesting information and delicious food.

According to the presentation by Bell and the booklet those in the audience were gifted to follow along with, there currently are six major food trends that can be gathered from social media; Mediterranean, healthy-ish, longitude and latitude, unexpected, outdoor social, and Chinese. Along with the presentation there were interactive portions, where the guests could sample foods having to do with each topic.

I sampled the Za'atar chip, a chip with thyme and other spices after hearing about the Mediterranean trend and the surprisingly good pineapple cilantro lemonade with turmeric came after learning of the healthy-ish one. Also I tried the cassia and Chinese cinnamon gummies to go along with latitude and longitude, miso caramel corn with unexpected, and there was a bacon cheddar spread for outdoor social. No matter what I tasted, one thing was certain- Bell had done their research, and had created unique, high-quality samplers to supplement it. If the presentation wasn't interesting enough, this interactive element really put this section of the event over the top.

In conclusion, attending this event was a very unique experience, and one that I highly recommend. If dinners like these aren't your thing, CSIFT holds numerous golf outings, and a few major food conventions throughout the year. Visit their website at www.chicagoift.org/, and if you want to learn more about Bell Flavors and Fragrances visit ​www.bellff.com/.