NYPS Ideation Fresh Foodservice Forum Hits the Road

2025 foodservice forum explores produce education through immersive format.

The New York Produce Show (NYPS) Ideation Fresh Foodservice Forum rolled out a new format in 2025, and it worked. Rather than sit in a hotel ballroom filled with slide decks, more than 40 industry participants climbed aboard a bus for an immersive day at two New York City culinary landmarks: De Gustibus Cooking School at Macy’s and the James Beard House in Greenwich Village.

Jill Overdorf, president of The Produce Ambassador, conceived of the reimagined forum, blending foodservice-driven insights on produce with hands-on culinary exploration. The experience, which Overdorf hosted, delivered more than inspiration; it showed how produce performs on the plate and in professional kitchens. The result was a highly engaging day that left attendees eager to see how the forum’s momentum carries into 2026.

DE GUSTIBUS: TRENDS, TECHNIQUE AND TASTE

The day opened at De Gustibus Cooking School, located on Macy’s eighth floor, where culinary history literally lines the walls. Portraits of Julia Child, James Beard, Alice Waters, Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse, Thomas Keller and Anthony Bourdain, to name a few, overlook an intimate demonstration kitchen designed for learning by watching, tasting and asking questions.

In that setting, Maeve Webster, president of Menu Matters, set the tone with a talk about how American cuisine has evolved. “American food has always been multicultural,” Webster said, tracing influences from indigenous cuisines through waves of immigration that continue to shape menus today.

What’s changed, she noted, is how personal those influences have become. “We’ve moved into what I call third-culture cuisine. It’s less about fusion for novelty’s sake and more about cooks expressing who they are.”

For produce suppliers and marketers, the implications were practical. Webster pointed to produce as one of the easiest ways to introduce global flavors without overwhelming consumers, through color, affordability and familiarity. Bright fruits, leafy herbs, mushrooms, chiles, and tropicals can anchor a dish while still leaving room for surprise.

Mike Kostyo, vice president at Menu Matters, followed with a sharp look at how algorithms increasingly influence what people eat and how foodservice professionals can work within that reality without losing their voice.

“Algorithms impact about 72% of purchases in some way,” Kostyo said, noting that discovery, recommendation engines, and social platforms now shape menu awareness as much as traditional marketing. Yet consumers still value humanity. “Sixty-six percent say they’d rather eat a dish created by a human chef than AI.”

Kostyo’s advice to operators and brands was practical and tactical: Don’t try to game platforms. Post consistently, understand each channel’s goal, and keep people — not automation — at the center of the story.

ROLAND FOODS BRINGS GLOBAL FLAVORS TO THE PLATE

Theory turned tangible during a chef-led tasting from Roland Foods, a New York City-headquartered global importer and distributor of specialty fine foods, led by chefs Robert Chaisson and Maya Lederer. Chaisson described how shelf-stable global ingredients can work alongside fresh produce to deliver labor-saving, flavor-forward dishes across menu segments.

Ingredients for the tasting were grouped by flavor family — Asian, Mediterranean/North African and Latin — and built around ingredients such as black garlic paste, tamarind concentrate, preserved lemon, chimichurri, sofrito, and pre-cooked savory mushrooms. An Asian glass noodle salad with marinated quail egg highlighted umami-driven ingredients. At the same time, a savory bread pudding leaned into North African spice profiles and a Latin-inspired shakshuka with coconut chimichurri brought sweet and heat.

Lederer spoke to Roland’s structured approach to innovation, from flavor development to packaging upgrades designed to save time in professional kitchens. Recognition has followed, including the company’s Sofrito with Aji Amarillo, recognized as a 2025 FABI Favorite by the National Restaurant Association, and its Tamarind Concentrate, a 2026 SOFI Awards finalist.

JAMES BEARD HOUSE: WHERE THE STORY CONTINUES

The afternoon concluded at the James Beard House, the historic Greenwich Village brownstone where Beard lived and taught, and where guests still walk through his original kitchen on the way to dinners hosted by The James Beard Foundation. The setting underscored the forum’s theme: Ideas matter more when they’re rooted in craft.

The afternoon menu was prepared by Shenarri Freeman, executive chef and co-founder of the restaurant Cadence, whose plant-based, vegan approach to soulful Southern comfort food earned her national attention, including two James Beard Award nominations. Freeman’s cooking reflects her own journey — from Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C., to New York — and her belief that plant-based food can carry both cultural memory and modern appeal.

Her four-course meal featured charred okra salad with passionfruit vinaigrette, lobster mushroom gumbo with Carolina Gold rice, and fried lasagna with miso tomato sauce, finishing with plantain cake scented with cardamom and coconut.

By the time dessert plates were cleared, the day’s arc was clear. From the classroom and kitchen to the dining room table, the forum delivered what trade education often promises but rarely achieves: context, connection, and ideas participants could actually use.

Like any good meal, it ended not with closure, but with anticipation. When produce education is rooted in first-hand experience, the conversation doesn’t stop when the bus pulls away.

The Ideation Fresh Foodservice Forum was part of the NYPS. The one-day trade show and three co-located events were Dec. 2-4. The New York Produce Show is organized by Produce Business and the Eastern Produce Council.

SAVE THE DATE!

Mark your calendar for next year’s New York Produce Show and Conference: Dec. 2-4, 2026.

Exhibitors, book your booth now, as there’s limited time to maintain the current booth rate. Visit www.nyproduceshow.com/exhibit2026 or talk to your sales representative before Jan. 16, 2026, to lock in the 2025 rate!

Images:

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Participants in the New York Produce Show Ideation Fresh Foodservice Forum gather for a group photo during the immersive, chef-driven experience that brought produce education from the classroom to New York City’s culinary landmarks.

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Forum attendees dine at the historic James Beard House, in Greenwich Village, where a chef-driven menu showcased how produce-forward dishes can carry both culinary tradition and modern foodservice appeal.