Summer Fancy Food Show’s Pitch Slam Winners Revealed

Jasberry, Sayso receive top honors

6/29/2023

Non-GMO organic superfood rice company Jasberry won A Fancy New York Pitch Slam, held at the Summer Fancy Food Show by Naturally New York, in partnership with the Specialty Food Association.

The grand-prize winner of Naturally New York’s A Fancy New York Pitch Slam, held June 26 at the Summer Fancy Food Show in partnership with the Specialty Food Association (SFA), was Jasberry, a B Corp, social enterprise food company co-founded in Bangkok, Thailand, by CEO Peetachai (Neil) Dejkraisak and CMO Pornthida Wongphatharakul. Jasberry, which aims to solve farmer poverty with the world’s first non-GMO organic superfood rice, received a check for $10,000.

Meanwhile, the People’s Choice Award went to Sayso, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based, women-owned premium cocktail company co-founded by Alison Evans and Chloe Bergson. The product is touted as the first-ever craft cocktail tea bags to create complex, mixologist-quality cocktails and mocktails, in minutes, using clean ingredients that are low-sugar, kosher, gluten-free, non-GMO, vegan and plant-based.

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Jasberry, Sayso and the other finalists took the Summer Fancy Food main stage to pitch their innovative food and beverage products to a panel of expert judges and almost 1,000 Summer Fancy Food Show attendees. The three other Pitch Slam finalists were:

Harlem Baking Co., a premium dessert food company founded by Charles Devigne, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and New York City restaurateur known for his original gluten- and hormone-free handcrafted cheesecake and unique sustainable packaging for delivery.
Kekoa Foods, a purpose-built inclusive food company based in New Jersey and co-founded by fathers and partners Danny Auld, president, and David Fullner, CEO, that focuses on veggie-forward organic purées incorporating herbs, roots and spices for a bold new take on baby food.
Loisa, a New York-based, minority-owned food company, co-founded by CEO Scott Hattis and Kenneth Luna, that brings an upgraded Latin cooking experience to families with non-GMO, organic, vegan, allergen-friendly seasonings and sauces.

The pitch slam judges were Christina Briscoe, food and beverage category manager, SoHo House & Co., North America; Melissa Dolan, director, Emil Capital Partners; John Lawson, senior local forager, Northeast region, Whole Foods Market; and Tapan Shah, head of venture capital, Snack Futures, Mondelēz International.

Presented by the SFA, the Summer Fancy Food Show ran June 25-27 at the Jacob K. Javits Center. This year, more than 30,000 specialty food and beverage industry professionals registered for the sold-out show, a 20% increase from 2022. Naturally New York is a 501(c)(6) trade association that was established in 2021 with a singular objective: to foster connections among New York-area entrepreneurs, leaders, investors and service providers within the natural products community.