A day at Dairy-Deli.

It's really dairy-deli and bakery (International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association) but it was the dairy and deli parts that got to me at this year's IDDBA show, reminding me of the way food retailers tend to separate their refrigerated cases into separate departments with some of the same merchandise but very little cooperation with each other. I've yet to see a deli sign telling me that I could find other brands or flavors of hummus, cheese, or franks in the dairy section or meat case where they might even be cheaper, or vice versa.

The IDDBA show is a microcosm of what is happening in food stores around the country. There was more flavor emphasis and many more spicy options this year. Even pesto sauce was available in different flavors, including chipotle pepper and cilantro. Taste twists like barbecued meatballs and shrimp-topped pizza seemed to be based on the idea that any two foods that were good alone could be even better together. I actually liked the barbecued meatballs, but found the shrimp-topped pizza kind of silly until I put some Asian hot sesame oil from the next booth on top of the shrimps that were on top of the pizza--at that point I was getting into "having a good show." (Actually, I enjoy being stopped by vendors who remember something from one of my columns and want to show me their latest and greatest.)

In spite of all the talk about responding to obesity problems, I saw more ways of adding calories than reducing them. New toppings for cheese reminded me of the fat-building ways to turn ice cream into sundaes slathered with hot fudge and maple walnuts, or the maxim of old-style French cooking which said that the best way to make almost anything taste even better is to add more butter or egg yolks.

Packaging had a strong presence and seemed to be making a real contribution. I was impressed by bacon packages that were really easier to open, takeout chicken packages that were easy to reheat and serve from, and takeout soup bowls that were really leak resistant, even when the soup was hot. (I didn't believe them, so they let me fill a sample bowl with hot coffee, tilt it sideways, and wave it around waiting for the dribbles, which didn't come.) New heat-and-serve self-venting packages enable food to be cooked, shipped, sold, and reheated all in the same package. Pouches that held both cold and hot takeout food included a resealable zipper that claimed to be leak resistant. They didn't stand up to my leak and dribble test, but they were shaped to fit cup holders, which certainly made them lifestyle friendly.

Organic foods had a stronger presence than in past years, but neither as much, nor as exciting, a presence as I expected based on the growth of consumer interest, product availability, and sales. One interesting product presentation had a display of "all natural" varieties on one side, and a fancier display of organic varieties on the other. The consumer message I got from that display was similar to the salmon message at Wegmans: "Buy the best you can afford."

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Other than the organic options, healthy took a new product back seat to flavor and convenience benefits--this shortfall was acknowledged in show director Carol Christensen's sweeping executive overview of what's happening in the turbulent marketplace. Carol has established a tradition of giving a rapid-fire presentation that's both comprehensive and entertaining. This year, she was followed by Bill Clinton who got several ovations from a business audience that he acknowledged was likely to disagree with several of his recommendations. He is a world-class speaker, free to say pretty much what he wants (at a high price) without notes, and facile at translating his ideas into the language and businesses of his audience. He focused on the major issues of our day, concluding with a cleverly worded challenge to act on childhood obesity and Type II diabetes, which is growing so fast among children as to have forced a change in the name of a disease that used to be called "adult onset diabetes."