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Brooklyn Eats, showcase of borough’s specialty food and drink makers, attracts 2,000 attendees

Brooklyn Eats, showcase of borough’s specialty food and drink makers, attracts 2,000 attendees

Gourmet food buyers from restaurants and food markets, along with lots of foodies, flocked to the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s tradeshow on Wednesday, June 27. It was held at 630 Flushing Ave. in Brushwick.

If the timing, location and new theme of the event seemed puzzling to Brooklynites, rest assured it was all planned meticulously, and with excellent results.

630 Flushing Ave., the former Pfizer factory in Brooklyn, is now a start-up business incubator, with about half of the burgeoning companies focused on food and drink manufacturing. Roughly half of the 110 exhibitors at Brooklyn Eats simply set up booths downstairs. The other half have offices, plants, and stores sprinkled throughout Kings County.

The show took place a week before the Summer Fancy Food Show at the Javits Center, where Brooklyn food makers will also be exhibiting, giving them a “test run” for a larger audience.

And for those who recall Brooklyn Eats as a showcase for Brookyn’s restaurants…

“It’s been several years since our borough’s restaurants needed a special event to show how great they are,” said Carlo Scissura, president of the Chamber of Commerce.

“We are thrilled at the large attendance at this forum,” agreed Denise Arbesu, senior vice president of Citibank and Chamber of Commerce Chairwoman. “We’ve successfully transitioned Brookyn Eats to present a new group of entrepreneurs to gourmet food buyers, as this crowded room indicates.”

Show vendors offered samples of their salmon and beef jerky, flavored marshmallows, fermented (alcoholic) tea drinks, lush chocolates and baked goods, wines and spirits, yogurts, nuts, coffees, spicy keilbasa, kosher meats and gefilte fish, granola, jams, sauces, bagels, pickles, spices and ice creams.

Some, like JoMart Chocolates on Avenue R, which started in 1946, have been producing their wares for decades. But most are newcomers to selling their foods on a large scale. Many of the items displayed are available at Fairway, Whole Foods, Union Market, and on their own company websites, as well as in their own storefronts.

For a full listing of 2013 Brooklyn Eats exhibitors, visit www.brooklyneats.com.