I just spent 48 hours wandering through Australia’s biggest Food & Bev trade show, Fine Foods.

Full disclosure: I’m a sucker for a trade show. But for the true CPG nerds out there, this one was… mid. It wasn’t amazing. But it wasn’t terrible. Perhaps “Fine” is apt.

From an insights-and-trends perspective, it wasn’t the place to spot the next breakout product or emerging category. (Case in point: I stumbled across a knockoff Labubu Dubai Chocolate within the first ten minutes.)

Compared to Natural Products Expo West? No contest. If you’re expecting another deep-dive like that edition (still my all-time favourite), you’d walk away underwhelmed.

To be fair, Fine Foods is built for the hospo and foodservice crowd and through that lens, it delivered.

But here’s the thing: none of that stopped me from digging out the stories worth sharing. You can see the best pack designs I came across here. And today, this edition is all about the three smartest brand plays pushing boundaries at the show. Let’s go.

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1. Molino Pasini: A luxury commodity?

OK so there aren’t many things that get me really excited but this was one of them. There is nothing I love more than seeing a brand take an idea, driving it to the core of their positioning and then executing at an 11.

Molino Pasini is flour made luxury.

The Italian brand has taken the world’s most commoditised product and elevated it to feel like high fashion. Their packs are minimal and skincare-esque - a consistent split design, clean lines, muted tones. But who cares about packaging when their marketing looks like this. More like a luxury home brochure than a bag of flour.

When I spoke with the team, they made it clear: they’re premium, they’re huge in Italy, and consumers happily pay more. The flour itself is top-quality, sure. But what’s fascinating is the positioning. Pushing through price ceilings on something people usually buy by default.

If flour can be turned into a luxury good, what excuse does your brand have? This is a brilliant reference case study for repositioning a category that everyone else sees as flat and functional.

2. Dip it in chocolate and call it a day

I’ve mentioned this space before, but Fine Foods hammered home the reality - frozen fruit dipped in chocolate is still a hot opportunity.

Several brands are now playing in the chocolate-dipped frozen fruit category and the signals point to massive growth, great margins and serious consumer appetite.

A local Aussie brand Bomberry is also making waves, I’ve heard from a few retailers that the velocities on this product are impressive.

And at Fine Foods, I spoke to another business doing a different style of frozen fruit dipped in chocolate and they were quietly bullish on their launch.

If you’re scouting your next big play, keep your eyes on frozen fruit. It’s indulgence + health + novelty, and consumers are responding.

3. Ants in your pants (or fudge?)

This was the wildest idea at the show.

Indigifudge, a 100% Indigenous-owned brand, makes chocolate spreads and honey infused with green ants. Yes - whole ants. Harvested in the Northern Territory of Australia, flash-frozen in Brisbane (while the ants are still alive) and stirred straight into jars.

The founder explained that ants bring a natural hit of vitamin C, but the real magic is cultural storytelling and shock factor. Viral TikToks of people crunching into the ants prove the point.

It’s imaginative, rooted in heritage, and unlike anything else in spreads - a category that rarely surprises.

You don’t always need new tech or functional ingredients to break through. Sometimes it’s about leaning into what makes your culture, your story, or your perspective unique (particularly if it may seem a little outrageous).

The edge

What struck me about these three finds is that none of them are “new” in the literal sense. Flour, fruit, spreads - these categories have been around forever.

The magic comes from reframing. Molino Pasini turned flour into fashion. Frozen fruit got recast as indulgent snacking. And Indigifudge put a cultural twist (and a shock factor) into a category that rarely changes.

You don’t always need to invent the next kombucha or create a new aisle in the supermarket. Sometimes the smartest move is to take something ordinary and make it extraordinary through positioning, storytelling or sheer audacity.

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