ABOUT SPICE FOOD & WINE

The Spice Food & Wine Series is just that; a series of food and wine tastings that highlight the beauty in ethnicity, cuisine, and wine. Imagine taking a wine made in Hungary and pairing it with an Eritrean dish or a wine made in Burgundy, France, and pairing it with a dish from Trinidad. This is what the Spice Food & Wine Series is.

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We pair the wines we love with the spices we love and build new and inclusive narratives around wine.

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The team behind the Spiced Food & Wine Series are individuals from the African-Caribbean Diaspora. Their passion is wine, and their heart is in spreading that love of wine to their respective communities. 

What is wine, if not something to be shared with a community over food, merriment, and togetherness? 

This is done in support of cognitive diversity in wine.

CBC Radio Gill Deacon interviews Beverly Crandon, Founder. Click to listen.

SPRING INTO SPICE FOOD AND WINE TASTINGS

The face of our community is changing, has changed, and gives cause to celebrate our country's diversity, including acknowledging our food culture and expanding the purview. Pairing ethnic food with wine from both the old and new world is another expression of our diversity. It gives us the chance to bring different cultures together, with the opportunity for discovery; this discovery includes understanding the historical significance of food culture in other countries.

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The Spice Food & Wine series gives everyone a chance to build their own narrative around wine and, more specifically, wine and their national dishes regardless of background and race.  We dispel the myth that wine cannot be paired with many ethnic foods due to food preparation and cooking methodology.

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Event-goers leave the Spice Food & Wine events having additional tools in their arsenal that allow them to expand their knowledge around wine and the science behind food and wine pairing in general. 

The Spice Food & Wine event series has four overarching goals:

1. Show how well ethnic herbed and spiced foods pair with wines

2. Give communities the tools they need to pair wines with the foods that grace their family tables

3. Bring differing communities together via a common love

4. Have fun!

EVENT DEMOGRAPHICS

Our first Spice Food & Wine event (September to October, 2021) saw astounding results and participation from the public. 

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Over four (4) intimate sit down dinners we walked our guests through epicurean experiences that were remarkable.

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Wines were paired with Caribbean, Cajun, Ethiopian and Latin food. Our only regret was that the events sold out fast, making it hard for many to grab tickets. This scarcity and public demand is what sparked the open air event for Spring Into Spice 2022! We'll now be able to accomodate more denizens at these unforgettable events!

Event Demographics:

Spring Into Spice demographic profile:

Ages 30 to 50. Primarily visible minorities with culturally curious multi-generational Canadians (non-BIPOC) showing dominance in early ticket sales. Our event goers are interested in trying new things and are adventurous.  These are wine, craft beer, and cocktail curious individuals.  They are interested in meeting new people and having new experiences, but have been limited in opportunity over the past 24 months, due to the pandemic, and are ready to get out and explore. These are people who enjoy travel, but have had to find fulfilment in other ways.

• Ages 

  •  19 to 24 – 3.5%

  •  25 to 34 – 23%

  •  35 to 44 – 22.1%

  •  45 to 54 – 25.3%

  •  55 to 64 – 18.6%

  •  65+ – 7.5%

• Gender

  •  Men, 38%

  •  Women, 60%

• *Household income

  •  $200,000+ – 5.7%

  •  $151,000 to $200,000 – 10.2%

  •  $100,000 to $150,000 – 17.2%

  •  $76,000 to $100,000 – 38.1%

  •  $51,000 to $75,000 – 19.7%

  •  $50,000 and under – 9.1%

    • *Data from Fall Into Spice Event Series

Spring Into Spice The Social is the open air Food and Wine Festival in the event series. The Social is designed to give access to the Spice Food & Wine experience to as many people as possible, through its approachable market strategy and consumer friendly rate outlay. ​

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This will be a one day extravaganza with 50 food and wine vendors  and an estimated attendee count of 600.

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Sponsorship opportunities are available for the Spring Into Spice The Social event

Spring Into Spice Food & Wine Pairing Dinners

May 9 & June 8, 2022

Following the success of the Fall Into Spice dinner series we're bringing it back for Spring Into Spice 2022!​

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Caribbean Food & Wine Pairing  - May 9, 2022

Thai Food & Wine Pairing  - June 8, 2022

Four (4) courses, and each paired with wines carefully chosen to highlight flavour pairings, historical food culture significance and wine regions.  

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Sponsorship dollars will go towards event marketing, utility event needs, and knowledge base tools for event attendees to further support their consumer wine education and exploration, after each tasting and event. 

Spring Into Spice represents more than just a tasting event. It represents a resource for diasporas not often marketed to in the space of wine.

SPECIAL THANKS

The first-ever Spice Food & Wine event, Fall Into Spice (FIS), could not have happened without the assist of partners large and small and the community that reached out to show support.

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As the first of its kind, the Spice Food & Wine event series not only draws a diverse crowd, but also a diverse set of partners, and I am grateful for this. 

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A special Thank You goes out to the companies that jumped on board to support, whether financial or with in-kind product. 

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Next year's Spring Into Spice will be even bigger with the goal of giving access to the Spice Food & Wine event experience to as many people as possible.

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We're on a journey and building new and diverse narratives around food culture and wine.  I would love to have each of you come along for the ride as we pair the wines we love with the spices we love!

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Cheers,

Beverly Crandon

Event Founder and Chair

www.beverlycrandon.com