Several exhibitors displayed stacked, whole-muscle-meat gyros, rather than the more common loaves of ground meat. A vegan gyro (GMO-free and certified Kosher, too) was also on display.

A distillery in Colorado has figured out how to distill vodka from hemp mash — THC-free, of course. The vodka was on display at the BAR show, along with hemp-flavored vodka locally made in Chicago. Toasted hemp seeds were also offered as snacks. Although hemp is often praised for its high fiber content, a more versatile, low-fiber hemp product was also on offer.

This ancient alcoholic drink made with honey, water and yeast seems to be coming back in vogue, as several exhibitors at the BAR show displayed their versions of this naturally gluten-free beverage — some finished with hops for beer lovers.

“Gluten free” has been trendy for several years now, but the offerings have improved, with tastier cakes and breads, and gluten-free flours that can be replaced one-for-one with wheat flour.

Fresh is nice, but not always practical, so frozen, imported, fully-cooked pastries from Italy and ready-to-reheat pretzels from Germany were on display at the show, as well as frozen mollusks in their shells and even ready-to-thaw, pre-made sushi rolls.

Whether K Cups of coffee or frozen pucks of soups and sauces, single-serve offerings, promoted as solutions for reducing waste, were widely on display at the show.

High-end juices made from Sicilian fruits, lightly flavored calorie-free waters, and sodas with complex flavors like pineapple-coconut-nutmeg and lime-hibiscus-clove targeted discerning adults at the show.

Trout jerky, whitefish patties, shrimp sliders, whitefish burgers and new farm-raised yellowtail from Japan all were on offer at the show.

Flavored coffees are waning, but producers are finding new ways to distinguish their brews, from a coffee sourced and roasted to taste like Cuban coffee, single-origin coffee from a certified-gay supplier, or certified to be owned by members of the LGBT community, and a wide variety of cold-brew offerings.