The Canadian National Exhibition is back, and so is the quest to try the most talked-about dish over the next two weeks.
And the question isn’t whether Dubai chocolate and Labubus will appear at this year’s CNE, it’s how many forms they’ll take. The annual showcase of the most colourful, outrageous, and deep-fried foodstuffs is a perfect distillation of the viral food trends that have taken over people’s algorithms in the past year.
The CNE takes the food obsessions you’ve heard your kids mention — or seen baffled morning show hosts try to explain — and serves them up in a format that’s palatable (most of the time).
At this year’s preview of new food offerings for the Canadian National Exhibition, which runs from Aug. 15 to Sept. 1, the trends have gone into overdrive — a sharp contrast to recent years, where things felt more reined in. Expect a heavier emphasis on butter (not seen at this scale since the fried butter ball debut of 2010); nods to current pop culture pillars like a black-and-pink latte inspired by the K-pop mega group who recently performed in Toronto; and Labubus — essentially Beanie Babies for Gen Z. There’s also no shortage of Lotus Biscoff-infused treats, a nod to the cinnamon-and-nutmeg-spiced cookie that’s managed to dethrone Nutella as café flavour of choice.
Even if your approach to CNE food is more spectator than connoisseur, it’s worth a stroll — if only to count how many viral references you can spot.
“This is an adventure; it’s food on the edge of your seat,” says CNE’s new CEO Mark Holland, who, ironically, was Canada’s health minister until earlier this year. “The food is reflective of what’s out there right now. The vendors scour the world to the very ends …. ”
The CNE’s previous CEO, Darrell Brown, along with his wife Lyudmila Bezpala-Brown, who ran a gallery on the exhibition grounds, were fired in March due to allegations of harassment and misconduct from colleagues. Holland was announced as the new CEO in late July.
Last year, The King of Curds served deep-fried cheese curds drizzled with icing, cotton candy, and lavender candy bits — a dish named after Taylor Swift, timed to her Eras Tour stop in Toronto. This year, the pop star has been swapped for the viral Labubu stuffed keychain. The updated curds come topped with sweet buttercream sauce and crumbled macaron shells, echoing the plushie’s pastel colours. Karyn Johnson, who has run the King of Curds booth for several years, also ordered 5,000 acrylic Lafufu keychains (Lafufu being the unofficial term for bootleg Labubu merch, obviously).
Surprisingly, there’s only one clear nod to Dubai chocolate this year. The viral dessert — a milk chocolate bar filled with pistachio cream and crispy knafeh pastry — originated at Dubai’s FIX Dessert Chocolatier in 2022. Since then, dessert shops across the GTA have churned out milkshake and doughnut spinoffs. Yogen Früz doesn’t name their soft-serve sundae after it, but the inspiration is clear: pistachio soft-serve layered with knafeh bits, chopped strawberries and chocolate sauce. It’s one of the milder entries in this year’s otherwise over-the-top lineup.
As for drinks, they’re usually an afterthought — but not this year. Enter the Dirty Sodas booth serving its namesake drink: a non-alcoholic drink typically made with pop, flavoured syrups, and cream. “It’s been on the up-and-up for the last few years as people drink less alcohol,” says Allison Sokol, a distribution manager and importer for Monin, a flavoured syrup company that has supplied various CNE vendors over the years. She adds that dirty sodas are especially popular within the Mormon community — which includes mom influencers with millions of followers (some of whom star in a reality show called “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives”).
Whether you’re lining up for the wild new creations or staying loyal to $2 Primo Pasta and Tiny Tom Donuts, this year’s CNE food lineup doubles as a crash course in what’s been trending online — whether you’ve kept up or not. Here’s a look at what other new foods are on offer this year.
1. Broedie’s Butter Burgers’ Butter Burger
$9.50 (single), $13.50 (double); located in the midway
A classic smashed burger topped with cheese, onions, and a compound butter flavoured with garlic and lemon juice. Beyond Meat version available.
2. Yogen Früz’s Pistachio Soft Serve Sundae
$9.49; located inside the Food Building
Pistachio soft-serve layered with knafeh, chopped strawberries, and chocolate sauce.
3. King of Curds’ Deep Fried Cheese Curds: Exciting Macaron Series
$20; located near the north side of BMO Field
Cheese curds topped with buttercream macaron filling and crumbled macaron shells. Each order includes a Lafufu keychain (while supplies last).
4. Los Vietnamita’s Biscoff Fried Chicken Crunch Ice Cream Sandwich
$18; located at the Food Truck Frenzy section
Buttermilk fried chicken rolled in Lotus Biscoff cookie crumbs, topped with vanilla ice cream, maple chili sauce, and Lotus Biscoff cookie butter.
5. Rick’s Good Eats’ Butter Chicken Birria-Style Tacos
Price not available; located at the Food Truck Frenzy section
Shredded tandoori chicken in house-made taco shells, served with a side of butter chicken consommé.
6. Craig’s Cookies’ Chicken Nugget Cookie
$5.50 each; located at the Food Truck Frenzy section
An entire chicken nugget stuffed inside a chip-less cookie base.
7. Sam’s Grill’s Maki Sushi Corndog
Price not available; located in the midway
A halal hot dog wrapped in nori and sushi rice, fried in tempura batter, and topped with teriyaki sauce, spicy mayo, pickled ginger, and wasabi.
