In addition to the usual suspects of ho-hum potato chips and sea salted everything, while perusing the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City last week I noticed a peculiar trend among manufacturers hoping to rise above the noise.

Innovation, it seems, is not necessarily creating a new, never-before-seen product—it can also be fostering an alternative mindset. 

For example, I saw mayonnaise fortified with avocado, chocolate shavings to eat like chips and heavily spiced peanut butter intended for adventurous cooks. The term “butter” was appropriated to a nondairy, smoking-hot chili pepper puree. 

For sure, not all of these originalities will stick. In fact, some products were downright silly. But you’ve got to admire the manufacturers that not only envision a new paradigm of food usage, but that also have the chutzpah to convince consumers they should alter their carefully cultivated culinary routines. 

The following breakthrough products exemplify a new way of thinking about, using and eating food. After all, who says that mayo can’t be green?