#FOOD: CNE ANNOUNCE NEW 2025 HALL OF FAME FOOD ITEMS

Today, the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) announced its newest Inductees to the 2025 CNE Food Hall of Fame, continuing a newfound tradition of commemorating the iconic, the innovative and the creative foods that have shaped the culinary reputation of Canada’s favourite fair. It’s no secret that the CNE is synonymous with food.

From the atypical to the downright zany, the CNE has offered some of the most memorable culinary creations over the course of its history – with a pulse on popular culture, food trends, and the unique ability to pair flavour profiles that both ‘shock’ and ‘awe.’

The CNE Food Hall of Fame was established last year in celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Food Building, and to recognize the foods that have made an impact and influence on CNE food culture.

The inaugural Class of 2024 Inductees included the likes of Deep-Fried Butter, Primo Spaghetti, Tiny Tom Donuts, Ice Cream Waffle Sandwich, and Pickle Pizza. Their banners currently hang from the rafters of the iconic Food Building as a lasting legacy.

This Year’s 2025 CNE Food Hall of Fame Inductees Are:

Rainbow Grilled Cheese – One of the first picture-perfect foods created for the ‘gram in 2019. The Rainbow Grilled Cheese took social media by storm for its epic cheese-pull that would reveal brightly coloured stripes of cheese – an irresistible snapshot that still has food influencers rejoicing. Adal Aguilar, owner of Pancho’s Bakery who has perfected the Rainbow Grilled Cheese, will be offering a limited edition Red & White Grilled Cheese, in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Canadian Flag available at his “I Love Churros” booths across the CNE.

The Colossal Onion – What would the CNE Food Hall of Fame be without a deep-fried representative. This year, the deep-fried icon is The Colossal Onion, celebrated for its design ingenuity of slicing an onion into perfectly sharable, tear-able, bite-sized ‘petals’ of onion wedges that are the perfect shape for dipping into any sauce. The concept was invented in 1988 in Texas; and made its CNE debut in 2012 with The Colossal Onion – made by a family-owned and operated Canadian company that annually delivers “the crispy treat that is fun to eat!”

Corn Dog – The humble Corn Dog is a pillar of Fair fare and OG of food-on-a-stick that has inspired endless adaptations. From recent creations of Pickle Dogs to Peanut Butter Chocolate Corn Dogs and this year’s Maki Sushi Corn Dog, the evolution of the Corn Dog continues to reach new heights; but for CNE purists, there’s nothing better than a good ‘ol fashioned corn dog without the frills.

The Bug Dog – Hot Diggity! While hot dogs at the CNE have seen all sorts of creative toppings from cherries and whipped cream to Captain Crunch cereal – The Bug Dog will forever reign supreme for having the most talked-about accoutrement…crickets! The all-beef frank, blended with cricket protein and topped with crispy crickets, was a culinary curiosity from Bug Bistro, that offered a truly progressive menu of arthropod-forward snacks including cricket tacos and beetle smoothies. While Bug Bistro is no longer available at the CNE, owner Sheldon Cohen has passed the creative torch to son Adam Cohen who has seven booths in the Food Building serving up his own unique food inventions such as this year’s Hash Brown Ice Cream Sandwich.