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News & Notes BRIEFS GOURMET NEWS SEPTEMBER 2018 www.gourmetnews.com NEWS & NOTES 6 Las Vegas Market Expands Gourmet Offerings Kroger Launches Ship The Kroger Co. launched Kroger Ship, its new direct-to-customer ecommerce platform, on August 1 in four markets: Cincinnati, Ohio; Houston, Texas; Louisville, Kentucky; and Nashville, Tennessee. The retailer anticipates quickly rolling out the ship service to additional markets over the next few months. During the first phase of Kroger Ship, customers can shop from a curated selection of 4,500 Our Brands products, which are not available anywhere else online, and more than 50,000 center-aisle groceries and household essentials that matter the most. The service offers competitive ecommerce pricing and fast and free doorstep delivery by a package carrier on orders over $35, otherwise shipping is $4.99 per order. Ship customers will experience exclusive money-saving opportunities, including promo codes and pricing deals along with the convenience of a set-and-save subscription model. European Deli to Import Pernigotti Chocolates European Deli has been named the exclusive importer of the Italian chocolate brand, Pernigotti, for the United States. The Pernigotti brand, since 1860, offers chocolates from the Piedmonte region of Italy known for its prized hazelnuts. The range includes Gianduiotto, Cremino, and Nocciolato in both milk and dark chocolate varieties. The chocolate comes in bags, tins, and gift boxes. All Pernigotti chocolates are kosher, gluten free, all natural and contain no palm oils. Kroger Exploring Strategic Options for Turkey Hill Business The Kroger Co. is exploring strategic alternatives for its Turkey Hill business, including a potential sale. With nearly 800 full- time, part-time and seasonal associates, Turkey Hill produces a full line of popular iced teas, fruit drinks, milk, frozen dairy treats and a variety of ice cream in its Conestoga, Pennsylvania, manufacturing and distribution facility. Kroger owns 38 food manufacturing plants, including 19 dairies, that produce high quality Our Brands products for Kroger's family of stores and Turkey Hill branded products sold nationwide. Instacart Partners with Hy-Vee to Offer Signature Same-Day Grocery Delivery Instacart, the technology-driven, nationwide on-demand grocery delivery service, will partner with Hy-Vee, Inc. to expand its delivery footprint and provide new and convenient shopping options to Hy-Vee customers in more than two dozen markets, with more markets launching in the near future. Instacart will complement Hy-Vee Aisles Online – Hy-Vee's own online shopping experience – to offer expanded delivery areas and delivery in as little as one hour, helping additional customers, families and households balance their busy lives and plan ahead by scheduling deliveries up to four days in advance. BY LORRIE BAUMANN Las Vegas Market is planning to celebrate the specialty food products that are pop- ping up in gift and gourmet kitchenware stores across the country that appeal to their foodie customers with a Gourmet Specialty Food Award presenta- tion scheduled to take place on January 29 as part of the House- wares Design Awards event. En- tries will be accepted until October 26 at www.housewares designawards.com and will be scored by a jury of retailers. Specialty food was also fea- tured at the Las Vegas Market's Summer Market, held July 29 through August 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Daytime high tempera- tures were well into triple digits, but the real warmth of the occa- sion was contributed by an army of greeters who met each incom- ing shuttle bus with shouts of "Welcome to Market!" as attendees made their way onto the World Market Center campus. Specialty food vendors were housed on the C11 floor in the complex as a TASTE exposition. Vendors there included Skip's Mix, a con- centrated Bloody Mary mix that originated as a family recipe, according to Owner Derek Skipworth. "I kind of grew up drink- ing it — virgin, of course," he said. Skip- worth grew up, went off to college and did some tinkering with the recipe. Back from college now, he's been in business for 1.5 years with his Bloody Mary mix that he says also works well as a marinade for faji- tas, steaks and burgers. A 16-fluid ounce bottle retails for $20 to $24, depending on the market, and it'll make about 16 full-size cocktails. The product must be refrigerated after opening, but until it's opened, it has a shelf life of about one year. "It's good for that long, but it never lasts that long once you get it home," Skipworth said. For more information, email skipsmix@outlook.com. Classy Delites is a line of dips from Austin, Texas. They're offered in 10 flavors packaged in 12-ounce glass jars. Spinach Artichoke and Cheddar Queso are top-sell- ing flavors, followed by Roasted Corn & Tomato Salsa, and then Pistachio Roasted Pepper and Spinach Avocado. The dips ap- peal to the consumer who likes gourmet food but needs to put something out quickly when entertaining at home. Ingre- dients are sourced from Texas farms, so these are authentically "Made in Texas" prod- ucts, and all are gluten free, with no added sugar, no preserva- tives and no added color. The 12-ounce jars retail for $5.95 to $8.95. For more in- formation, email orders@classydelites.com. MV'S Best Virginia Cocktail Peanuts are produced and distributed from New Jersey but made with peanuts from Virginia. They're offered in seven different flavors, including Sea Salt, Un- salted, Herbs & Spices, Hot Peppers, Dark Chocolate, Milk Choco- late and Toffee. The Sea Salt variety is flavored with JQ Dickinson Mountain Sea Salt, and all spices used in the products are organic blends from Spice Hunter. The chocolate comes from Valrhona. The 5-ounce can retails for $7 to $9, depending on the variety. A 10- ounce can retails for $11 to $17, and the 22-ounce can retails for $26 to $34. Vir- ginia Cocktail Peanuts have a shelf life of one year to 16 months and will sell well in higher-end gift shops, according to Logis- tics Director Jack Eisen- stadt. For more information, call 877.872.1957. Louis Sherry offers a line of chocolate truffles made in the U.S., in the French chocolate-making tradition that started in New York in 1881. Company Founder Louis Sherry, later a founder in the Sherry- Netherland Hotel in New York City, was born in Ver- mont and trained as a chef in Canada. When he came back to the U.S. to open his restaurant, he was happy to let customers think he was French. When Prohibition came along, and he could no longer offer wine to his guests, he decided to concen- trate instead on his fine confections, ac- cording to Audrey Charlson, Director of Special Projects for Louis Sherry, Inc., who added that the building in which his origi- nal confectionery store was located still stands today at 53rd Street and Madison Avenue in New York City. Today, Louis Sherry chocolates are pack- aged in the same style of gift tin that con- tained them in 1881, and the boxes themselves are considered collector's items, occasionally selling online, even new, for more than they'd cost in a retail store with the chocolates still inside, Charlson said. They're offered in three sizes: a two-piece box, a 12-piece box and a 24-piece box. The two-piece box retails for $8.50. The 12-piece Heritage Collection box retails for $35, the 12-piece Designer Collection box retails for $40 and the 24-piece box retails for $75. Their shelf life is six months. "My chocolate is timeless. My collections are timeless. It makes a fabulous hostess gift," Charlson said. "They're going to keep the tins as collector's items — and remember who gave it to them." For more informa- tion, take a look at the Louis Sherry Insta- gram account at @louissherryny, call 212.849.2862 or email echarlson@ louissherry.com. Aunt Bee'z and Uncle Steve'z are a pair of lines offered by Brenda Sonner and her brother Steven. Aunt Bee'z is a line of old- fashioned dessert mixes and jams and jel- lies made from family recipes, while Uncle Steve'z products are jams and syrups in trend-forward flavors — most of them on the savory side. "I'm the sweet one — he's the crazy one," said Sonner. "I do no gluten free. I do no sugar free. We do old-fash- ioned — the way it used to be. Grammy Continued on PAGE 10

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