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GOURMET NEWS MARCH 2019 www.gourmetnews.com FROM THE EDITOR 4 As we were getting ready to go to print with this month's issues of both Gourmet News and Kitchenware News, I took a detour to Orlando, Florida, for a few days to pop in on the biennial trade show sponsored by the National As- sociation of Food Equipment Manufactur- ers for some insight into what those folks think is ahead for the foodservice industry and for large-scale cooking in general. What I found there in the exhibit hall con- firmed the signs of change we're already seeing in the business of getting food to American tables to a degree that surprised me. If what I saw on that show floor was any indication, the future of foodservice might be almost entirely in preparing food that people will take away and consume at home. According to a 2018 report by Restaurant Business magazine, more than three-quarters of American consumers now buy food from restaurants to consume it off-premises at least monthly, and food de- livery is projected to grow by 12 percent per year for each of the next five years. That showed up in the exhibit hall in a couple of different ways. One of them was in the variety and num- ber of insulated catering bags available to restaurants shopping for the best way to keep their food hot during delivery. An- other was that there were far more mer- chandising cases on the show floor than I'd ever seen before. It seemed like everybody on the planet who knows how to fabricate metal, build a refrigeration unit or capture heat has been using those skills this year to design and build cases to keep seafood cold, red meat looking fresh, gelato frozen, roast chickens hot and pizzas baked and held in perfect condition, no matter where a consumer might wish to purchase or con- sume any of it. I saw an automated system that paired with an app that would allow a consumer to go online with her cell phone before she left the office, order her pizza with what- ever toppings she wanted and have the pizza waiting for her in a heated locker somewhere on her route between home and work. She would pick up her pizza by scanning a QR code from her phone at the locker door and could be on her way in sec- onds, potentially without ever either speak- ing to a human being or even leaving her car. What all of this suggested to me was that the already thin line between foodservice and grocery is going to continue attenuat- ing, that the future of brick-and-mortar grocery stores is largely in accommodating those customers who do want to cook their own food sometimes but who won't neces- sarily feel any inclination to do that every day and who will insist on high-quality freshness when they do cook, and the fu- ture of specialty kitchenware stores will be in providing tools and equipment for home cooking enthusiasts rather than in equip- ping home kitchens for daily use. It's a brave new world, and it's going to be fed by whoever turns out to be best at delivering with only minimal delay what- ever food someone wants to eat wherever they want to eat it. Then on weekends, we'll all meet at the grocery store to buy cheese and fresh fruit. GN — Lorrie Baumann Editorial Director FROM THE EDITOR WWW.GOURMETNEWS.COM PUBLISHER Kimberly Oser SENIOR ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Jules Denton-Card jules_d@oser.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lorrie Baumann lorrie_b@oser.com ASSOCIATE EDITORS Jeanie Catron Greg Gonzales Amanda Helt ART DIRECTOR Yasmine Brown GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jonathan Schieffer ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Anthony Socci anthony_s@oser.com CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGERS Caitlyn McGrath Susan Stein CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Tara Neal tara_n@oser.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Jamie Green jamie_g@oser.com PUBLISHING OFFICE 1877 N. Kolb Road P.O. Box 1056 Tucson, AZ 85715 520.721.1300 Fax 520.721.6300 SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Gourmet News P.O. Box 30520 Tucson, AZ 85751 520.721.1300 G OURMET N EWS ® OSER COMMUNICATIONS GROUP FOUNDER Lee M. Oser MEMBER OF: Periodicals postage paid at Tucson, AZ, and additional mailing office. Gourmet News (ISSN 1052-4630) is published monthly by Oser Communications Group, 1877 North Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ 85715; 520.721.1300. 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