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MARCH 2019 2-5 International Home + Housewares Show McCormick Center Chicago, Illinois www.housewares.org 6-9 Natural Products Expo West Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, California www.expowest.com MAY 2019 7-9 National Hardware Show Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas, Nevada www.nationalhardwareshow.com 18-21 National Restaurant Association Show McCormick Place Chicago, Illinois https://show.restaurant.org JUNE 2019 19-25 Dallas Total Home & Gift Market Dallas Market Center Dallas, Texas www.dallasmarketcenter.com 23-25 Summer Fancy Food Show Javits Center New York, New York www.specialtyfood.com JULY 2019 9-15 The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market Atlanta, Georgia www.americasmart.com 21-24 Philadelphia Gift Show Greater Philadelphia Expo Center Oaks, Pennsylvania www.clarionux.com 28-August 1 Las Vegas Market Summer Market Las Vegas Market Las Vegas, Nevada www.lasvegasmarket.com AUGUST 2019 11-14 NY NOW Javits Center New York, New York www.nynow.com SEPTEMBER 2019 12-14 Natural Products Expo East Baltimore Convention Center Baltimore, Maryland www.expoeast.com OCTOBER 2019 2-5 Las Vegas Souvenir & Resort Gift Show Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas, Nevada www.clarionux.com NOVEMBER 2019 6-9 Smoky Mountain Gift Show Gatlinburg Convention Center Gatlinburg, Tennessee www.clarionux.com 17-19 Ocean City Resort Gift Expo Roland E. Powell Convention Center Ocean City, Maryland www.clarionux.com ADVERTISER INDEX Bottega del Vino Crystal . . . . . . . . . . .9 Cook Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 ECO Balanced Technologies . . . . . . .11 Ergo Chef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Franmara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 International Market Centers . . . . . . . .7 JAZ Innovations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Kikuichi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Prodyne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Royal Pacific Corp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Spyderco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 e Chemours Company . . . . . . . . . .17 ZOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 C A L E N D A R TRADE SHOW TRADESHOW CALENDAR www.kitchenwarenews.com n MARCH 2019 n KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW 2 3 BY LORRIE BAUMANN Consumers are seeking more answers about what's in the food they're buying and, sometimes more importantly, what's not in the food, and they're looking for clarity about the value of what they're getting in terms of their environmental and social values as well as product quality. Retailers, in turn, are demanding products that supply consumers with all that information at a glance, which means that food producers are racing to comply. "It's a tough balance between not cluttering the label and making sure that elements of differentiations and disqualifiers stand out," said Norm Petersen, Director of Natural Foods for Stonewall Kitchen. Today's consumers are a lot more savvy about their food than their parents were, and many of them are more conscious of disqualifiers for the food they'll bring home to feed their children or themselves. "Either it's that they have dietary restrictions or that they won't feed their kids genetically modified food," Petersen said, adding that Stonewall Kitchen, for instance, has taken preservatives out of most of its products to eliminate that disqualifier for those items at the behest of retailers who'd begun asking that question. "It's consumer-driven, but it's also retailer-driven," Petersen said. Across the exhibit hall at this year's Winter Fancy Food Show, buyers were greeted with tens of thousands of products, both the new and the familiar, and many, many of them were sporting distinctive new garb to show off their attributes for today's more discerning consumers. "All of our disclosure is smack on the front of the label and not in tiny print on the back," said Gilbert Quiles, Eastern Sales Manager for De Nigris, which offers a range of balsamic and cider vinegars and balsamic glazes. The front of each bottle of balsamic vinegar is clearly labeled with its percentage of grape must, notes on its flavor profile and a recommendation for the type of dish in which the vinegar might be best used. The extensive information on the label is designed to help American consumers, many of whom might not be very familiar with balsamic vinegar, with all the knowledge they need to choose the right vinegar, Quiles said. "I think consumers want clarity," he said. "They want information." De Nigris' wide selection of vinegars at various price points also gives retailers a range of options that will fit their particular market, he added. Quiles usually recommends to the retailers that he speaks with that they should choose the balsamic vinegar with the quality and price point that will satisfy their customers, but they should also include at least one glaze and a cider vinegar as well, since some consumers are looking for vinegars less as condiments than as functional elements of their dietary regimen. "We have something to offer in all these sections," he said. "Some consumers are buying vinegars for better-for-you purposes." Some consumers are choosing their chocolate bars because they perceive that the brand is better for the farmers who produce its ingredients, and creating that perception for its brand is behind the call- outs on Chuao bar packaging that list both essential ingredients and the inclusion of Fair Trade-certified ingredients. Chuao introduced a new line of vegan chocolate bars called Moon Bark at this year's Winter Fancy Food Show. They're made with coconut sugar, and all three varieties are organic and Fair Trade-certified. "We want to be sustainable throughout the process and be conscious of workers as well as the environment," said Chef Chris Vonk. Similarly, Fabrique Delices has just redesigned the packaging on its line of traditional French-style charcuterie products in a new modern design that features a bright color palette that catches the eye. Each label is printed with vivid colors and with the product name written on a chalkboard to emphasize the authentic and traditional aspect of the products and to stand out in the deli case. Fabrique Délices sleeves provide easy-to-understand instructions: within the sleeve, drawings detail how to build a charcuterie board, how to unmold pâtés, how to store the products and more. Clarifying the quality of the product inside the package was a goal behind Emmi Roth's recent redesign of the packaging for its line of imported Swiss cheeses aged in Emmi's Kaltbach caves. The new film packaging depicts the Kaltbach cave with its racks of cheese wheels, and each label calls out the age of the cheese and offers a pairing idea – all designed to communicate to shoppers that this is a premium product that justifies the $7.99 suggested retail price for five ounces of Alpine-style Gouda cheese that was aged for six months in the Kaltbach cave. Likewise, Schuman Cheese has redesigned its packaging for its Cello cheeses to clarify for consumers that the cheese inside has the kind of quality one would expect f rom a line that has more than 100 awards to his credit and that comes f rom a master cheesemaking team with combined experience of more than 600 years, said Jim Low, the company's Executive Vice President of Sales, Marketing & Customer Service. The Cello Copper Kitchen line is the crown jewel of the brand, and Schuman is offering it in 6-ounce wedges that retail for $5.99 and in 5-ounce cups of Shredded or Shaved Cheese as well as Chisels, a new matchstick-type cut designed for snacking. The copper-colored cups retail for $4.99, and they're ergonomic, designed to be held comfortably, with a flat side that allows the cups to be displayed in the case either on their bases or on their sides. Each label carries the image of a cello that's intended to communicate to consumers that the cheese inside is as carefully fine-tuned as the cello in an orchestra. and to suggest that it's an affordable luxury that also offers them the opportunity for creative expression. That creative expression is frequently part of the consumer's motivation for seeking out specialty foods, according to research presented by David Lockwood, Director of Mintel Consulting, in the review of the "State of the Specialty Food Industry" that he offered during the show. PARTNERS' packaging for its Wisecrackers line also appeals to those customers who are looking for clean labels and assurances that the food inside the packages will help them meet their nutritional goals. Roasted Garlic with Rosemary Wisecrackers, for instance, have f ront-of-package labeling to inform consumers that the crackers are low fat and contain no hydrogenated oils. Everything & More Wisecrackers labels offer the information that they have no sugar added and offer 340 mg of Omega-3 per serving as well as no hydrogenated oils. The Wisecrackers line includes four varieties of snack-size crackers plus three varieties of larger Flatbread Crackers. Nuovo Pastas also have the characteristics for their ingredients that will be important to many consumers listed on the front of their packages. For instance, Nuovo's Classic Italian Beef Ravioli notes on the front of the package that the beef that's used in them was vegetarian-fed and has no antibiotics and no added hormones. "They want gluten free, better-for-you. They want to know if it's plant-based," said Jessica Roberts, who handles western regional sales for Nuovo. "Meat needs to be grass-fed, no antibiotics, non-GMO.... Absolutely, customers want to know all that information. Additionally, they want to know where it was sourced." KN Product Labels Promote Clarity for Consumers

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