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FROM THE EDITOR KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW n MARCH 2019 n www.kitchenwarenews.com PUBLISHER Kimberly Oser SR. ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Jules Denton-Card jules_d@oser.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lorrie Baumann lorrie_b@oser.com SR. ASSOCIATE EDITOR Robin Mather robin_m@oser.com ASSOCIATE EDITORS Greg Gonzales greg_g@oser.com Amanda Helt amanda_h@oser.com ART DIRECTOR Yasmine Brown GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jonathan Schieffer ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Anthony Socci anthony_s@oser.com CUSTOMER SERVICE Caitlyn McGrath MANAGERS caitlyn_m@oser.com Susan Stein susan_s@oser.com CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Tara Neal CIRCULATION MANAGER Jamie Green jamie_g@oser.com OSER COMMUNICATIONS GROUP editor from the 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 Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers 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 confirmed 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 f rom restaurants to consume it off-premises at least monthly, and food delivery 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 number of insulated catering bags available to restaurants shopping for the best way to keep their food hot during delivery. Another was that there were far more merchandising 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 ref rigeration unit or capture heat has been using those skills this year to design and build cases to keep seafood cold, red meat looking f resh, gelato f rozen, roast chickens hot and pizzas baked and held in perfect condition, no matter where a consumer might wish to purchase or consume 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 whatever 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 f rom her phone at the locker door and could be on her way in seconds, potentially without ever either speaking 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 attenuating, 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 necessarily feel any inclination to do that every day and who will insist on high-quality f reshness when they do cook, and the future of specialty kitchenware stores will be in providing tools and equipment for home cooking enthusiasts rather than in equipping 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 whatever 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 f resh f ruit. KN Lorrie Baumann, Editorial Director 4 KITCHENWARE NEWS & Housewares Review Kitchenware News & Housewares Review is a publication of Oser Communications Group Inc. 1877 N. Kolb Road • Tucson, AZ 85715 520.721.1300 www.kitchenwarenews.com www.oser.com FOUNDER Lee M. Oser Periodicals postage paid at Tucson, AZ and additional mailing office. Kitchenware News & Housewares Review (USPS012-625) is published 12 times per year (Jan., Feb., March, April, May, June, July, Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec.) by Oser Communications Group, 1877 N. Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ, 85715 520.721.1300. Publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material or prices quoted in newspaper. Contributors are responsible for proper release of proprietary classified information. ©2018 by Oser Communications Group. All rights reserved Reproduction, in whole or in part, without written permission of the publisher, is expressly prohibited. Back issues, when available, cost $8 each within the past 12 months. 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