Oser Communications Group

GOURMET NEWS APRIL 2020 www.gourmetnews.com NEWS & NOTES 4 FROM THE EDITOR Hello, Friends: When I first sat down to write this month's let- ter to you, it was origi- nally going to be about the story on Oliver Pluff & Company that you can read on page 10 of this issue because it's a story that has stayed on my mind, and I don't want you to miss it. Before Darren Hartford bought the com- pany, he retired from the U.S. Air Force as a brigadier general in charge of the Na- tional War College, and with the deep sense of history that informs his knowl- edge of the products he's now selling, he made me think about about the Boston Tea Party in a way that had never occurred to me before – as a supply chain problem for the importers and retailers who were de- pending on the delivery of the tea to their American market – and about the deeply symbolic value of those few barrels of tea to a population accustomed to the bever- age as a lubricant for their social inter- course. I met Mr. Hartford in Atlanta in the midst of a trip that took me from Arizona to Atlanta Market and then on to San Fran- cisco for the Winter Fancy Food Show dur- ing what I may always remember as the last time it seemed safe to travel before the novel coronavirus had become something more than a minor blip in the international news. It's more than that now, so this letter can no longer be just about tea and the Boston Tea Party as seen through the lens of a supply chain issue. I'm deeply fright- ened. I have a daughter who has asthma and a good friend who's over 70 and whose an- nual winter flu turns into pneumonia every time. I'm counting as a blessing that the asthmatic daughter is also a virologist, and so there's no one who understands better than she does how to manage her health around viruses. I'm counting as a blessing that the flu-susceptible friend finished his last travel through Europe before this virus appeared. I have these blessings. I'm still frightened. My own sense of history has sent me to a good many graveyards over the years, so I've seen a fair number of head- stones engraved with dates that tell me that the occupants of those graves died in the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. Some of those graves were occupied by soldiers who died at the Army bases where they were being trained to fight in World War I. The Spanish flu virus is thought to have infected more than 500 million people worldwide – about one third of the world's total population at that time – and to have killed at least 50 million people. About 675,000 of those were Americans – we lost a lot more Americans to the Spanish flu than we lost to World War I. Here's something the Centers for Disease Control says about the Spanish flu: "Con- trol efforts worldwide were limited to non- pharmaceutical interventions such as isolation, quarantine, good personal hy- giene, use of disinfectants, and limitations of public gatherings, which were applied unevenly." Sound familiar? I urge you all to take care and try to stay safe. Wash your hands. Stay home if you're sick. Follow good medical advice and do not give in to magical thinking about your level of risk. And do, of course, enjoy read- ing the story about Oliver Pluff & Com- pany when you need something to take your mind off the news. Take care! I hope to see all of you on the other side of this! GN — Lorrie Baumann Editorial Director FROM THE EDITOR 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. Publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material or prices quoted in newspaper. Contributors are responsible for proper release of pro- prietary classified information. ©2020 by Oser Communications Group. All rights re- served. Reproduction, in whole or in part, without writ- ten permission of the publisher, is expressly prohibited. Back issues, when available, cost $7 each within the past 12 months, $12 each prior to the past 12 months. Back orders must be paid in advance either by check or charged to American Express, Visa, or Master Card. Gourmet News is distributed without charge in North America to qualified professionals in the retail and dis- tribution channels of the specialty foods and hardgoods trade; paid subscriptions cost $65 annually to the U.S. and Canada. All foreign subscriptions cost $150 annu- ally to cover air delivery. All payments must be made in U.S. funds and drawn on a U.S. bank. For subscriber services, including subscription information, call 520.721.1300. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Gourmet News, 1877 North Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ 85715. WWW.GOURMETNEWS.COM PUBLISHER Kimberly Oser SENIOR ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Jules Denton-Card jules_d@oser.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lorrie Baumann editor@oser.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Anthony Socci anthony_s@oser.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jeanie Catron ART DIRECTOR Yasmine Brown GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jonathan Schieffer CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER Susan Stein CUSTOMER SERVICE ASSOCIATE Rae Featherston CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Tara Neal tara_n@oser.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Jamie Green jamie_g@oser.com EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Heather Albrecht heather_a@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

• Cover