Oser Communications Group

V O L U M E 1 9 , N U M B E R 1 0 News ..............................................3 Ad Index .......................................23 www.kitchenwarenews.com VOLUME 22, NUMBER 6 2016 n $7.00 BY MICAH CHEEK The owner of Stock Culinar y Goods in Providence, Rhode Island, had to f requently pause our interview to chase down and chat with familiar faces coming in to the store. More than once, she had to break away, saying, "Do you mind if I put down the phone for a second? I don't want my back turned to these people." The store, which settled in with a number of other small stores in a retail district, is f requented by restaurant staff, culinar y Taking Stock of Stock Culinary Goods Continued on PAGE 5 Continued on PAGE 12 Continued on PAGE 14 Continued on PAGE 19 students and a strong population of home cooks. " Your home cooking game in Providence had better be good, these people do not mess around. That's our food culture – If they have something amazing at North, they may want to tr y something similar at home," says Dane. "Providence has a really educated food community, so we see a lot of people who understand and want to purchase long-lasting, quality items and, you know, care where things come f rom." Stock has been open since late 2012, following a radical change in Dane's life. After a career of f reelance writing that lead to restaurant guidebooks, Dane had found herself working at Ocean House, a five-star chateau and resort. "I was food forager, and director of culinar y education. My commute was more than an hour every day, and I would pass by this empty space. We had a catch-all gift store, but we didn't have a dedicated place[for kitchenware]." The empty BY MICAH CHEEK The way to be most helpful to the Millennial consumer is to put yourself in their shoes. Millenial buyers are rushed, impatient and focused on creative expression. With an increasing interest in home cooking, this group is also under pressure to prepare more advanced dishes that they might not have the skill set for. Selling to Millennial means getting an understanding of that mindset and how to serve it. Marketing to the Millennial audience presents its own specific set of problems. According to Kit Yarrow, Professor of Psychology ANYWARE Ceramic/Aluminum Cookware Goes from Campfire to Cookstove and Marketing and author of "Decoding The New Consumer Mind," Millennials are looking for cooking methods that are as instant as their communication styles. "They want quick fixes and have solutions quickly. It 's not because they're defective, we're all becoming like this," says Yarrow. "When they get tools that will help them, or kits, they're not trying to cut corners: they're tr ying to decrease anxiety and [have] more fun." W hile Millennials are increasingly enthusiastic about food and cooking, their focus is more on creative expression, says Yarrow. " They love the outcome; they love great food – they want that. The desire is there, the creativity is there, but they want you to take them halfway. They want to be assured that everything is going to be okay," she adds. "They sort of want a sous chef; they want someone to take them partway there and do the boring stuff so they can do the magic." Fulfilling this need can often come down to the language used. When these customers hear an assurance of quality or ease of use, it reduces the nervousness they have about trying something new or difficult. "Keep in mind that the objective is to reduce anxiety. Then they gravitate to BY MICAH CHEEK It is an exciting time to sell knives. The market is healthy, with consumers buying more and better cutlery. Harald Wüsthof, Chairman of WÜSTHOF- Trident of America, Inc., has observed the slow opening up of the premium knife market. "It used to be mostly affluent people who could afford more expensive tools. It was defined by ZIP code," says Wüsthof. "Nowadays, I would say it 's not as much income dependent. Now it's more the foodies." The foodies, treating cooking as a hobby, are doing more research into the tools that they use. "People are willing to spend more on their food – why should you buy a high quality prime rib, and then take tools and almost destroy that piece of beef? People are putting it more in context, and they are more investing than buying, and they're more cautious about what they buy," says Wüsthof. Though this new group of consumers doesn't necessarily have the income of the affluent crowd, they are treating a knife purchase as an investment, putting more money down for a knife they expect to use for decades. "I run into more and more conversations where retailers say, 'This guy is really, really into knives, and he puts aside 10 dollars a month and bought it as a personal Christmas present,'" Wüsthof adds. One shift in these purchasing habits is the growing preference for blades with higher carbon content. W hile carbon steel is renowned for its edge retention and easier sharpening, this alloy has until recently been skipped over in favor of stainless steel. One reason for this is the tendency for carbon steel to RETAILER PROFILE n Stock Culinary Goods 14 SMALL ELECTRICS n News 17 THE PANTRY n Confections 20-21 THE KNIFE RACK n KitchenAid 18 NONSTICK COOKWARE n Product Previews 11 TRADESHOW CALENDAR n Upcoming Shows 23 PRODUCT REVIEW: TRUDEAU'S FUEL SEE PAGE 9 GADGET OF THE MONTH: MICROPLANE SEE PAGE 22 BUYERS GUIDE: LUNCH BAGS & BOXES SEE PAGE 16 H o u s e w a r e s R e v i e w KITCHENWARE NEWS A Conversation with Harald Wüsthof Inside the Millennial Mind BY LORRIE BAUMANN ANYWARE™ is a new line of non-stick cast aluminum cookware that's designed to go from the outdoor grill to the stove indoors and back again. It delivers quality cooking performance along with easy cleanup – even the soot from a campfire will wipe right off. ANYWARE is made by Little Griddle, a company historically known for cookware designed only for outdoor use. "We knew that we needed a product that could go indoors," says Jon Stein, the company's President. At the same time, the company knew that if they decided to produce a line of cookware for indoor use, it still had to perform just as well in the outdoors – the Little Griddle brand and its outdoor-oriented customer base depended on it. Two years of development work went into the line, which is made from a unique combination of cast aluminum coated inside and outside with a PTFE-f ree nonstick ceramic that's compatible with high heat. The pans will go from grill top to stove top, in the oven or over the campfire or outdoor grill. Because the nonstick coating is on the bottom of the pans as well as the sides and the interior, the pans will clean up after they've been over a sooty campfire or gas flame with just a

• Cover