Oser Communications Group

BY LORRIE BAUMANN American consumers have de- cided that they want good food on their schedule, and they'll eat it wherever they can get it. Their grocers are eager and increasingly able to provide that for them, and their customers are loving them for it. So says Wade Hanson, a Prin- cipal at Technomic, who pre- sented the company's market research on this subject during a "Foodservice at Retail" confer- ence presented during the Na- tional Restaurant Association's annual trade show in May. Tech- nomic has 50 years of experience tracking market trends for the restaurant industry, but over the past decade or two, the organiza- BY LORRIE BAUMANN In a society that's deeply con- flicted about much that's happen- ing in the Middle East and its potential repercussions for the American homeland, Houston grocer Phoenicia Specialty Foods offers a yummy reminder that we're all on this planet together and our respective cultures have much to offer each other. Phoeni- cia Specialty Foods operates in two Houston locations, a 90,000 -square-foot west side location that's like a warehouse for inter- national foods, and the newer 28,000-square-foot location in downtown Houston. The family Phoenicia Specialty Foods Brings International Flavors to Houston Continued on PAGE 8 Continued on PAGE 16 Continued on PAGE 11 behind the two stores (retail and wholesale operation), and the original restaurant: parents Zohrab and Arpi Tcholakian, who started the business by opening the Phoenicia Deli in 1983, brother Raffi, who oversees the company's wholesale business and much of its import operation at the Phoenicia Foods Westside location, brother Haig, who cu- rates the stores' beer and wine of- fering and is half the marketing team along with sister Ann-Marie, who also manages the downtown store, also still operate the origi- nal restaurant that's the particular province of the matriarch of the family. "It's in our blood, and we are cut from the same cloth in re- gards to our work ethic, pas- sion and detail-ori- ented na- ture. Mom is the ma- triarch of the restau- rant, Arpi's Phoenicia Deli restaurant, which is where it all began. She's defi- nitely the most famous out of all of us. Everybody recognizes her because she's always in the restau- rant," says Ann-Marie. "My par- ents don't want to retire; they love the business; they love the energy. They re- ally enjoy pro- viding these services and these hard to find specialty items to the community, and also having the opportunity to interact with friendly faces. Dad is always in the store teaching employees and Summer Fancy Food Show Largest Ever Retail Foodservice Offers a Gold Mine for Grocers tion has directed its attention to foodservice wherever it occurs and has been in the ideal position to observe the phenomenon as American consumers began look- ing for new avenues for their food when the Great Recession put previous options out of their fi- nancial reach. It was at that time that the grab and go case at local grocery stores became top of mind as an alternative to fast food restaurants, which were increas- ingly seen as both unhealthy and unappetizing choices. "We're in a very different world right now as far as retail and foodservice are happening," Hanson said. For grocers, the Great Reces- sion has changed the market landscape as well: center store sales are declining, convenience stores have become more vigor- ous competitors for Americans' food dollars and the grocery retail industry is consolidating through mergers and acquisition activity. "Retail foodservice has been the major beneficiary of these changes," Hanson said. "Retail foodservice is really in transition, but poised to be in a very good position." For purposes of their analyses, Hanson and Technomic divide su- permarkets into three basic tiers: the foodservice specialists, destina- tion supermarkets and supermar- kets with prepared food departments that may consist of BY LORRIE BAUMANN Hungry Americans are snacking more than ever before, but for many, the between-meal food is a guilt-ridden, sometimes furtive attempt to stave off hunger and boost energy long enough to get them to their next meals. Snack food manufacturers are making a wealth of products to meet pre- cisely these needs. These are trends found by market research firm Canadean, which conducts three consumer surveys annually of more than 50,000 consumers in 47 coun- Continued on PAGE 14 New Snacks for Nutrition-Hungry Americans tries. The research was pre- sented in Chicago by Canadean Innovation Insights Director Tom Vierhile at this year's Sweets & Snacks Expo in May. The sur- veys found that snacking behav- ior is nearly universal in the U.S., with 96 percent of Ameri- cans saying that they snack at least occasionally. Among peo- ple between the ages of 18 and 44, almost everyone is snacking between main meals, with 97 percent of 18-24-year-olds, 98 percent of those aged 25 to 34 and 97 percent of those between 35 and 44 saying that they snack. Snacking tends to skew towards young and male con- sumers, with young and middle- aged men much more likely to snack regularly than any other group, according to the surveys. Most of this snacking takes place after lunch, with 55 percent of U.S. consumers saying that they snack between lunch and dinner and 39 percent saying that they snack between dinner and bedtime, and most of it happens BY LORRIE BAUMANN If you came home exhausted from this year's Summer Fancy Food Show, there's a reason for that. The 2016 Summer Fancy Food Show occupied the largest show floor since the show was started in 1954. More than 47,000 specialty food profes- sionals, including 2,670 ex- hibitors, filled the six football fields' worth of space in the halls of Javits Center in New York with the latest in specialty food and beverages from across the U.S. and 55 countries. "The show is the place to be to discover the latest in specialty food and what's next for stores and restaurants," said Laura Santella-Saccone, the Specialty Food Association's Chief Mar- keting Officer. "Record sales for specialty food have contributed to the strength of our show." Ariston Specialties used the show as an opportunity to debut its My Dressing Center to the in- dustry. My Dressing Center, shown in prototype and ex- pected to be available to the market in the coming months, is an automatic dispensing station that allows users to customize their own blends of salad VOLUME 81, NUMBER 8 AUGUST 2016 n $7.00 SUPPLEMENT n Summer Fancy Food Wrap-up PAGE 15 NEWS & NOTES n Gruyère Brotherhood Inducts American Members PAGE 6 RETAILER NEWS n Fiesta Mart Acquires Minyard Food Stores PAGE 10 SUPPLIER BUSINESS n Lotus Foods Seeks to Preserve Traditional Dehraduni Basmati Rice PAGE 12 NATURALLY HEALTHY n Barbara's Unveils Fresh Packaging PAGE 13 News ..............................................6 Ad Index .......................................27 Calendar.......................................27 www.gourmetnews.com G OURMET N EWS T H E B U S I N E S S N E W S P A P E R F O R T H E G O U R M E T I N D U S T R Y ® NATURALLY HEALTHY: Boulder Organic Foods SEE PAGE 13 SUPPLEMENT: SFF Wrap-up SEE PAGE 15 HOT PRODUCTS: Frontier Soups SEE PAGE 26

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