Oser Communications Group

GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2016 www.gourmetnews.com FROM THE PUBLISHER 4 Greetings! Something to think about as we all head into the holiday season: ac- cording to branding ex- pert Debbie Millman, we human beings are happi- est and most secure when we feel ourselves to be members of a tribe. At its most basic level, we belong to a tribe that we're born into – our families, but as human societies have evolved to become more complex, so has our tribal structure. If the Internet has done nothing else, it has certainly hastened this evolution and ex- panded the range of our power to network ourselves into new tribes of our own choosing. As we adopt ourselves into new tribes, we also adopt the symbols that identify them as our own. Millman points out that body decoration, an early way to identify ourselves as members of a tribe, is one of the behaviors shared by human beings across the planet. It's something that humans have been doing for a very long time, probably beginning in the Pa- leolithic era, according to archaeologists who have found ocher chunks that they believe were used for body painting at sites dating back to our earliest human ancestors in Europe. Since then, we've found other ways to telegraph to others the tribe that we belong to. The original intention of flags, for in- stance, was to mark the gathering places for each side in a conflict on the battlefield. It's how soldiers knew where to go to find lead- ership and safety. Today, we've translated all of that into the concept of a brand, which is, put sim- ply, our way of defining what we share that makes us different from others around us. This is something that defines us as human beings – we all do it natu- rally. So the question here for retailers is not whether we're going to have a brand – it's how we're going to make it stand out on the battlefield so our customers can know that this is where the members of our tribe should gather. And while you're thinking about how to gather your own tribe around you during this holiday season, please also know that among our Thanksgiving blessings, all of us here at Oser Communications Group count the blessing of being part of a tribe that includes all of you. Please accept our best wishes for a holiday season that's both joyful and prosperous. GN — Lee M. Oser Publisher WWW.GOURMETNEWS.COM PUBLISHER Lee M. Oser ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Kim Forrester Jules Denton jules_d@oser.com Carlos Velasquez carlos_v@oser.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lorrie Baumann lorrie_b@oser.com ASSOCIATE EDITORS Micah Cheek micah_c@oser.com Greg Gonzales greg_g@oser.com GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Yasmine Brown Jonathan Schieffer CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGERS Sarah Glenn sarah_g@oser.com Caitlyn McGrath caitlyn_m@oser.com CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Tara Neal tara_n@oser.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Jamie Green jamie_g@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 G OURMET N EWS ® OSER COMMUNICATIONS GROUP PRESIDENT 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. ©2016 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. FROM THE PUBLISHER

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