Oser Communications Group

GOURMET NEWS MAY 2018 www.gourmetnews.com FROM THE EDITOR 4 WWW.GOURMETNEWS.COM PUBLISHER Kimberly Oser SENIOR ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Jules Denton-Card jules_d@oser.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lorrie Baumann lorrie_b@oser.com SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR Robin Mather robin_m@oser.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jeanie Catron jeanie_c@oser.com ART DIRECTOR Yasmine Brown GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jonathan Schieffer CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGERS Caitlyn McGrath Susan Stein 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 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. ©2018 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. Congratulations to all of the winners of this year's sofi Awards, which were announced just as our May issues of both Gour- met News and Kitchen- ware News were going to print. For those of you who are reading this in Kitchenware News, you can find the story, which includes most, but not all, of the gold award win- ners, at www.GourmetNews.com. It is always a pleasure to see the fount of creativity and quality that are expressed in the profusion of products that win these prestigious awards, and it's always particu- larly fun to see awards going to people whose passion I know for products they made with pride. I also enjoyed seeing in the video-recorded acceptances that were part of this year's announcement event that none of the shine has gone off sofi because the awards event has become a rather dry online presentation instead of the Oscars- style awards ceremony and reception that the Specialty Food Association used to host. We all still have a lot to do and many people to see during the limited time we have at the Summer Fancy Food Show, and maybe it's just nostalgia, but I'm sad that the ceremony has become a thing of the past, and that, instead of a celebration of the specialty food community honoring its own, the sofi Awards have become merely a marketing tool, albeit a valuable one with a unique significance. I look forward to reuniting with friends and colleagues from across the specialty food industry this June at Javits Center, where I'll be thrilled to offer my congratu- lations in person. In the meantime, if you're introducing something new at the show, be sure to let me know ahead of time so I can do my very best to fit you into my show schedule. An email to editor@oser.com will reach me as well as Snacking News editor Robin Mather, who will also be attending the Fancy Food Show to provide coverage. Be sure also to follow @gourmetnewsmag on Twitter – we both spend a lot of our time during the show tweeting our way around the exhibit halls, so that can be the surest way to reach out to us while we're there. GN — Lorrie Baumann Editorial Director FROM THE EDITOR

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