Fine Cheese & Charcuterie February 2014

As I write this, I am just back from attending Ambiente, the international housewares trade show in Frankfurt, Germany. What was a food editor doing at a housewares show, you ask? In addition to filling in for a colleague who was unable to travel, the fact is that in another life, I was the housewares buyer for Dean & DeLuca in New York. In fact, I used to attend this same show with my boss, Joel Dean, back before it was even called Ambiente. In those days, it was simply called the Frankfurt Fair. Needless to say, it has changed a lot in the 20-odd years since I last walked those aisles. Many companies that I used to buy from have evolved to the point where I hardly recognized them; and the show overall has become much more sophisticated and high-tech. But then haven’t we all?

It was great fun to reacquaint myself with the hard- goods side of the gourmet industry, see old friends and experience once again the city of Frankfurt, which has grown considerably in the past couple of decades. For those interested, I’ll be writing about the show and the products I saw in the April issue of Gourmet Business. If you think that side of the industry doesn’t pertain to you as food people, think again. The pots and pans, cutlery and bakeware, small electrics, and even the tabletop products are as much a part of this business as cheese and charcuterie.  They are the products that ultimately will prepare, serve and store the perishable goods sold in this industry, and I believe it would behoove everyone to pay some attention to the trends and innovations going on in the housewares business. Of course, many retailers already carry both food and housewares, just like the famous Big Apple emporium where I cut my teeth as a buyer (I like to say I went to graduate school at Dean & DeLuca) and first began to seriously learn about specialty foods. I hope you’ll take a look at our Ambiente roundup. You might just see something for your own store that you suddenly can’t live without.

In a relatively short time, goat cheese has become one of America’s favorite foods for snacking and for cooking. In “Passport to Fine Cheese” this month, page 5, we take a look at the phenomenon and some of the pioneers that launched an American industry. Not so coincidentally, our “Shop Talk” interview this month, page 8, is with a legendary goat cheese producer, Jennifer Lynn Bice of Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery in Sonoma, Calif. Bice invites us into her enviable world, telling us how she got started as an award-winning goatherd and cheesemaker, and shares her thoughts on the industry and where it’s headed.

All that good cheese needs a good vehicle on which to serve it and, in that regard, our feature story this month, “Going Crackers: Choosing Vehicles for Great Taste” (page 11), looks at the incredible variety of crackers in the market today. For one who grew up on saltines and Ritz crackers – both of which I still love – the range today is staggering, to say the least, and mirrors the current selection of cheese and meats.

With the Winter Fancy Food Show behind us, the contents of our “Products We Love” section, page 15, are gleaned entirely from the aisles of San Francisco’s Moscone Center, including cheese, cured meats, olive oils, condiments and confections. The show also saw the debut of our newest publication, Fine Foods Quarterly, compiled and edited by my talented colleague Joanne Friedrick, and devoted to specialty foods. It’s intended to coincide with the two Fancy Food Shows as well as once in spring and once in fall to give more coverage to the many fine food producers and importers, as well as taking a closer look at trends and categories within this huge segment of our industry. I hope you’ll check it out. Cheers.

James Mellgren
Managing Editor,
Fine Cheese & Charcuterie 

jmellgren@gourmetbusiness.com