Welcome to a new year of Gourmet Business Fine Cheese and Charcuterie, a publication dedicated to covering the specialty food industry. The 2016 edition of the Winter Fancy Food Show will be special for us because our colleague Ed Loeb will be inducted into the Specialty Food Association’s Hall of Fame. The Gourmet Business team congratulates Ed for this well-deserved honor.
We consider ourselves fortunate to draw on Ed’s vast ex- perience in the industry, and our publication undoubtedly benefits from his valuable input. For those of you who may not know him as well, I offer you these kind words from our VP of Sales Brad Simon:
“I don’t know of anyone that enjoyed or looked forward
to going to work every morning as much as Ed Loeb. His love of the specialty food and housewares market, as well as the people involved in the industry, always gave him great joy. Ed has become an icon within this industry. He considered the companies, and the people running them, as friends, not just accounts.”
“When Ed started publishing The Gourmet Retailer maga- zine, the gourmet industry was just coming alive. Many of the companies were just realizing that the products they had for the restaurant trade were becoming more applicable for the “Gourmet Market.” Ed cut his teeth in the restaurant supply business (a family-owned company), and his wife, Melinda, was a cooking instructor. When the opportunity was offered to Ed to publish TGRM, Ed happily gave up his law practice, and in his own words, ‘never looked back.’”
“To this day, Ed still has more energy than those many years his junior, and still looks at selling as an art form. Nothing makes him happier than participating in a mar- ket with exceptional foods, innovative kitchen products, and bright entrepreneurs. He relishes the opportunity to participate in the introduction of new products to market, and help his clients grow their business.”
“Ed did change this market in a lot of ways, was instrumental in bringing a number of people together, and was influential in many a company marriage. And for all of
the ways he bene ted this industry, he really only wanted one thing in return. One evening Ed told me that all he really wanted in life was to be liked. Being inducted into the Hall of Fame is the Specialty Food Association’s way of showing this industry’s appreciation for a man who has given a great deal to benefit many.”
David Spencer
Publisher, Gourmet Business
President, HousewaresDirect, Inc.
dspencer@gourmetbusiness.com