GB Fine Cheese & Charcuterie June 2015

Someone once wrote that after a visit to Rome, one realizes that Fellini made documentaries. This may be an exaggeration but not by much. It’s a magical city, very beautiful, full of equally beautiful and interesting people, and in my experience, the food is simply unbelievable. Sadly, I have only been to Rome once, and it was several years ago, but it was a memorable trip full of revelations to me about food, Italian cheese and salumi, and insights into the Italian culture and table. I even learned a thing or two about customer service. If you’re not yet tired of my travelogues after last month’s trip to Spain, I’m very pleased to share my impressions of Rome in this month’s Passport to Fine Cheese, page 7. 

And speaking of customer service, it’s one of the most important things to set you apart from your competition and a key component in establishing your store as a destination for shoppers, making sure they pass by all the other shops they could just as easily go to and come to yours instead. We share some thoughts on that subject as well as other pieces of the retail puzzle in our feature, 

We also take a look at two wonderful new cookbooks that relate to the deli, “Yogurt” and “Fresh & Fermented” (page 15). They are fitting companion pieces as they both rely on the world’s oldest method of preservation, the miraculous process of fermentation, a process that also gives us cheese, chocolate, wine, beer and spirits, among many other foods. Happily, in addition to making the raw ingredients even more delicious, these foods are really good for you and could just be the key to a long and healthy life. I’ll drink to that! 

We also have our usual product gallery full of interesting new things for the deli shelves and Margaret Eckert’s Rules and Regulations column with the latest information important to anyone in the perishable food business. 

I hope to see many of you this month in New York for the Summer Fancy Food Show. Our gang will all be there, either in our booth or scouring the aisles looking for trends and new products. Travel safe and we’ll see you there. 

Cheers. 

James Mellgren, Managing Editor 

Fine Cheese & Charcuterie 

jmellgren@gourmetbusiness.com