As I write this my colleagues and I are preparing to head off to Cologne, Germany for Anuga, the world’s largest trade show devoted to food. I look forward to the trip every two years. The city of Cologne (Köln) is a charming and very manageable place in which to attend a trade show. The Kölnmesse, the conglomeration of buildings where the show is held, is located just across the scenic and historic Rhine River from the heart of the city. Cologne is full of great restaurants ranging from traditional and modern German fare to those catering to international tastes. The show itself is a marvel, with foods from every corner of the globe represented, from raw materials to the most exquisitely packaged gourmet specialties. Walking the aisles at Anuga is a great opportunity to see new products, trends and innovative packaging ideas that are destined to come to our shores in the near future.
Planning this year’s trip has been a little bittersweet though. Over the years of attending the show we would often meet up with our friend Joel Schuman, owner and founder of Source Atlantique. We were very sad to learn that Joel had passed away earlier this year. Joel was a terrific guy, a great dinner companion, and a steady flow of knowledge and information. Whether we were discussing sea salt or balsamic vinegar or the state of the world, Joel could always be counted on to have a well thought out opinion and his knowledge of the many great food products he imported and help pioneer was second to none. I will miss him very much and I’m sure we’ll think of him often in Cologne this year.
I must point out that in the last issue where I wrote about Fabrique Délices I failed to include a photo I had of one of the owners, Marc Poinsignon. He’s too much of a professional to ever mention it to me but I wanted to atone for my sin nevertheless so I include the picture of Marc here.
We also have the second half of our review of the Summer Fancy Food Show in this issue with lots of great products for those of you who couldn’t go or may have missed these, and an ode to feta cheese in “Passport to Fine Cheese.” And, as always we have Margaret Eckert’s informative column on “Rules & Regulations”, a must read for anyone in the food business. Happy autumn everyone. We’ll be back soon with news from Anuga in the nest issue.
Cheers.
James Mellgren, Managing Editor
Fine Cheese & Charcuterie
jmellgren@gourmetbusiness.com