Gourmet Business February 2017

I’m kicking o February by packing my bags to head for Frankfurt, Germany to attend Ambiente, the annual trade show that is the premier showcase for the latest and most stylish housewares products. We previewed the show last month in these pages and I hope many of you took heed and made your travel arrangements because it’s a great show where buyers can see products that will be headed this way very soon. Frankfurt is also a wonderful city with some terri c restaurants and an easy-to-navigate train system, and for non-German speakers, virtually everyone working at the show, as well as in the hotels and restaurants speaks English (among many other languages). Hopefully we’ll see you at the show and as always, let us know if you need some recommendations for dinner. 

Of course, once we’re back we’ll start planning our trip to two other important trade shows. First, the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California which we are previewing in this issue. It’s a fascinating show full of both fresh and shelf stable foods to share with your customers, and a great escape from the probably still cold late winter weather in most of the country. Next up is Chicago for the International Home + Housewares Show in March, where incidentally, we’ll be once again hosting the Gourmet Business Pavilion, an informal exhibit of new food and housewares products that are not yet exhibiting at the show. I hope you are planning to go to Chicago as it is without doubt the most important exhibition for kitchenware, tabletop, cutlery, gifts and other housewares in the United States. We’ll be offering a full preview of the IH+HS in the next issue and printing it for the show so you can have it for a road map to some of the best new products .

Spring is right around the corner so it’s time to restock the shelves and get ready for the many sales opportunities of spring and summer, and to start thinking about fall. We’ll be with you all the way and we look forward to seeing you in the aisles at whatever shows you plan to attend. 

James Mellgren 

Managing Editor, Gourmet Business 

jmellgren@gourmetbusiness.com