From 9 a.m – 11 a.m. the Sunday morning events are before the stores open to the public. Crate and Barrel staff will be on hand to give their “expert advice” ( I think this means up-register. Yes, you should register for the $1,000 AllClad set! ) and according to the Crate and Barrel Web site, there will be music, food and drinks.

A smart move on Crate and Barrel’s part, they’ve partnered with Real Simple magazine to promote The Wedding Party events to Real Simple readers via email. That’s how I learned about these events. Unfortunately, I am a two-hour drive from the nearest Crate & Barrel—otherwise you’d know I’d be there. If you pop in, email me with the scoop.

Gift registries are a wonderful service for independent retailers to offer their clients. These services help stores establish customer loyalty, drive traffic and build sales. And there are registry options for independent retailers, such as Your Registry Inc.

I recently wrote an article for the September 2009 issue Gourmet News about the Small Business Administration’s ARC loan program—a mini bailout for sustainable businesses that need some dough to make it. Once it is posted, I’ll link to it here.

No one wants to talk to the press when her or his company falls on tough times, but in case you’re willing to share, I’d love to hear from you.

Even though 2008 was riddled with financial turmoil, the specialty food industry managed to ring up $48 billion in sales at retail, an 8.4 percent increase over 2007, according to the report from the National Association of the Specialty Food Trade, Mintel International and SPINS.

Consumers are buying more specialty foods, and 74.3 percent are buying them at the supermarket while 18.2 percent of shoppers are purchasing them from specialty food retailers.  So just what are shoppers putting in their carts when it comes to specialty foods? Drum roll, please….

Top 10 specialty food categories *

1. Cheese & Cheese Alternatives $3.41 billion

2. Condiments $2.43 billion

3. Entrees, Pizza & Convenience Foods $1.70 billion

4. Meats, Poultry & Seafood $1.54 billion

5. Chips, Pretzels & Snacks $1.39 billion

6. Frozen Desserts $1.34 billion

7. Bread and Baked Goods $1.10 billion

8. Refrigerated Juices & Functional Beverages $1.06 billion

9. Coffee, Coffee Substitutes & Cocoa $1.01 billion

10. Shelf-Stable Sauces, Salsas & Dips $870 million

*Source:  Mintel/National Association of the Specialty Food Trade

What’s even more entertaining than Sorenson’s creative interjections of F bombs are the readers’ comments. Folks are opinionated on their brews, and New Yorkers are no exception. With a roaster up and running in Brooklyn, the first N.Y.C. Stumptown cafe is set to open this summer inside the Ace Hotel at 29th and Broadway, according to the New York magazine article. Next month when I head down to NYC for the Fancy Food Show,  I plan to check it out, as well as the new Joe’s on the Upper West Side.

What other NYC coffee shops should be on my coffee tour? Drop me a line and let me know.

For a specialty food supplier, a company tasting room or retail store can be the ideal place to showcase your products.

Ahmed Rahim, cofounder of Numi Organic Tea, says the Numi Tea Garden in Oakland, Calif., has “driven a lot of interest around the brand.” In addition to being open to the public Tuesday – Saturday, the tea salon doubles as a showroom. It’s the perfect place for the organic and fairly traded tea company to bring in its retail customers and introduce them to the entire line of organic and fairly traded teas.

When the space isn’t being used for tea aficionados listening to live music, the room is available to rent Tuesday-Saturday for private events.

Back in October 2007, Numi Organic Tea opened the tea salon just around the corner from its 25,000-square-foot corporate facility. A space crunch at the headquarters spurred the search for more office space for its marketing department. The bi-level, 4,500-square-foot-space features skylights, high ceilings and a center room perfect for a tea shop.

Numi wanted to create a comfortable, ecofriendly environment at its new location that is reflective of the philosophy behind its fairly traded, organic teas and tisanes. The space features a marble tea bar imported from China. Numi employees built 10 mosaic tabletops constructed from handpainted ceramic tiles Rahim salvaged. Sustainable wood chairs complement the table and couches flank the walls. The space comfortably sits about 50-70 people.

If you’re interested in visiting the Numi Tea Garden or want to take a virtual tour, click here. 

Numi's Tea Garden in Oakland, Calif., is open Tuesday-Saturday. It is available to rent for private events.

If you’re a registered user of GourmetNews.com, you can check this out story I wrote: 

Numi Tea opens tea garden, store

By Anna Wolfe – 10.2007

NEW YORK—When the Housewares Design Awards are handed out Jan. 20, a new category—Green House Design Award—will showcase the outstanding products for ecofriendly living.

As I’ve written in previous posts and articles for Gourmet News, green has been one of the year’s big buzz words. And for a product to win these bragging rights—”my product was named the greenest housewares product of them all”—gives them a leg up when marketing their products to persnickety retail buyers and the eco-aware consumers these products often target. 

When the Housewares Design Awards announced the finalists for its sixth annual competition earlier today, the press release said the green category was being added. In all, 65 finalists in 13 categories were chosen by an independent panel of judges looking for superior design, appearance, function and originality. Criteria also included performance, ergonomic comfort, ease-of-use, safety, innovative materials and technology and market response. And these products are relatively new. To be considered, products were introduced to the U.S. market between Oct. 1, 2007 and Sept. 30, 2008.

Finalists are listed here. I’m going to review the list & in an upcoming post predict my pics for the green winner.

Winners will be announced  on Jan. 20, 2009, at the New York Marriott Marquis here. The Housewares Design Awards are presented by HomeWorld Business, with educational support from the International Housewares Association and sponsorship by DuPont Teflon.  I wonder if Teflon had a vote in the Green category? 

Cook’s Snow White Goat Cheddar bested 1,149 other entries to receive the title. The goat’s milk cheese placed first in its class. Cook’s Cave Aged Marisa took home the third-runner up in the best in show round– where all first-place cheeses from the 70-plus categories are judged a second time. A complete list of winners can be downloaded from the ACS’s Web site, http://www.cheesesociety.org). Meadow Creek Dairy, in Galax, Va., received the second runner-up honors for its farmstead, washed-rind cheese Grayson.

In this year’s cheese competition, Carr Valley took home 16 awards. Last year, Cook took home 28 ACS awards, a record for a single cheese maker—and more than the state of Vermont! “I was down a little this year,” Cook said, half-joking. “It was about quality, not quantity.”

Cook kinda has a rock-star status at the ACS competition. Back in 2004, Cook, who is a fourth-generation cheesemaker, won the Best in Show for his Gran Canaria.
Because it has won the top accolade possible, Cook will retire the Snow White Goat Cheddar from the award circuit. It’s the same philosophy he applied to his 2004 Best in Show winner Gran Canaria, a mixed-milk, pungent cheese with a crumbly body similar to parmesan that’s aged a minimum of two years in extra-virgin olive oil.

While Carr’s Best in Show cheeses are retired from the award circuit, they continue to be made and distributed to retailers and at Carr Valley’s stores in Wisconsin. Why keep re-entering a cheese once “it’s already been named the best,” Cook 

Or if you prefer the text-only version, these articles are also at www.gourmetnews.com
Next generation of nonstick Cookware manufacturers surge forward in eliminating PFOAs 08.2008

GreenPan to span the world 08.2008

• Nettle Meadow – Honey Lavender Fromage Blanc, distributed by The CheeseWorks Ltd., Ringwood, N.J.

• Black Truffle Butter from Transatlantic Foods Inc., New York

• Parsley Chimichurri Sauce in Sauces ‘n Love Inc., Somerville, Mass.

• Ketchup from Zukay Live Foods in Elverson, Pa.

• Das Caramelini’s assorted box of salted caramels from Das Foods, Chicago

• Miller’s Stones – Oaty and Crumbly from Cheese From Britain, with U.S. offices in Cincinnati

• Unsalted Chicken Stock from Kitchen Basics Inc., Brecksville, Ohio

• Mediterranean Salad Sprinkles from Sheffa Foods, Sharon Hill, Pa.

• Tartufo Handcrafted Italian Salami from Creminelli Fine Meats, Washington, D.C.:

• Smoke Roasted Chilean Sea Bass from Ducktrap River of Maine, Belfast, Maine

If you are a qualified retail buyer and attending the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York, you can cast your vote for the Oustanding New Product—and while you’re at it, vote for your faves in the other 31 categories June 29 and the morning of June 30. (Finalists in the other 31 categories were announced April 17.)
The Best New Product Submissions were judged on quality, taste, innovation, packaging, ingredients and pricing. The judges were: Kara Rubin, Whole Foods Market; Brian Caplan, Bacchus Wine & Spirits; Shirley Cheng, Culinary Institute of America; Robert Sickles, Sickles Market; Michelle Cosmo, Crate & Barrel; Liz Neumark, Great Performances; and Marge Perry, magazine and newspaper columnist.