Kitchenware International

KitchenWare INTERNATIONAL March/April 2016

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1954 Ted Nierenberg founds Dansk. Jens Quistgaard designs the JVTWHU`»Z Ä YZ[ SVNV ¶ MV\Y ducks, a mother and three ducklings, swimming in the three major canals VM *VWLUOHNLU ¶ symbolic of the Dansk ‘family’ of products to be.

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1960 The current Dansk logo, and its unique typeface, designed and drawn by Jens Quistgaard. Dansk introduces Jens Quistgaard’s Classic ;LHR 0JL )\JRL[ ¶ THKL PU +LUTHYR from 1961 to 1973, using an inventive IHYYLS THRPUN [LJOUPX\L

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by Niels Refsgaard. Bistro is a casual stoneware shape made of durable porcelain... another Ä YZ[ MVY [OL < : market. Still available.

Kobenstyle

by Jens Quistgaard Dansk Kobenstyle cookware and [HISL^HYL PZ [OL JYLH[PVU VM PUÅ \ ential designer Jens Quistgaard. A collaboration between Quistgaard and entrepreneurs Martha and Ted Nierenberg helped to bring the Kobenstyle line to the masses, THRPUN P[ VUL VM [OL TVZ[ PJVU

1986 +LZPNU 2L[[SL I` 3VYLUaV 7VYJLSSP This spoutless design is based on the water Å V^ KYH^PUNZ VM 3LVUHYKV KH =PUJP Winner of the IDSA Gold Award in 1986.

ic and recognizable examples of Scandinavian design in homes all over the world.

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1987 Mesa dinnerware by Kathy >PSSZ ¶ HWWSPJH[PVU VM solid reactive glaze color with brush work, turned this simple shape into one of Dansk’s top performers.

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1990 Arabesque handpainted porcelain by Niels Refsgaard ¶ manufactured in the Philippines by a factory that Niels developed from a small pottery. Still available in Japan.

1993 /HUUH Z[LT^HYL I` 5PLSZ 9LMZNHHYK ¶ named after Hanne, Niels’ wife. Still available.

2003 Michael Graves teams with Dansk to develop a SPMLZ[`SL MVJ\ZLK SPUL JVUZPZ[PUN VM [HISL^HYL ZLY]L^HYL kitchen prep and cookware products.

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2004 7YLJPZPVU I` 9VIPU 3L]PLU a lifestyle collection of porcelain dinnerware, flatware, glassware and wood.

Shown left to right: Kobenstyle 1 quart saucepan with lid, 3 quart saucepan with lid, butterwarmer with lid, and 6 quart casserole with lid.

Celebrating OV E R 60 Y E A R S O F D E S I G N

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new Creative Tops is proud to presents the new Stir It Up collection from Creative Bake.

A stylish collection of bakeware, tableware and textiles, Stir It Up features rustic materials such as stoneware, acacia wood and cast iron. Each piece includes quirky slogans and labels with illustrations in a hand-drawn style.

Stoneware pie dishes, acacia chopping boards, and 100% cotton double oven gloves are a few pieces that feature in the collection. Stir It Up stoneware is beautifully crafted in tones of ivory and black and more unusual designs include a stoneware milk carton and ‘Yours’ and ‘Mine’ ramekins.

Trendy slogans such as ‘Daily Grind’, ‘Espresso Yourself’ and ‘Hot Shot’ decorate a set of espresso mugs, while ‘Sweet As Pie’ is etched into rolling pins. Designed in the United Kingdom, this bakeware and homeware is a range of distinct quality and charming rustic style.

Creative House, Corby, NN17 4DU. Tel: +44 (0)1536 207710 www.creative-tops.com

For more info about this range or to order our latest brochure. email: sales@creative-tops.com, marketing@creative-tops.com

C O N T E N T S 16

News A round-up of global news

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Feature: Preparation Tools With the category of kitchen prep products in growth, we investigate

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Retail: Trade Talk German, UK and US cookshop retailers tell us what categories are in growth and what products are selling

KitchenWare INTERNATIONAL

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Retail: Interview We profile one of the UK’s pioneers of the cookshop scene, Kitchens Cookshop

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Kitchenware Hall of Fame We highlight 20 of the most innovative and creative products that launched at the spring shows in this 10-page guide

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Show preview: IHHS Chicago Analysis from the US Show

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Show review: Ambiente 2016 Analysis from the Frankfurt Show COVER Front cover illustration supplied by BergHoff. For more information see the website www.berghoffworldwide.com

KitchenWare INTERNATIONAL March/Apri 2016

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To subscibe to the magazine email: ROBERT THOMAS robert@lemapublishing.co.uk Published by Lema Publishing Ltd. 1 Churchgates, The Wilderness Berkhamsted Herts HP4 2UB PUBLISHING

At the heart Tel: 00 44 (0) 1442 289930 Fax: 00 44 (0) 1442 289950 of retail

pring show season is over: we’ve gone, we’ve looked, we’ve assessed… and this issue shares that assessment, looking closely at the just-concluded shows – Spring Fair, Top Drawer, Homi, Maison, Ambiente, IHHS Chicago – and assessing the overall industry mood, the growth categories and the product innovations reigning kitchen countertop supreme.

A positive mood, plenty of orders, clear trends and product innovation, especially in the categories of bakeware and beverage appliances was the takeaway from Ambiente 2016 (see the full report on page 32) where visitor numbers and internationality were both up from last year.

While owner of UK cookshop retail chain Kitchen Kapers, Gary Gordon, noticed growth and innovation in the juicing sub-category, Kosta Sarafidis, manager of cookshop chain Cook Shop in Greece, saw “an increased focus on environmentally healthy products and ecofriendly materials”.

We highlight some of the innovations as well as report on the gia Product Design awards in our review of the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago on page 34.

To pay even bigger tribute to the cuttingedge innovation and creativity that is driving the housewares industry today, we’ve put together our first-ever Kitchenware Hall of Fame, a stunning 10-page showcase that highlights 20 of the most exciting, creative, innovative and aesthetically-beautiful products launched at the 2016 Spring shows.

From Emile Henry’s recipe-specific Ramekins Collection and Joseph Joseph’s antiwastage storage containers with datable lids to Oxford’s first-ever line of cookware, which embraces anti-microbial technology, check out the KI Hall of Fame starting on page 21.

What was especially noticeable at Ambiente and IHHS Chicago, in particular, was the larger category of small electrical appliances, which continues to increase its share of the market

“Paying tribute to the cutting-edge innovation and creativity driving the industry today, we’ve put together our first-ever Kitchenware Hall of Fame” delivering plenty of interesting innovations.

In addition to small kitchen appliances, from coffee makers to juicers to mixers, retailers are reporting that bakeware, professional knives, kitchenware as giftware, and products that aid healthy eating and cooking are categories currently excelling on the cookshop scene. Check out what this month’s retailers from Germany, the UK and the US have to say in Trade Talk on page 16.

We also profile one of the UK’s pioneers of the cookshop scene – Kitchens Cookshop.

Born in 1968, this successful chain of four cookshops continues to reap the rewards of its early retail recognition and is now one of the most successful specialist kitchenware stores in the UK. From its passionate and expert staff and award-winning training programmes to its show-stopping window displays and interactive in-store events, we talk to co-director Karen Carnovale to find out the secrets of its success.

“You can’t just be a shop today, retail is interactive, you have to offer something extra,” says Karen.

Read all about it on page 18.

Finally, catch up with all the latest news, views and debuts of the spring season starting on page 6.

Kate Birch

The Team EDITOR KATE BIRCH kate@lemapublishing.co.uk

PUBLISHER MARK NAISH mark@lemapublishing.co.uk

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR PAUL NAISH paul@lemapublishing.co.uk

ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER PAUL YEOMANS pyeomans@lemapublishing.co.uk

MANAGING DIRECTOR MALCOLM NAISH malcolm@lemapublishing.co.uk

DESIGNER MARIAN MCNAMARA marian@lemapublishing.co.uk

news

WMF Group to launch online store on JD.com

Le Creuset launches tropical palette At the spring shows, including Ambiente and Chicago, Le Creuset introduced its new range Oasis, which features a colour palette of tropical brights that embody the relaxed yet luxurious spirit of outdoor entertaining. The palette mixes the fresh green of Palm, the lemony yellow of Soleil, the azureblue of Caribbean and the blush pink of the brand’s latest limted edition hue, Hibiscus. This bright, refreshing assortment reflects exoticism and brings paradise to people’s gardens. Oasis is available in all Le Creuset categories – cast iron, stoneware, tools/accessories, stockpots and teakettles.

Homi Milano reveals kitchen trends The January edition of Homi Milano, which took place January 29 – February 1, shone a spotlight on the kitchen and table, delivering next-generation cookware made of high-tech materials and in energy-efficient shapes, designed to conduct heat more effectively as well as ingenious water ovens that are convenient, efficient and space-saving and that can also be used for low-temperature sousvide cooking. “We’ve noticed more attention paid to the areas of environmental sustainability and consumer health, from pans designed with the aim of reducing cooking time to new technologies like vacuum cooking and the return of natural materials,” says Cristian Peireta, exhibition manager.

The next edition of Homi takes place September 16-19.

Following the fantastic success of our first collaboration, I am delighted to announce this new collection of boards and home accessories. I’ve always collected boards and use them for everything from chopping to presentation. I love how tactile and attractive the beech wood is and how it mellows with age. Working alongside the wonderful team at T&G once again, we’ve been able to create two styles of rolling pin and a set of spoons, which are essential additions to any kitchen!

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Cookery writer and designer Sophie Conran on her latest collection in collaboration with T&G Woodware, a new range of wooden boards and kitchen accessories comprising four new wooden boards, two wooden rolling pins and a set of three wooden spoons, crafted from natural FSC-certified beech wood.

6 KITCHENWARE INTERNATIONAL

The WMF Group, the leading premium German dinnerware and kitchenware brand, which was established over a century ago, recently signed an agreement with Jingdong platform. The WMF Group plans to launch its online flagship store on JD.com in May 2016. As the largest B2C platform in China, Jingdong commands ever-greater attention around the world.

This cooperation provides concrete proof that Jingdong is welcomed by brands worldwide. Chinese consumers are now visiting JD.com to conveniently purchase high-end kitchenware manufactured by international famed brands. Roger Lam, general manager China consumer goods at WMF, believes it will “bring great success for the WMF Group in China” and hopes it will “help Chinese consumers become more familiar with the brand”. WMF plans to launch its full range on JD.com.

Stagg PourOver Kettle

NY NOW

5 minutes with…

awards announced Paul Hollywood Best products were recognised in a number of awards at the winter 2016 edition of NY NOW, which took place in January. Firstly, in conjunction with interior digital resource Apartment Therapy, NY NOW selected the winner of the Best in Market Award.

Enter the Stagg Pour-Over Kettle by Fellow, which, say judges, stood out among the nine category winners of the Best New Product Awards.

“The Stagg Pour-Over Kettle was the stand-out product for us because of its craftsmanship, design and potential,” says founder of Apartment Therapy, Maxwell Ryan. The kettle is designed to create the perfect pourover, with a brew-range thermometer that highlights the optimal brew temperature, a precision pour spout and a counterbalanced handle that shifts the centre of mass closer to the user’s hand for an easier pour.

Recognising eco-friendly, socially responsible products, the NY NOW Eco Choice Awards awarded three product awards, including Bee’s Wrap in the Most Sensitive Use of Materials category.

What More UK rebrands PushPan Producer of premium and commercial quality bakeware, What More UK has re-launched the PushPan bakeware brand/technology – a range of loose-bottomed bakeware with patented technology offering consumers the only truly 100 per cent leak-proof and watertight loose-based bakeware in the world – that it acquired late last year. “We have new packaging and an extended product range in order to drive forward the brand as a key player in the bakeware sector,” say the What More UK. www.whamproducts.co.uk

OXO enters glassware category This year marks Oxo Good Grip’s first foray into the world of glass. With more than 25 years behind it, the brand is renowned for its innovative products that make cooks’ lives easier. Its new Glass Bakeware and Food Storage Container lines, which launched first in the US (at IHHS Chicago) are constructed of borosilicate glass, which can withstand extreme temperature changes, so they can go from oven to freezer. The glass baking dishes deliver generous handles and a convenient lid.

Following Kitchen Craft’s announcement of its partnership with highly-acclaimed baker and presenter of The Great British Bake Off, TI took time at the recent UK trade show Spring Fair to talk to Paul about the collaboration. www.kitchencraft.co.uk Baking is having a bit of a renaissance. Why do you think that is?

Baking has become a hobby again and now appeals to everyone; a lot of people work hard and gain satisfaction from spending their downtime achieving something tangible. Food creates that feel-good factor and appeals to emotions; there’s nothing better than creating something that people openly appreciate and enjoy. There are so many good products and ingredients available that are specifically created to foster cooking at home that I believe artisanal baking is here to stay and will likely increase.

And, has The Great British Bake Off contributed to its popularity?

I think it has undoubtedly had an impact. However, don’t underestimate the pulling power of other baking or cookery influences like magazines, diets and media generally.

You’ve created a range of baking products with Premier Foods, due to launch 2016, and now you’ve collaborated with Kitchen Craft on bakeware. Why now?

I took time before launching product with my name on it, until I could find the right partner who could make what I felt would significantly improve baking results and address the frustrations bakers have with existing kit. I also wanted to limit the number of partnership agreements I entered into, to focus on making a unique product with several key partnerships and not dilute my expertise by opening up to more.

Why Kitchen Craft, in particular?

I have a number of their products at home and have always enjoyed using their bakeware, so it was a natural first port of call when I wanted to develop a housewares range that was baking tools-focused. It felt like a comfortable working relationship from the start where both parties wanted to create innovation within the baking category. I think Kitchen Craft’s latest bakeware developments are hugely innovative but extremely simple and this is exactly what I wanted to add to products – simple tweaks that really improve the functionality. I want people to pick up items in this range and think, “Oh, that’s great, but why on Earth has this never been thought of before! “They seem to know what users want from their bakeware and have such a good reputation for making their products actually work and stand out.

How does the collaboration work?

It literally was a meeting of minds. Kitchen Craft has been really easy to work with, listened to my frustrations with certain products, lack of availability of what I consider good essential bakeware products, and brought their experience of manufacturing capabilities, design trends and consumer insight, to ensure we have a range people want to buy. Having knowledge of how the food should turn out means that I can suggest design elements which would make it so much easier for novice and experienced bakers to have an overall better experience and results.

Finally, tell us about the range...

It’s very comprehensive, appealing to male and female, focused on bakeware and baking prep tools and accessories that are both desirable and functional. There are almost 60 items catering to the growing popularity in homemade baking beyond cakes, such as bread, pies and puddings. I think many items will change the traditional shape and form forever; like the pie dolly – traditional ones don’t have these holes and grooves, so as you form the pastry and try to remove it; it’s tricky and you risk breaking the pastry case. The holes and grooves break the vacuum, so it’s simple to remove.

The gold colour on the bakeware is perfect as the quality non-stick is there but it looks softer, is great to bake with, and I’m reliably informed by Kitchen Craft, is bang on trend.

KITCHENWARE INTERNATIONAL 7

news

90 design awards in 20 years for Fiskars The prestigious German Design Awards 2016 at Ambiente proved an amazing occasion for Fiskars design when the company’s branded products gained recognition from the world-renowned German Design Council. Three German Design Awards for Fiskars this year, incuding a Special Mention in the Kitchen category for the Functional Form series, now brings the company’s design award tally to an impressive 90 in 20 years. Functional Form is one of the three segments from the range of household products from Fiskars; the range includes a wide array of kitchen accessories, and cookware. The latest products are the Go Breakfast kitchen accessories, which have been designed to make breadkfast preparation as straightforward and convenient as possible. The German Design Awards jury felt the Functional Form series was “a well-thought out line of easy-to-use products that also excel thanks to their contemporary design”.

Spring fair review What the exhibitor says…

“ Don’t miss…

Gibson at 41 Madison Gibson Overseas, Inc. plans to make a splash at the April New York Tabletop Show with a wide range of fashionforward brands and collections. The star of the show will be the new multi-category Laurie Gates line, providing “retailers with the opportunity to deliver a fashion-forward statement across multiple categories for the table and whole kitchen,” says Gibson brand marketing manager, Tania Gabbay. In New York, Gibson will showcase Laurie Gates product in cutlery, cookware, bakeware, melamine, flatware, dinnerware, gadgets/tools and serveware that appeals to Millennials, Baby Boomers and everyone in between.

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Spring Fair forms a key element to Kitchen Craft’s sales and marketing activity and this year we had two stands, one in Hall 9, the other for our Fred kitchen gift range in Hall 7.

It’s an ideal launch platform for the independent sector. We planned the pre-launch of our new Paul Hollywood bakeware collection at the show and we were completely blown away by the buzz both this and our other launches generated. Our Spring/Summer 2016 launch was extensive with new ranges and items and significant repackaging investment in our Kitchen Craft branded range. We couldn’t have been more delighted with the reactions to these; and we were delighted with the relaunch of the Fred brand in the UK, offering totally unique gifts.

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Claire Budgen, marketing director, Kitchen Craft

news in brief Thomas receives further award The recently-launched Kitchen by Thomas collection has picked up a further award, honoured with the renowned iF Design Award 2016. The range had already picked up a German Design Award 2016.

Lenox French Chefs expands Launched last year the French Chefs brand from Lenox has been so successful, it has recently expanded to include 5-ply cookware featuring ergonomic handles (sold as 10-piece sets as well as open stock) and a coffee press.

Fiskars simplifies operations Fiskars Group is transferring its regional distribution centre operations from Germany to a partner operated distribution centre in the Netherlands “enabling us to be more flexible, and due to its central location in the Netherlands, allowing us to serve our customers more efficiently and on a larger scale in all of Europe,” says Tiina Nieminen, vice-president, logistics at Fiskars.

Falcon announces new distribution UK distributor Falcon Products has announced two exciting new partnership agreements, which were reached at Spring Fair. It is now the official UK distributor for Spanish company Pultex, which offers corkscrews and wine accessories; and with UK Sytch Farm Studios, who offer handmade, unique ceramics and wooden boards.

Retailers love Black Cube because it offers a unique combination of features and benefits that consumers want. No matter what the consumer has at home, it doesn’t offer this exclusive set of features. When you combine premium quality and stainless steel cooking results with easy non-stick clean-up and dishwasher-safe convenience, you’ve got a best-of-both-worlds hybrid that creates an exclusive new niche in cookware.

Mark Harris, executive vice-president of sales, Frieling USA, on the award-winning Black Cube, an ultimate cooking surface delivering the best of non-stick and stainless properties that is ideal for frying or sautéing. Frieling has just expanded Black Cube to offer a complete range including frying pans, saucepans, chef’s pan, deep skillet and casserole as well as a new 10-piece set.

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Thomas

Campaign focus for Vitamix at expands awardwinning collection Ambiente At the spring shows, Thomas extended its Kitchen by Thomas series, which launched last year and which has since won multiple awards for its high-quality design, practical uses and low-maintenance yet well-thoughtout mix of porcelain, glass, metal, wood and silicone. In addition to a practical yet stylish herb pot (see page 10), it has launched a new three-piece food box consisting of a base made of porcelain, a wooden board with a slot to hold knives and a practical plastic cover to keep food fresher for longer. Also new is a three-piece set of sieves and a whisk with a beech wood handle, in green or grey, and the existing food containers are now available in glass in two new sizes as well as a measuring jug with a lid. The range now consists of 50 pieces, which can be combined with other pieces, and with all Thomas porcelain series. www.rosenthal.de

Rather than delivering all-new product at this year’s Ambiente fair, kitchenware giant Vitamix was all about delivering communications via a new brand marketing campaign.

Vitamix, a world market leader in highperformance blending, will this year focus primarily on strategic marketing innovations.

The company’s activity will include eyecatching, shop-in-shop systems as well as extensive visual merchandising material and window design concepts to further support sales.

“With its new point of sale concepts, Vitamix is supporting its trading partners with an emotional and engaging brand presentation for the coming year,” say the brand.

“Seasonal hooks will also allow for a ‘topic and consumer’-oriented presentation enabling ever-new brand perspectives, while Vitamix trade partners can benefit from additional extensive merchandising material, such as brand brochures and decoration concepts,” say the brand.

For more info, visit www.vitamix.com

Whitford launches five innovative non-stick coatings Whitford, makers of the largest, most complete line of non-stick and decorative coatings in the world, has introduced five new coatings for cookware and bakeware. Designed primarily for rice cookers, Tetran provides at least six times the release life of conventional rice cooker non-stick coatings; while bakeware coating Eterna Si has been created for high-sugar-content cake and muffins, offering release that lasts 33 times longer than all conventional bakeware coatings. An improvement on the tough, wear-resistant Eclipse non-stick that Whitford launched previously, the new Eclipse HB can be applied up to 60 microns, lasting 2.5 times longer than all competitive internally-reinforced coatings tested. New Fusion HR offers release that lasts up to 12 times longer than standard sol-gel non-stick coatings and newSkandia Xtreme Plus, a breakthrough in bakeware non-stick coatings, provides consistent migration performance. Contact: sales@whitfordww.com

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When designing the Prep+ range for Loveramics, I thought ‘what do I need in my kitchen’? My focus was on how I could take what is essentially a dull functional product, like a cheese grater, and give it clever details to make it a design piece that is highly functional yet also aesthetically pleasing. It’s about marrying style and function, producing pieces that consumers would want to leave out on their countertop.

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Award-winning designer Simon Stevens on the unveiling of phase 2 of kitchenware collection Prep+ for Loveramics, which includes a stackable storage system, a cheese grater that grates and stores, bowls that nest and lean on all sides and a wasabi grater where the angle of teeth ensure bits easily wash off. Phase 1 of Prep+ won an KITCHENWARE IF Award and is doing well in Selfridges, Heals andINTERNATIONAL Amara.com. 7

news

The Fissler Cooking Academy is set to launch April 2016

Rig-Tig by Stelton

Spotlight on…

Herbs

Cole & Mason

With health and flavour an increasingly key focus for consumers and with more and more consumers cooking from scratch, the product category of prep tools and, in particular, those revolving around herbs and spices, from herb-growing kits to spice grinders, is seeing major growth.

“Consumers are looking for healthier foods, more super ingredients and for help in terms of making good food choices,” says Anna Manicini, vice-president of merchandising, Valu Merchandisers Co. This has seen manufacturers tapping into such growth, delivering more and more products that allow consumers to both grow and prepare their own fresh herbs and spices at home.

And this spring sees a number of introductions.

Under its Cole & Mason brand, DK Brands unveiled the Fresh Herb range designed to make herbs, cut or potted, last longer. Comprising four products, it includes Potted Herb Keepers that use a hydro-felt pad, allowing the plant to draw water as and when it needs it, thereby using up to 40 per cent less water; and a Cut Herb Keeper, which uses a slip and slide lid so herbs are touched less and can last up to 10 days longer.

Rig-Tig by Stelton has also introduced a herb kit to help herbs last longer; with its in-built drainage and space for extra water at the bottom, the Grow-It Herb Pot – a smart self-watering pot – helps keep the soil damp and helps herbs survive even if you forget about them.

Following on from the success of its original 5 Blade Herb Scissor launch, Mastrad has developed a new version that includes a herb stripper (ideal for thyme, rosemary and tarragon) included in the handle, a holder and cleaning tool. Fusionbrands has launched a nifty herb cutter; and Thomas has extended its award-winning Kitchen by Thomas range with a practial yet stylish with three sections, which can water itself thanks to a base made of porous clay.

Fissler to open a Cooking Academy German manufacturer of premium cookware Fissler has announced that it will open a Cooking Academy in cooperation with Kochschule.de, set to launch April 2016. The Fissler Cooking Academy will cooperate with 20 renowned cooking schools throughout Germany where Fissler cookery courses developed in-house will be offered. The first two cookery courses are titled Soul Food and The Art of Fine Frying Aromas. “We will offer our customers not only the best cookware, but also the inspiration and knowledge for a great cooking experience,” says head of marketing, Sabine Kratz. “A cookery course is the perfect occasion for learning something new in a group and enjoying delicious food.” Offering its own cookery courses is a logical step for the brand in developing its customer relationships, with the Fissler Academy already a popular meeting place for hobby chefs in the foreign markets of China and Korea. As part of this cooking academy launch, Fissler’s spring campaign, launched in March, customers who buy specially-labelled products will receive action codes for a free cookery course at the Fissler Cooking Academy.

Despite some mixed economic signals from the US, consumer confidence has strengthened KitchenAid and consumer enters ceramics spending is driving the economy KitchenAid has brought its legendary design and functionality to ceramics this spring with a new range of professional quality pieces for baking, cooking, transporting and serving foods. Easy to store and clean, the durable vitrified ceramic not only stands up to cracking and crazing, but won’t absorb oils or odours and is also safe for dishwasher, oven and freezer use. The range comprises a 2-piece rectangular mini-dish set, 3-piece mixing bowls, a large square ceramic dish, 4-piece ramekins and a 4-piece set of nesting dishes for easy storage. www.kitchenaid.co.uk

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Louise Keely, senior vice-president, Nielsen, whose 2015 online survey showed that consumer confidence in North America had reached its highest level in its 10-year consumer confidence history.

Focus on trends and deals for Christmas at this year’s Exclusively shows!

With the UK’s largest line-up of top-quality homewares suppliers under one roof, it’s easy to spot new market trends and get your Christmas orders placed.

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Exclusively Housewares will run alongside its NEW sister show Exclusively Electrical, designed especially for small domestic appliance buyers

Feature Preparation

It’s all about the prep With consumers increasingly making food from scratch, eating more healthily, and trying more international cuisines, demand for kitchen prep products is in growth. A combination of style, design and functionality is the name of the preparation game

Loveramics This Hong Kong-based ceramics company renowned for its stylish and contemporary tableware has extended its reach in the kitchenware category with a design-led kitchen prep collection. Prep+, designed by awardwinning product designer Simon Stevens. This is a stylish collection of food prep tools created from high-performing materials. The core of the range expresses the brand’s ‘love of ceramics’ utilising beautiful high-fired cream-coloured porcelain to create sensual forms that are the right size, shape and function. The range lets consumers store, cut, crush, squeeze, grate, mix, drizzle and season and includes a grater, chopping board, lemon squeezer and pestle and mortar. The second phase of Prep+ was launched at Ambiente 2016. “It’s about marrying style and function, producing pieces consumers want to leave out on their counter top,” says designer, SImon Stevens.

www.loveramics.com

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ntertaining more at home, leading an increasingly healthy lifestyle and a desire to create more professional food is helping drive sales for kitchen prep products, especially with younger generations.

According to NPD, in 2015, consumers’ relationships with their kitchens evolved as younger consumers looked for more involvement in their food preparation, multi-cultural influences grew, and ‘fresh’ foods became must-haves.

“There is evidence consumers are shifting the meaning of convenience to include an element of freshness,” says Darren Seifer, food and beverage industry analyst at NPD Group.

12 KITCHENWARE INTERNATIONAL

“We expect to see consumers use fresh ingredients in their food in great numbers.”

Lindsey Hoyle, global marketing controller, DKB Household, a company representing brands including Zyliss, Cole & Mason and Jamie Oliver, concurs: “Cooking at home and wanting to know what is in your food has become more than just a fad – it’s now a way of life.”

American brand Nambe, which boasts a kitchenware arm Nambe Gourmet is also seeing a resurgence of the home cook and so a bigger focus on healthy, natural ingredients in meals. “As more consumers want to eat fresh, healthy meals at home, there’s a growing need for the tools

– tongs, spatulas, measuring spoons – required to prepare these dishes,” says Debbie Vogel-Brown, Nambe.

At the same time, explains Darren at The NPD Group, “consumers are seeking ways to create these meals in a short amount of time” leading to demand for preparation products that make prepping food quicker, easier and with minimal clean-up.

Lindsey at DK Brands says: “Consumers are looking for gadgets that make life in the kitchen faster and simpler, with the end result more professional in appearance.

“With increasing time pressures on consumers’ lifestyles, tools which cut the time spent preparing food and are easy to clean afterwards are in growth.

“A kitchen gadget or tool must be easy to clean, use and store if it is to survive in modern day kitchens,” adds Lindsey.

Mayte Lozano, marketing manager, at kitchenware brand Lekue agrees: “Consumers are looking for simple tools but with clever design details that make them easier to use and that simplifies the preparation process, which is why at Lekue we try to simplify tools.”

Saving time is not the only demand of prep tools and gadgets today, however. Multi-functionality is also key as consumers, especially younger consumers with smaller homes, demand less but better

Thomas

Joseph Joseph

Thomas entered the kitchen category last year with its 40-plus piece range Kitchen by Thomas, made up of kitchen prep tools and storage. These everyday essentials, which include utensils, a lemon squeezer, grater, pestle & mortar and mixing bowl with integrated sieve, are highly functional and look great, created from a mix of beautiful materials including porcelain, glass, silicone and wood. The range has secured multiple awards including the Red Dot Award for product design 2015 for its high-quality design, practical use and low-maintenance yet well-thought-out mix of materials.

Extensions were unveiled at Ambiente 2016 and include a herb pot, which waters itself, a 3-piece food food box that boasts a porcelain base, a wooden board with a slot to hold knives and a plastic cover to keep food fresher for longer. A 3-piece set of sieves and a whisk is also new.

Founded in 2003, contemporary kitchenware designer and manufacturer Joseph Joseph has become one of the fastestgrowing companies in the housewares market. They offer highly functional products that embrace good design and innovation, delivering one of the most expansive kitchen preparation tools range on the market. Recently launched prep tools include its ThermoBaste, a 3-piece roasting and basting tool; its Flavouriser, a 4-in-1 tendering and flavouring tool; its Twist Grater, a 2-in-1 etched grater with adjustable handles; and its Multi-function Peelers, a range of four effective peelers with stainless steel blade and ergonomic handles think two different straight-bladed peelers, a serrated peeler and a julienne peeler.

www.rosenthal.de

www.josephjoseph.com

product; while style, good looks and unique design is also key.

“Kitchenware as gifts is a big trend and we’ve been responding by increasingly making product design more attractive, as well as unique,” explains Lindsey at DK Brands, pointing to Zyliss’ Grate ‘n’ Shake, a nifty and stylish little gadget that can be used to grate cheese, chocolate and nuts at the table.

Lekue also sees design and aesthetics in prep tools as really important especially as the kitchen increasingly takes centrestage.

“Consumers are demanding prettier tools that are also functional, comfortable, space-saving and easy to clean”, says Mayte.

For Nambe Gourmet, high design

is a part of their brand DNA and they work with designers like Karim Rashid to develop products that deliver the perfect balance of functionality with great aesthetics.

“People are spending time and money on their kitchens and want good looking tools of the trade – they are willing to spend money on something that is beautifully designed,” says Debbie, pointing to Nambe Gourmet’s Arc Peeler.

Nambe has picked up awards for its Nambe Gourmet kitchenware designs, as have Alessi, Thomas and German cookware brand Fissler, the latter securing the German Design Award and Red Dot Award for its clever kitchen tools, which fuse functionality and an attractive design.

Creating beautiful and highly functional kitchenware, Thomas has entered the kitchen category with its 40+-piece kitchen collection Kitchen

by Thomas, made up mainly of kitchen preparation tools.

From a lemon squeezer and pestle and mortar to a grater and range of utensils, all pieces deliver great functionality, are made of beautiful materials – a mix of porcelain, wood, silicone and glass – and look fantastic.

Thomas is not the only tabletop company expanding into the burgeoning kitchenware prep category. Seeing demand for beautiful yet functional kitchen prep tools, Hong Kong-based tableware company Loveramics recently launched Prep+, a collection of

food preparation tools designed by Simon Stevens. They are made of high-performing materials, delivering functional but stylish prep tools for cutting, crushing, squeezing, grating, mixing and drizzling.

Designer of Prep+, Simon Stevens, says: “My focus was on how I could take what is essentially a dull functional product, like a cheese grater, and give it clever details to make it a design piece that is highly functional and aesthetically pleasing.”

On the next few pages, we highlight some of the companies innovating in this space, designing well-thought-out, clever, spacesaving, multi-functional and goodlooking preparation tools that answer consumer demands today.

KITCHENWARE INTERNATIONAL 13

Feature PREPARATION

Oxo With a commitment to thoughtful design, Oxo delivers more than 800 innovative products, including an array of clever, functional kitchen tools that make prep easier.

The Oxo Good Grips Herb Mincer offers a non-slip grip to keep hands away from the stainless steel blades, while the front end can be used as a scraper to gather the herbs.

The Good Grips Complete Grate & Slice Set has everything consumers need for a variety of grating and slicing tasks. Winning the Design Plus Award 2015 is Oxo’s Simple Mandoline Slicer, which offers three slice thickness settings, a julienne setting and storage setting. The angled stainless steel blade slices even soft foods with ease, the soft handles offers a comfortable non-slip grip; the spring-loaded food holder pushes food for even slicing and little waste. Integrated Inte blades are easy to clean and it all folds for easy storage.

www.oxo.com

Kuhn Rikon Swiss brand Kuhn Rikon offers plenty of prep products. Prep like a pro with Kuhn Rikon’s colourful set of three measuring containers, ideal for organising ingredients when making soups, stews and baked goods. These containers boast easy-to-read measuring marks, from ¼ cup to 2 cups and 50-500ml, to help keep prep accurate. The flat edges scoop items from the cutting board making prep fast and easy, the side grips make them easy to hold and they stack together for space-saving storage.

www.kuhnrikon.com

Fissler

DK Bra Brands With its wide range of kitchenware k brands, including Zyliss, Cole & Mason and Jamie Oliver, DK Brands delivers an array of food preparation products.

The Zyliss range of cooki cooking tools and gadgets are thoughtfully constructed making food prep easier and more enjoyable. In additi addition to the Zyliss Easy Pull Food Processer, a lightweight m manual food processor that makes food prep effortless, one of the bestsellers for Zyliss is the Susi 3 Garlic Press. With Wi its ergonomic design, it fits comfortably in the hand, while the plunger presses the cloves with minimal effor ort. Its inventive design and large capa capacity hopper allows you to mince sseveral cloves of garlic at once and because you can add the cloves unpeeled, your hands remain garlic-free. DK Brands has an office in the UK and in the US.

One of the world’s leading manufacturers of high quality cookware, this German company has a new generation of kitchen helpers designed to help consumers prep faster, more efficiently and effectively. Not only are they clever but, thanks to their attractive design, the Q! kitchen tools have picked up awards, including the German Design Award 2015 and Red Dot Award 2014. Fissler’s multifunctional Q! Multitalent is a tool made of stainless steel and silicone that slices, grates and can also be used as a spatter shield and overboil protector or as a lid. Also in the Q! range comes the fine grater, which offers two different grating surfaces and slip-proof handles; the garlic press cut ‘n’ press, which peels and cuts garlic without crushing it and without making your fingers odorous; and Q! Culinary scissors.

www.fissler.de

www.dkbrands.com

Lifetime Brands Lifetime Brands offers a wide range of cle clever kitchenware prep tools through its various kitchen brands, including Savora and Reo. From Reo comes the recently-launched 11-piece Measure, Mix & Prep Set, an eyecatching collection of bowls that nest together for compact, space-saving storage. From Savora comes the Food Chopper, ideal for chopping and dicing veg, fruit, herbs, nuts and chocolate. The ingenious design incorporates four stainless steel blades that rotate with each depression, facilitating maximum chopping effect. The handle compresses and locks for compact storage and the patented, integrated cutting edge helps users pre-chop vegetables to size.

www.lifetimebrands.com

Homi trend report… “In the new kitchen, high-tech silicone and high performance materials are combined together to achieve supremely personalised concepts that are also ultra-functional. Even something as simple as a trivet is being transformed into a design object.” The Homi Milan Trend Report 14 KITCHENWARE INTERNATIONAL

Alessi This Italian design-led brand has been at the forefront of kitchenware that fuses functionality with high design for decades and its latest offerings continues to bring style to the kitchen. As part of its A/W 2015 collection, Alessi unveiled a potato peeler in 18/10 stainless steel. Through its innovative design, Sfrido offers a unique way of peeling potatoes. Designer Valerio Sommella says: “I wanted to make a product that would be convenient but not perceived as a simple tool; hence the idea to keep the size very compact in order to create a vegetable peeler that, rather than act as an extension of the arm, reduced the distance between the hand and the vegetable, making the gesture more natural.”

www.alessi.com

Uutensil

With the aim of creating new and better ways to prepare food, the uutensil brand was launched by British design company And Design in 2004 and offers some 20 products. Super Smash is a large rotation grind mortar and pestle with a bigger pestle that cleverly fits the curve of the mortar for a larger grinding surface; grooves have been added to the pestle to help capture spices and hold them in place. Spudnik is an innovative rotation potato masher in a unique flower shape designed to be rotated in the bowl rather than pounded. The result is perfect fluffy mash with less effort and in less time. Plus, it’s easier to clean and no clogging. Functional and beautiful, this design is in the Design Museum.

www.uutensil.com

Eva Solo Eva Solo is a Danish-owned design company that develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of high-quality products for the home and kitchen. Eva Solo has launched an ingenious new tool designed by Claus Jensen and Henrik Holbaek. The smart new Cut ‘N Slice cutting wheels cuts through freshly-baked pizzas like a hot knife through butter, and is also the perfect utensil for chopping herbs and spices. Boasting a sharp rotating blade and a plastic handle, which is held in place around the blade with magnets, enabling frictionfree rotation, the plastic handle can easily be unclipped for cleaning and both the blade and handle are dishwasher-safe.

Nambe Gourmet

www.evasolo.com

The kitchenware arm of Nambe, Nambe Gourmet delivers a range of products that bring function and style into the kitchen. They work with various designers to create innovative and good-looking items. Their preparation tools include everything from tongs, spatulas and measuring spoons, to a herb chopper, mortar & pestle, colander and vegetable peeler. Their Curvo All-Purpose Tongs picked up the Red Dot Award and late last year they launched their new Twist Measuring Spoons and design-led Arc Peeler. This Spring, they launched the new Zest Citrus Reamer. Designed by Alvaro Uribe and made of stainless steel and glass, this squeezer offers a convenient spout and handle to squeeze and serve juices.

www.nambe.com

And one for the kids… Opinel Launched at both Ambiente 2016 and IHHS Chicago was an ingenious tool from Opinel, the global international maker of cutting tools and knives for the kitchen and table. Le Petit Chef is the ideal tool for teaching children how to cook safely. This set includes a finger guard, a peeler and a kitchen knife with a rounded tip and educational ring to help position the fingers and prevent the hand from slipping onto the blade. Both knife and peeler have stainless steel blades. www.opinel.com

What the product developer says… “Design that simplifies and enhances usability of a product is almost always well received by the consumer. Conversely, when produts are made more complicated, the consumer’s willingness to bear with the experienced is diminished… an enhance user experience couple with a beautiful design is the winning combination.” Evan Dash, CEO, Storebound, a product innovation company KITCHENWARE INTERNATIONAL 15

Retail Comment

Trade talk From the UK to Germany to Stateside, we talk shop with three international kitchenware retailers

Kitchen a la Mode, US www.kitchenalamode.com

abt Stores, Germany www.abtshop.de Hermann Hutter, MD, abt department stores, Germany, four stores in southern German, which feature large cookware departments Which categories of kitchenware are doing well for abt right now and any products selling particularly well?

The bestselling category at abt stores is small kitchen appliances and multifunctional blenders/mixers, in particular. We are also finding Bakeware popular especially during the wintertime, while winter barbecue is becoming increasingly popular leading to an upsurge in the sales of grills and barbecue equipment. Finally, there is a definite upsurge in men purchasing good knives.

Which trade shows do you visit and why?

Our most important fairs are Maison & Objet, Paris, Christmas World and Ambiente in Frankfurt. In Paris, we always take a deeper look into design, with a focus on sourcing giftware and decorative product, stories and themes. At Ambiente, we are looking mainly for cooking equipment as well as glass and porcelain. For us, the first few shows of the year – Maison and Ambiente – are really about getting an overview of the latest novelties; it is later when we make decisions about what to order.

How do you draw customers into the store?

We have various marketing activities that help to draw customers. Most days we deliver promotions in-store for certain products. We create a magazine called abt-journal six times a year featuring our product offer in inspiring ways and communicating our offer, events and promotions; this reaches more than 350,000 potential customers. We also communicate this and other ideas, inspirations, events and promotions on social media and invest heavily in online advertising. In addition, we have our own cooking school in-store where we offer different-themed cooking sessions four to five days a week.

38 KITCHENWARE 16 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL

Ben Salmon, founder and owner of Kitchen a la Mode, a kitchenware store dubbed “a toy store for grown-ups” in New Jersey, US, that is overflowing with thousands of useful, unusual and fun accessories for cooking and entertaining.

Which categories of kitchenware are doing well for Kitchen a la Mode right now and any products selling particularly well?

Knives are doing well for us – I think it’s a combination of people wanting to be educated consumers and having trust in us not to lead them astray – along with an emphasis on healthy eating and food made with fresh ingredients. The gift category is huge for us, especially as we offer fun but functional kitchenware – American Stonecraft Food Slabs and Rewined Candles are topping our bestseller list. We feel it’s important to stay mission-aligned, however, in any way we can, we combine that with what might be typically considered gift store merchandise. Le Creuset and Swiss Diamond are big for us in cookware, USA Pan dominates our bakeware category and Wusthof, Mercer and Lamson & Goodnow make up much of our knife selection.

Which trades shows do you visit and why?

I love AmericasMart and usually find great new product at its huge Atlanta Home & Gift Show… and often before most of the other shops in my area discover it too. NY NOW is so close, it would be silly not to go, but I find this is where most of the local gift and home shops in the area do their shopping, so it’s hard to be unique just focusing on that show. The Chicago Housewares Show presents a great opportunity to build relationships with my current vendors, discover a few new ones, and fill holes in my merchandise selection.

I also go to the New York Tabletop Show to visit current vendors and stop by some of the other shows at the Javits Centre to disover a new line or two.

How do you draw customers into the store?

It’s all about our curated collection of merchandise, our involvement in the community, our location, our uniqueness, and our friendliness and openness.

Kitchen Kapers, UK www.kitchenkapers.co.uk Gary Gordon, founder and owner of Kitchen Kapers, a kitchenware chain of four independent specialist kitchenware stores in the UK, in Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire.

Which categories of kitchenware are doing well for Kitchen Kapers right now and any products that are selling particularly well?

In terms of categories, bakeware is continuing to do well. While the cup cake craze has died down, we are still finding baking very, very strong and we’ve increased our number of ranges over the years. Cookware performs less well, however, as it has become far more seasonal – a winter product these days with consumers using cookware less in summer. And, with many brands supplying stainless steel ware that lasts 30 years, the market just isn’t there like it once was.

There’s been a big resurgence in juicers of late and we’re also seeing consumers demand more multi-functional space-saving devices, which is why we find Cristel cookware – which offers cookware that nests inside each other and has removeable handles for better storage – is so successful with our customers.

Finally, coffee on-the-go mugs are very popular – we offer Boda mugs and sell loads of them.

Which tradeshows do you visit and why?

We do Ambiente every year – in fact, we’ve been attending the Frankfurt fair in excess of 30 years; we missed a few years here or there but attend most years.

There is just so much to see. This year, as most years, we’ve done or will be doing Maison & Objet, Paris, Top Drawer, Spring Fair, Ambiente, Autumn Fair and Exclusively Housewares – both to meet some of our suppliers and to find new ones. We also like to stay on top of what everyone is doing How do you draw customers into the store?

We generally offer products and brands many kitchenware stores don’t and this has always been a big part of our success; a third of our sales are exclusives, mainly from non-UK sources, which means we don’t stock the same as everyone else. We offer high-end professional and less mainstream brands like Cristel (cookware), Sabatier (knives), Marlux (pepper mills) and BK (cookware). Stocking such brands has allowed Kitchen Kapers to stand out – we’ve carved out a niche for ourselves. Our reputation for personal service – going that extra mile – is also one of the reasons Kitchen Kapers has built such a loyal customer base; they often come in for guidance. We also deliver a range of exclusive high-level services, such as knife sharpening and hiring out of cake tins, extras that force “customers to come into the shop twice”, explains Gary, as well as a special order service that aims to source any item the customer might want or need.

KITCHENWARE INTERNATIONAL17

Retail Kitchens Cookshop

Pioneering the UK cookshop Pioneers of the UK Cookshop scene in the ’60s, specialist kitchenware retailer Kitchens Cookshop continues to reap the rewards of their early retail recognition. We talk staff training, visual merchandising and burgeoning categories with co-director Karen Carnovale

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stablished for nearly 50 years, Kitchens Cookshop began in 1968 as a market stall. Recognising the potential for a permanent shop, founder Douglas Bullock set one up in Bristol just five months later, with a further bricks-and-mortar store opening in Bath in 1979.

“The development of Kitchens in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s coincided with an increasing national interest in cooking, brought about by cheaper foreign travel, TV cookery progammes and some popular cookery writers, most notably Elizabeth David,” says Karen

Carnovale, one of the co-directors of Kitchens Cookshop today.

By 1990, there were three large stores in three major UK cities, Bath, Bristol and Cardiff, alongside a comprehensive award-winning website.

Due to plenty of space - the Bath and Bristol stores extend over three floors, the Cardiff store over two – Kitchens Cookshop is able to offer one of the largest ranges of specialist and everyday cookware and kitchenware in the UK. In fact, the Cardiff store is one of the largest independent specialist cookware stores in the UK. From fish tweezers to cupcake stands, Kitchens Cookshop carries

more than 20 ranges of pots and pans, 14 ranges of knives and at least 20 different potato peelers, and has even secured awards for its comprehensive range.

But it’s not just the company’s trailblazing beginnings and broad offer that has made Kitchens Cookshop one of the most successful specialist kitchenware stores in the UK; its longevity and success has much to do with its staff, who have been acknowledged as amongst the best in the industry.

Since 2000, the company has had six finalists in the Excellence in Housewares Retail Employee of the Year award and has won twice; its

team renowned for their knowledge, passion and expertise.

“Some of our staff have trained and worked in the catering industry and they readily share their vast experience with colleagues and customers,” says Karen, who along with co-director Nicky and general manager Linda, has collectively clocked up more than 90 years at Kitchens Cookshop.

“Others are passionate cooks and have a great deal of knowledge on cooking and cookware,” says Karen, pointing out how the team happily share recipes and cooking experiences with customers as well as advising them on which tools they have personally found to be the best for the job.

Did you know…? In addition to offering the normal Cookshop categories such as Bakeware, Cookware, Small Kitchen Appliances, Kitchen Storage and Knives, Kitchens Cookshop offers supplementary categories like Ingredients and Cook Books delivering the complete 360-degree experience to enthusiast home cooks. For example, within the Cookware Category, you can find dried herbs and spices from Bart and cookbooks like Madhur Jaffrey’s Ultimte Curry Bible. They also offer the supplementary category of Tableware, from Barware and Dinnerware to Cutlery and Serveware, with brands such as Fairmont & Main in dinnerware, Luigi Bormioli in glassware, and Elia and Stellar in cutlery.

18 KITCHENWARE INTERNATIONAL

A selection of window and other displays from Kitchens Cookshop

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New staff complete a thorough training course and we have weekly one-hour training sessions. We encourage staff to further enhance their own product training by testing many of the products for themselves.

Fast facts

Karen Carnovale, co-director, Kitchens Cookshop

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“They are more than just sales assistants, they live food and kitchens and love testing products and passing on their experiences to customers.”

Such amazing customer service comes not only from the selection of staff but from Kitchens Cookshops’ established and comprehensive training programme, which is recognised by the industry and has secured many awards: they have won the Excellence in Housewares Retail Training Award four times.

Karen says: “We invest a great deal of time in training all staff. New staff must complete a thorough training course and we have weekly one-hour training sessions for all the team. We encourage staff to further enhance their own product training by testing many of the products for themselves.”

And, it is the feedback from the staff on products after testing them, along with feedback from customers – gained, thanks to open communication between management and staff and staff and customers – that gives the

company direction in terms of relevant product curation.

“We always listen to our staff – we have an open door policy. And we like to involve them in testing products.

We don’t test everything, we wouldn’t text range extensions, for example, because we already know the range works. But if it’s a new gadget on the market, we will test it out.

“Last year, we discovered Ulster Weavers and their kitchen textiles. We loved their aprons and so tested them out, putting them through the wash a few times.

“We also conduct straw polls with staff; we will select a product type – mugs or garlic presses, for example – and get the staff to vote on favourites.”

In addition, the team attends trade shows within the UK, including Spring Fair, Autumn Fair and Top Drawer, to source interesting new suppliers and exciting new gadgets, and they find the shows especially useful for discovering gifting items in the kitchenware sector.

“We’ve done a lot more gifting recently. Last year, we found Ulster

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Weavers at Spring Fair; we spotted their tea cosies and thought ‘those look interesting’ and we’ve stocked their products, including aprons, ever since.

“Their imaginative aprons are flying off the shelves,” adds Karen.

Karen goes on to say that interesting, design-led aprons is not something the store would have stocked 10 years ago, that that for the past two years they have, in fact, created highly-successful window displays focused on such aprons.

Kitchens Cookshop is renowned for its show-stopping window displays, which they change every two weeks, apart from Christmas, and which are based on themes, seasons or colours.

One of their most successful displays was the washing line window in 2014, which featured a tree painted on the glass, grass in the window and aprons hung on a washing line tied with fishing twine to look like the aprons were blowing in the breeze.

Karen says: “This was hugely successful, partly because it was so different and made people stop in

Number of stores Shows visited Spring Fair, Autumn Fair, Top Drawer

Awards received They’ve secured awards for their comprehensive range, staff training, online excellence, retailing excellence and retail display. These have included numerous Excellence in Housewares Awards; the Global Innovation Award (gia); and Housewares Innovation Gold Award

Categories offered Bakeware, Cookware, Small Kitchen Appliances, Cooks Tools (food prep, utensils, knives, mills and grinders, measuring equipment, cook books) and Kitchenware (storage, children’s corner, textiles, chefs clothing, kitchen trolleys, cleaning, household accessories, ingredients)

Categories selling well Kitchen knives and Giftable Kitchenware

Products selling well Spiralizers, top-end knives

KITCHENWARE INTERNATIONAL 19

Retail Kitchens Cookshop

KitchenAid

Ken Hom Cookware

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In our Cardiff and Bristol stores, we invite local food producers to set up their stalls... it’s proved really popular Karen Carnovale, co-director, Kitchens Cookshop

their tracks. We didn’t put bog standard aprons up either, they were fun and interesting, like the Morrigan aprons with their incredible designs.

“The aprons were flying off the shelves as a result, so much so, we repeated the display again last year and it was just as successful.”

It’s not just the displays that pull customers into the stores, however.

Kitchens Cookshop delivers lots of events and hands-on demos to educate and entertain, helping get customers into the store and trying the products.

“You can’t just be a shop today, retail is interactive, you have to offer something extra,” says Karen.

Kitchens Cookshop offers set events during the year – some supplier-supported, others collaborations with experts, culinary connoisseurs or celebrity chefs.

They have undertaken evening events with The Fabulous Baker Brothers and also with Ken Hom; they have specialist days or evenings, such as Electrical Evening where they demonstrate how consumers can get more out of an appliance like a KitchenAid; and Knife-Sharpening

days, where they bring an expert instore for the day to teach customers how to properly sharpen their knives, simultaneously offering 10 per cent off certain top-end knives.

The stores’ Cake & Bake nights, supported by suppliers like Wilton, Nordic Ware and KitchenAid, and held at Easter or during the TV airing of The Great British Bake Off, have been especially successful, as have the icing demos they put on.

“We give a demo of the cakemaking process, give cake tastings, supply free recipes, give advice and offer promotions on the product,” says Karen, explaining how they advertise such events on social media and in the local press.

Also successful is Kitchens Cookshop’s huge summer event, which delivers demos of different products daily, along with 10 per cent off all products. And, in 2014, they launched in-store concept Foodie Days, which has been popular.

“In our Cardiff and Bristol stores, we invite local food producers – of artisan breads and locally-made preserves, for example – to set up their stalls. We

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promote them in-store and on our website and social media pages and they’ve proved really popular with customers,” explains Karen.

And Kitchens Global Cookshop social media pages (Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest) are used frequently to promote its events and promotions, as is its website.

Kitchens Cookshop launched its website in March 2010, an information-only site to start with; its Kitchens Guides and Foodies Area, which include product category guides and information on everything from knives to bakeware, alongside recipes and cooking tips, quickly proved to be very popular.

This was followed by its online store launched in 2011, for which they secured the 2012 Housewares Innovation Gold Award.

Whether visual merchandising, ecommerce strategy or staff training, Kitchens Cookshop continues to cook up a storm 48 years later.

Lekue

Le Creuset

Kitchenware Brands... Zyliss, Kuhn Rikon, Elia International, Typhoon, KitchenAid, Fiskars, Zwilling, Rosti, Le Creuset, Eddingtons, Mason Cash, Cuisipro, Kenwood, Stellar, Falcon, Anchor Hocking, Ken Hom, Ulster Weavers, Peugeot, Tefal, Anolon, Joseph Joseph, Global, Salter, Brabantia, Severin, BIA, Bourgeat, Charles Viancin, Circulon, Cole & Mason, Nordic Ware, OXO, Horwood, Tala, T&G, Commichef, Cuisinart, Wusthof, Dualit, Magimix, Emile Henry, GreenPan, Judge, Victorinox, Sistema, Rosle, Kilner, Kitchen Craft, Lekue, Metaltex, Mauviel, Pillivuyt, Prestige, Pyrex, Panasonic, Russell Hobbs, Bodum 20 KITCHENWARE INTERNATIONAL

KitchenWare INTERNATIONAL

The Kitchenware Hall of Fame Spring 2016 Welcome to our first-ever Kitchenware Hall of Fame where in a stunning showcase we pay tribute to some of the latest kitchenware launches. Since the start of 2016, the Kitchenware International team has been perusing and scouring the spring shows. From Maison & Objet Paris, Top Drawer and Spring Fair to Ambiente Frankfurt and The International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago, we’ve discovered some of the most innovative, functional and aesthetically-beautiful kitchenware ranges and products to have launched this season. Over the next 10 pages, we preview some of the season’s most defining ranges and products and tell you exactly why you need them them in your store!

Hall of Fame

Oxford Linea Cookware The largest producer of ceramic and porcelain in the Americas, Brazil-based manufacturer Oxford Porcelanas has entered the cookware category for the first time with its brand Oxford Cookware. At Ambiente 2016, the company introduced its debut line in Oxford Cookware, the Linea collection.

Combining sustainability with practicality and gastronomy, Linea is the first pan on the market to embrace anti-microbial technology; a formula in the glaze reduces bacteria and fungi by 95 per cent offering better health to consumers.

Furthermore, the non-toxic, ceramic formula of the line is economical and sustainable as a lower heat can be used.

The design of Linea cookware ensures even cooking thereby enhancing the flavours of the food as well as keeping food warmer for longer.

Practical and versatile, the Linea line can be used from stovetop to oven to freezer as well as in the microwave and dishwasher; as can the lid which is made of tempered glass and silicone.

Contemporary and colourful, the cookware line Linea comes in three bright and stunning colours â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Acqua, Nanjing and Rose.

Contact www.oxfordporcelanas.com

Joseph Joseph Dial Storage

JIA Steam Poacher

In the UK and US, the average household throws away anywhere between 25 to 30 per cent of the food and drink it purchases, mainly due to food spoilage. This universal problem has led design-led clever kitchenware brand Joseph Joseph to develop Dial, a new range of stylish stackable storage containers with datable lids, which it showcased at the spring shows including Ambiente and Chicago. A rotating dial atop the lid enables consumers to record both the day and month, ensuring food never goes past its use-by date again. The range includes a variety of useful sizes, perfect for leftovers. You can also stack them and they are freezer-safe.

Contact www.josephjoseph.com

With steaming one of the most essential cooking techniques in the Chinese culture, Taiwan’s leading lifestyle brand JIA Inc. has extended its highlysuccessful Steamer Set to include a Steam Poacher, which it previewed at IHHS Chicago. The Steamer Set enables users to steam and stew, simultaneously preparing at least two dishes. It features a steamer basket in terracotta, delivering efficient liquid-absorption qualities, and a steamer pot and lid made from fireproof ceramic, which boasts excellent heat resistance compared to regular stoneware making it less likely to crack at higher temperatures. The new Steam Poacher is inspired by the concept of steamer pots from China’s Yunnan province, which circulate steam to distribute the heat more evenly. This method of cooking preserves the natural flavour of the food along with the vitamins and minerals, often lost with other forms of cooking. The steam poacher enables users to effortlessly explore new and creative culinary ideas. Designed by the Office for Product Design, the design is contemporary and clean.

Contact www.jia-inc.com

BergHoff Table BBQ Making its international debut at the IHHS Chicago Show, Table BBQ from Belgian company BergHoff is the perfect outdoor companion.

Having just secured a Red Dot Design Award, the Table BBQ is compact, safe and incredibly portable. Thanks to its clean and smart design and easy-to-carry polystyrene strap, consumers can tote the grill anywhere.

The Table BBQ is also designed to stand the test of outdoor time, crafted as it is from powder-coated steel with a chromium-plated steel grid and silicone handles and it delivers easy airflow regulation. It also boasts a cork lid that does double duty: it covers the barbecue while not in use, becoming a trivet on which to rest the barbecue while in use. All elements are removeable to allow for easy cleaning and it is simple to set up, to get grilling in an instant.

Contact www.berghoffworldwide.com

Hall of Fame

Creative Tops Stir It Up Creative Tops has this year launched its first collection under the Creative Bake label: Stir It Up. Unveiled at the spring shows, including Spring Fair and Ambiente, Stir It Up captures the joy and contemporary quirkiness of baking and brings it comfortably into the home.

Beautifully crafted in gorgeous tones of ivory and black, this stunning collection of bakeware and tableware has a distinct rustic character, using a mix of materials such as stoneware, acacia wood and cast iron.

Pieces are adorned with quirky phrases or labels and illustrations in a hand-drawn style, framed with sweet floral detail. Stylish slogans ‘Daily Grind’, ‘Espresso Yourself’ and ‘Hot Shot’ decorate a set of tankard espresso mugs, while baked treats can be gorgeously presented on the ‘Piece Of Cake’ pedestal.

Bakeware products include a ‘Sweet As Pie’ dish, ‘Beat It’ mixing bowl, labelled measuring cups and ‘Yours’ and ‘Mine’ ramekins. The cotton textiles feature a playful ‘Kiss The Cook’ apron and ‘Hot Stuff ’ double oven glove.

Small recipes adorn pieces that can be used to make them, such as a ‘how-to’ for a mug cake on a bullet mug and recipes for different kinds of pastry on the glass work surface protector.

Charismatic and charming, Stir It Up is a fresh collection that is perfect for the authentic kitchen.

Contact www.creative-tops.com

Judge Classic Cookware Collection

Chef’s Choice Smarkt Kettle

Horwood showcased the Classic Cookware Collection from Judge at Spring Fair and Ambiente. Pairing the hardwearing resilience of traditional cookware with cutting-edge non-stick, the collection is made from low-maintenance mirror-polished stainless steel and features thick forged bases, making the pans suitable for use on all hob styles, including induction, while providing a high level of thermal efficiency. Eterna non-stick is applied to the frying pans, meaning it will last three times as long as traditional non-stick coatings as well as boasting 10 times the release of its competitors ensuring sautéing, scrambling and saucing goes smoothly. A smart stay-cool, ergonomic handle finishes each of the pans, while the timeless Domus design delivers sensuous curves and elegant styling. All items – pans, fry pans, sauté pans and casserole – offer a 25-year guarantee.

Unveiled at IHHS Chicago, under the EdgeCraft Corporation company, which produces the world’s most technologically-advanced sharpeners, the new Smarkt Kettle Cordless Electric from Chef’s Choice International is both sophisticated and smart, delivering user-friendly advanced technology and superb engineering with classic styling and functional design. This 1.4 litre-capacity brushed stainless steel kettle allows users to heat water to the optimal temperature with a single button and six different settings, including Delicate, Green, Oolong, White, French Press and Boil – and features an illuminated display that shows the chosen temperature. So, no need to wait for a full boil and then for it to cool down to a desired temperature because this is designed to heat directly to the desired temperature. Extremely fast and energy-efficient it delivers 1500 watts of power, heating water faster than a stove or microwave, and its Keep Warm feature automatically maintains water at the set temperature.

Contact www.judgecookware.co.uk customerservice@horwood.co.uk

Contact www.chefschoice.com

Eva Solo Baking Stone Launched at Ambiente and IHHS Chicago, the Baking Stone from innovative Danish brand Eva Solo promises professional results for pizzas, cakes and bread. “Very few people have a stone oven for baking pizzas and bread, but with a baking stone you are halfway there,” say the brand. The secret of the baking stone is that the porous surface draws moisture out of the dough, resulting in a perfectly crisp and crunchy crust when baking pizza or bread on a red hot grill or in a very hot oven, delivering stone oven-baked pizza.

And it is extremely versatile: it can be used to bake a variety of foods, not just pizza, but rolls and cookies and it can be used on both charcoal and gas grills as well as in the oven. Made of unglazed ceramic and measuring 35.5cm, the baking stone simply needs to be cleaned with hot water.

Contact www.evasolo.com

Hall of Fame

Kilner Facetted Jars Kilner has been helping consumers to store, pickle and preserve food items since the 1840s. The iconic Kilner logo embossed on the glass is a sign of quality and heritage. Kilner’s long-lasting popularity is owed to its iconic design and distinctive pressure seal, which is as practical and versatile now as it has ever been.

Unveiled at the spring shows, including Spring Fair and Ambiente on The Rayware Group stand, the new Kilner Facetted clip top range features a distinctive facetted design reminiscent of a bygone era.

The beautiful styling on these jars brings a touch of glamour to the kitchen, and whether they are chosen to store dried, preserved or pickled food, the distinctive iconic Kilner airtight clip system is designed to keep foods fresher for longer. Kilner’s quality assurance system guarantees a safe and functioning seal every time, making it a jar for life.

Available in four versatile sizes (1.8, 0.95, 0.45 & 0.25 litres) the jars are perfect for many uses including pickling, food storage, preserving and crafting.

Too pretty to store away in a cupboard or pantry, the Kilner Facetted Jars look striking out on display in the kitchen.

Also new for Spring/Summer 2016 from Kilner is an innovative Coffee Grinder that enables consumers to grind their own fresh-tasting filter coffee and store in the fridge; and the Kilner Cocktail Shaker that has been designed to create great-tasting cocktails with minimal mess.

Contact: www.rayware.co.uk

Le Creuset Storage Canisters

Magisso Citrus Reamer

Le Creuset has launched a range of canisters with wooden lids in a variety of sizes and colours, delivering a mix-and-match food storage solution for the kitchen. Ideal for storing dry ingredients such as flour, sugar and coffee, the beech wood lid combined with the lid’s silicone gasket, keeps air out and freshness in. The dense stoneware of the canisters, meanwhile, blocks moisture absorption to prevent cracking, crazing and rippling, while the impermeable exterior enamel resists stains and scratches from metal utensils. The nearly non-stick interior easily releases foods for quick clean-up. The pieces are dishwasher-safe and come in five sizes, from 12 ounces up to 1.5 quarts, and in a variety of cool colours.

At the spring shows, including in the new Dine + Décor area of Chicago, Finnish lifestyle brand Magisso unveiled its new and already award-winning products including the double-ended Citrus Reamer. Designed by awardwinning designer Simon Stevens, this reamer is more than just a kitchen helper, it’s a piece of art and has already secured an award, the Good Design Award 2015, one of the most prestigious in the world. Inspired by the shape of a bulb, this double-ended stainless steel squeezer has been designed to ideally squeeze limes, lemons or oranges, with both ends of the bulb useable for squeezing fruits of different sizes. The soft shapes of the press fit into any size of hand, making it easy to squeeze, and it is presented in an eye-catching bamboo wood pedestal appealing to design aficionados.

Contact www.lecreuset.com

Contact www.magisso.com

Beka Cookware Master Range The new, innovative Master range from Beka Cookware is made from carbon steel, a material long coveted by professional chefs, and one that is increasingly finding its way into the kitchens of passionate amateur cooks. Carbon steel guarantees quick heat conduction and also reacts quickly to fluctuations in temperature, making it the perfect pan for searing a steak. Beka Cookware successfully combines this material with the latest technology in non-stick coating, Bekadur Rock Solid, creating a range for high-performance baking and frying. The coating is based on a brand-new technology, a fusion of the silicon Rock Solid coating with ceramic undercoat, making it scratch-resistant and ensuring it retains its non-stick quality. The Master range delivers ultra scratch-resistance even with hard metal utensils, resistance to high termperatures, up to 350˚C, and resistance to intensive, everyday use. It also offer a 5-year guarantee and is PFOA- and PTFE-free. The range includes three frying pans and a wok and is suitable for all heat sources, including induction and the oven.

Contact www.beka-cookware.com

Hall of Fame

Dedicated visual merchandising displays have been created to display the Ramekin Collection in an attractive and accessible way

Ramekin # 10: this is the largest one and can be used for savoury recipes or larger individual sweet portions like tiramisu

Emile Henry Ramekins Collection At the spring shows including Ambiente and IHHS Chicago, French brand Emile Henry unveiled its brand-new Ramekins Collection, delivering “the perfect ramekin for the perfect recipe.” The ramekins are a collection of differentsized dishes, each designed for cooking specific types of dishes, from soufflés and gratins to crème caramels and mousse. They are made of Emile Henry’s patented HR ceramic, ensuring perfectly even cooking in the oven and meaning the ramekins can withstand extreme temperatures, from -20˚C up to 270˚C; and thanks to the thick sides, also means that food keeps warm on the table or stays cold once removed from the fridge.

Such material offers the most precise cooking especially when compared to glass. “Glass heats very quickly when put in the oven but, primarily on the surface, this means the outside surfaces will cook first, then the centre; this isn’t good for recipes that require precision cooking, like flans, for example,” say the brand.

There is also a 10-year guarantee with Emile Henry HR Ceramic. The collection delivers a wide range of sizes and shapes.

“Our aim was to cover 90 per cent of recipes made in small dishes,” say the brand. The ramekins are stackable and come in seven stunning colours. They are available open stock, as packs of two, or in a carton of six, and dedicated visual merchandising displays are available to display the Ramekins Collection.

Contact www.emilehenry.com

Ramekin # 9: ideal for individual sweet desserts, this ramekin can be used for chocolate mousse, vanilla cream, rice pudding or semolina pudding

Crème Brulee Ramekin: ideal for crème brulee, clafoutis, crumble or individual gratins, sweet or savoury

Lekue As a brand committed to enabling access to healthy, easy and delicious food, Lekue continually undertakes research to revolutionise some of the everyday processes in the kitchen, providing consumers with equipment to make cooking healthy and professional food easier. Enter its new line, Smart Solutions, that launched at Ambiente and Chicago. This is a collection of eight highly-functional products combining design and innovation in the kitchen. The dressing shaker vinegar bottle delivers an internal sphere making it ideal for emulsifying and stirring ingredients to make unique flavours. The new easy chopping board (pictured) allows users to achieve more complicated cuts without danger, thanks to the boards’ non-slip surface, knife guide and higher sides. The 3-in-1 spatula-tongs is all about saving space, delivering a spatula, tongs and stirrer in one product. And thanks to a clever roll-on system inside the spoon, the sauce roller spoon aids in the pouring of sauces, making it easier to spread sauce more evenly. There is also a large capacity spoon spreader and turner spatula.

Unveiled at Ambiente, the new Box-It Butterbox from Rig-Tig by Stelton is a great addition to the previously-launched Box-It Bread Box, which has secured two design awards including Form 2011 and the German Design Award 2016. Made from melamine, Butterbox is BPA-free, dishwasherfriendly and comes in three shades – white, black and warm grey. The butter container features a sustainable bamboo lid and accommodates most sizes of butter and spreads.

Contact www.lekue.com

Contact www.rig-tig.com

Rig-Tig By Stelton Box-It Butterbox

Sambonet 1965 Vintage Saucepans The latest project to come from cutting-edge Centro Stile Sambonet is this innovative line of Made In Italy kitchenware, which unites design, quality, technical presentation and a hint of nostalgia. Unveiled at Homi, Ambiente and Chicago, Sambonet’s new 1965 Vintage Saucepans collection features an exclusive doublefinished surface, its 18/10 stainless steel and thick sandwich bottom allowing for perfect thermal conductivity. Interiors are glazed and highly functional, while exteriors deliver a vintage effect. The traditional solid brass handles reflect the all-Italian design of Sambonet, confirming the Centro Stile’s ability to transform functional elements into stylish details. Produced from detailed philological research of early 20th Century saucepans, the designers have created a simple piece calling on traditions of the past: the double-side handles and lid are screwed to the body emphasising the beauty of the range. The collection comprises nine selections and covers, from 16 to 24cm in diameter and are suitable for all types of cooking, including induction. They are easy-to-clean and dishwasher-safe.

Contact www.sambonet.it

Hall of Fame

Seeba Antiskid Mixing Bowls The meticulously-crafted and tested-to-delight Antiskid Mixing Bowls range from Seeba Industries delivers exceptional quality, performance and durability in the kitchen and offers a perfect blend between style and functionality. Made from non-reactive 18/8 stainless steel, the bowls offer multi-functional use and come in an array of colours that add vibrance to the kitchen. The mixing bowls are available in varied sizes, from single pieces to four-piece sets, that are perfect for not just prepping meals but also storing or serving. Advantages of Seeba’s Antiskid Mixing Bowls include: non-skid bases that prevent sliding on countertops; a space-saving nest design; airtight lids and easy-grip rims. Moreover, the solid stainless steel construction – brushed stainless steel exterior and a polished finish on the interior – makes the bowls stain- and odourresistant. Whether kneading, baking, tempering or prepping meals, these bowls are so steady, durable, and comfortable to handle – they are a musthave for every kitchen.

Contact www.seebaindustries.com Airtight lids preserve freshness and flavour Easy grip rims offer solid stability

Non-skid base prevents slipping and sliding on countertops

Space-saving nesting design

Cristel Stainless Steel Roaster French cookware brand Cristel, which has a heritage dating back to 1826, is renowned for its premium Made In France stainless steel cookware with both fixed and removable handles that is high-quality, multi-functional, highly-versatile and comes with a lifetime guarantee. At Ambiente, Cristel launched the stainless steel roaster. While its previously-launched oven dish was created specifically for Thanksgiving meals, following strong demand from US customers, the design of this brand-new roaster will please those in lots of other countries internationally. Thanks to clever flush grips, the roaster is as large as possible while still being able to fit into a conventional oven. The riveted grips are also very long to enable easy access without burning hands. Made with a very thick three-layer stainless steel-aluminium-stainless steel material, the dish can also be used on induction hobs. The roaster is equipped with an adjustable stainless steel wire raised-edge grill, which can be folded for efficient storage and also used horizontally for oven cooking fish, beef rib and racks of lamb. The roaster is packaged with a free French thermometer.

Contact www.cristel.com; cristel@cristel.com

Kitchen Craft Lovello Storageware Featuring soft, smooth contours and retro styling across classic key colours, the new Lovello storageware from Kitchen Craft created the ‘wow’ factor at the spring shows, including Spring Fair and Ambiente. The collection features a selection of key kitchen storageware pieces such as canisters for tea, coffee, sugar and biscuits, as well as a cake tin, a bread bin and a utensil holder. The range is available in three classic commercial colourways – Scarlet, Midnight and Vanilla – and features raised mirror-polished lettering, elevated bases and curved contours for a stand-out retro style statement in the kitchen. But the design isn’t just about beauty – the clever curved contours of the pieces are designed to be space-saving too.

Contact www.kitchencraft.co.uk; sales@kitchencraft.co.uk

WMF Hello FUNctionals At Ambiente, WMF launched a series of items designed for preparing food – peeling, grating, snipping, portioning – called Hello FUNctionals, delivering a total of 17 clever kitchen gadgets that combine smart multi-functionality and chic design. In addition to a whisk, tongs, salad dressing pourer and peelers, there is the four-sided grater, which boasts four different surfaces for grating everything from fine lemon zest through to cutting carrots into sticks through to wafter-thin vegetable carpaccio. It also boasts a large collecting tray where ingredients can be stored.

Made of high-quality stainless steel in a matt Cromargan finish and plastic, it is also easy to clean. The multi-functional pasta server can perform three tasks with one movement of the hand: it can measure the pasta via its scoop sizes on the handle, then with the spoon built into the end, you can taste the pasta, and finally the prongs integrated into the design help out with serving and portioning. Made from Cromargan stainless steel and plastic in a lagoon colour.

Contact www.wmf.com

Show Review Chicago

American dream With creative collaborations, innovative product and plenty of newness, exhibitors pulled out all the stops for the thousands of buyers and retailers who turned up at the 119th Home + Housewares Show in Chicago last month

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he just-concluded 2016 International Home + Housewares Show, which was already sold out before Christmas, hosted 2,224 exhibitors from 47 countries with 400 companies brand new, when it took place from March 5-8.

“We exceeded last year’s exhibit space square footage, a sign of how important this world-class marketplace is to IHA member suppliers,” says Phil Brandl, IHA president and CEO. Phil adds: “We are very pleased with US and International buyer attendance, which was a virtual match with last year’s record numbers. This is very positive given the recent retraction at retail and the strength of the US dollar, which makes exporting difficult.”

Among first-time companies and show returnees were American Skillet, deBuyer Industries, Denby, Horwood and Rosti Mepal in the Dine + Décor Expo; and Koziol, Orrefors Kosta Boda and Victor + Victoria in the Discover Design

Expo, the latter a brand-new expo that debuted at the 2016 show and featured design-led kitchen brands such as Nambe, Joseph Joseph, Black + Blum and Alessi.

“After a short absence and thanks to the continued growth of our independent sector over the last few years, we decided to return to Chicago,” says Dana Kelhart, general manager, Denby North America, highlighting how Denby made a splash this year with a new lifestyle booth and a concentration on what they do best – unique stoneware that is Made In England.

Dana continues: “Chicago is unique for us – because it attracts a wide spectrum of customers, it means we are able to meet both our larger national accounts as well as our smaller independent accounts; as well as keeping these up-to-date, it allows us to meet potential new accounts we can’t meet elsewhere.

“It’s a big show in a big city but still feels like we can connect with any size of customer.”

Also new to the show this year was the Juiceman brand, which

introduced a new and exciting portfolio of juicers and blenders on the Spectrum Brands stand; while distribution and manufacturing company L’Chef showcased its newlyacquired brand Bamix of Switzerland for the first time.

In addition to newness, there were lots of celebrations with various brands honouring company anniversaries with new collections.

Kuhn Rikon paid tribute to 90 years of innovation by launching a whole host of clever products; Zak! Designs, the worldwide leader in licensed mealtime products, celebrated 40 years of fun by unveiling a bevy of new beverageware designs and licences including Star Wars; and Polder Housewares, also celebrating its 40th birthday, delivered an array of new product, including a digital egg and pasta timer.

Several big birthday brands commemorated the occasion with limited editions. One of America’s best-known legacy brands of kitchenware and creators of the original Bundt Pan – Nordic Ware –

paid homage to its 70th anniversary with the launch of three signature limited edition anniversary Bundt pans featuring a brilliant gold metallic finish.

Leading manufacturer of nonstick cookware and small appliances, T-fal celebrated its 60th anniversary with several new launches including a limited edition line of non-stick fry pans with retro-inspired prints decorating the exterior; and Danish cookware brand Scanpan also celebrated 60 years, unveiling a line of special edition cookware.

Celebrations weren’t the only pull to exhibitor stands, however; celebrity chefs and foodie presenters made appearances both endorsing and demonstrating product.

While Emmy-nominated TV host Richard Blais demonstrated cooking in the brand-new countertop convection oven from Black+Decker’s Performance Series, celebrity nutritionist Keri Glassman showed just how versatile juicers from Juiceman can be on the Spectrum Brands stand; and celebrity chef Jamie Gwen was

What the retailers say…

We’ve been attending the Chicago show for more than 10 years. We visit many other shows worldwide but clearly IHHS Chicago is ‘the’ show for kitchenware.

We get to see not only the latest collections from leading suppliers but we also get to meet their directors. We have an amazing kitchenware section in our stores thanks to attending this show.

Juan De La Espriella, owner, Cachivaches, Colombia

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IHHS Chicago is the place to find the finest product selection from North America – the best showcase to see US vendors, plus a fine selection of international suppliers. In an always-welcoming, wellcategorised environment, at Chicago, we international customers are able to see trends, find fresh ideas and introductions of the best quality.

Teodoro Rodríguez, Buying Director, Casa Palacio, Mexico

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What the exhibitors say…

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Lords, UK

This is our second year at IHHS Chicago and we’ve chosen it now as the only international fair we participate in, partly because we have such confidence in the show and because the US market is in growth. The economy is steady, spending power is growing, and we have a US distributor helping us in market development.

Following our debut at the show last year, which proved really good for us, we’ve returned this year in the new Discover Design Expo. We’ve received lots of attention and garnered plenty of admiration for our products and we’ve got some good orders too.

Lakehouse, Canada

Gia retail winners announced In its 17th year, the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia) programme, which recognises innovation and excellence in home and housewares retailing globally, was held at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel during the Chicago show. From the 25 outstanding retailers from the 23 countries nominated, five global honourees took away the trophy. These included Lords in the UK, Lakehouse in Canada, Illums Bolighus in Denmark, K’OOK! In the Netherlands and Kitchen Shop in Malaysia. The retailers are selected for excellence in vision and strategy, store design and layout, visual merchandising, marketing, customer service and innovation. The Martin M. Pegler Award for Excellence in Visual Merchandising was awarded to Karaca Home in Turkey and the gia Digital Commerce Award for Excellence in Online Retailing to Cooking the Kitchen Company from Spain.

www.housewares.org/org/show/gia-retail spotted on the Tiger Corpo stand highlighting the versatility of the new Tiger tacook rice cooker.

But it was product innovation that ultimately drew customers. As is always the case with Chicago, innovation reigned supreme and this year delivered a number of firsts: Oxo made its first foray into glassware with a collection of glass bakeware and food storage made of borosciliate glass; Flare launched a new high-performance cookware line that uses breakthrough FIN technology developed by a rocket scientist from Oxford University; and Nordic Ware revealed that it has been selected as the exclusive manufacturer and distributor for Flare, this revolutionary new energyefficient cookware that is promising to be a game changer.

A revolution in food storage and prep came courtesy of Frego, the only food storage solution where consumers can freeze, store, heat and transport foods in a single system without fear of burns, leaks, breaks or toxins.

And maverick young housewares

company StoreBound secured a major first with its PancakeBot, the world’s first food printer capable of printing pancakes by automatically dispensing batter directly on to a griddle. Pancake designs can be loaded via USB or SD card. Genius.

Product innovation was further recognised in the gia Product Design awards – some 60 finalists were selected in twelve categories with one winner in each category securing an award.

While Alessi took the title in the Cook + Bakeware category with its Pulcina espresso maker, Prepara secured an award in Kitchenware for its adjustable oil pourer. And Danish brand Eva Solo took two awards, including in the Tabletop category for its My Flavor Carafe.

“They are excellent representatives of the cuttingedge innovation and creativity that is driving the housewares industry today,” says Phil Brandl, IHA president and CEO. On the educational front, Todd Hale of Nielsen and a panel of category experts and retailers

argued that kitchenware is emerging as a natural complement to food purchases and as such must be merchandised adjacent to the fresh aisle in order to capture more basket fill related to consumer health and wellness; while a panel of expert retailers and manufacturers delivered insight into the influential consumer group, the Millennials (see page 30).

Finally, as always, Lee Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, unveiled not only the nine colour palettes for 2017, but also revealed design and colour trends: along with a resurgence in black and white imagery, the continued popularity of metallic and the rise of green, Eiseman predicts power clashing, “the use of unexpected colour combinations that seem discordant but yet still work”.

The next edition of The International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago is scheduled to take place March 18-21, 2017, McCormick Place, Chicago, US, www.housewares.org

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Jackie Shen, marketing, JIA Inc.

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Due to our continued growth with our independent sector over the last few years, we decided to return to Chicago after a two-year hiatus, to reconnect with current national accounts and meet potential new ones. Here, we can meet both with larger national accounts and smaller independent acoounts as so many different sizes of customer attend.

We’ve also noticed how the number of Canadian accounts continues to grow in attendance of this show. The Denby North American team left Chicago 2016 feeling very optimistic; we felt it was well-attended and we had many successful meetings and made some exciting new introductions. Our new lifestyle-focused booth design was wellreceived, as was our new stoneware launch Natural Canvas and the preview of our enamelled Cast Iron, launching this autumn; the uniqeness of the colours generated much interest.

Dana Kelhart, GM, Denby North America

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We’ve attended Spring Fair in the UK and Ambiente in Frankfurt for a while now and this year we debuted at Chicago and found it to be a truly international show, having gathered leads worldwide. The help we received from the organisers was unbelievable and made the whole project stressfree. The success of this and our other shows secures not only the growth for 2016, but for years to come. We left a little bit of Britain behind too, donating all the product on our stand to The US Salvation Army. Now the real work begins, turning interest into orders.

Tony Grimshaw, director, What More UK

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What the exhibitors say…

Show Review Ambiente 2016

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Appetite for Ambiente A positive mood, plenty of orders, clear trends – think eco and health – and lots of product innovation, especially in the categories of bakeware and beverage appliances, were the results of this year’s fantastic Frankfurt fair

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mbiente, the world’s leading trade fair for the consumer-goods industry, opened its doors on February 12 on both a positive economic and retail note.

“Frankfurt in February is where the trends are set for the international consumer-goods industry over the coming year. An impressive demonstration of this is to be seen in the good propensity to order and the high standard of German and international buyers.

The economic signs are set to go,” said Braun Deflauf, member of the board of management, Messe Frankfurt, as the doors to the fiveday event opened.

The proof of course was very much in the proverbial pudding, with the current positive economic signs and positive vibe in retail reflected in the very upbeat mood and subsequent orders at the fair.

“The general mood in retail is good and the trade fair went well for us ,” says Markus H. Kepka, managing director of German premium cookware brand Fissler.

Confirming this, Bernd Ehrengart, managing partner of German housewares brand Lambert, says the “mood in the sector is very good and this was reflected by a great willingness to purchase, resulting in very full order books for us”.

CEO of Zak Designs, Uwe Jahn, concurs, saying he is “pleased with the results and noticed a good prevailing mood among visitors” while managing director of Wusthof Dreizackwerk, Harald Wusthof, says he felt “the number of visitors to our stand was good to very good and the mood and receptiveness of the visitors was also very good”.

The number of visitors was up on last year – 137,000 buyers, up 2,500 on last year – with “large parts of the German and European retail trade attending Ambiente 2016”, says Thomas Grothkopp, director general, German Association Tableware, Housewares and Home Accessories.

“Ambiente was very wellattended – I would say much better than last year.”

And for the first time ever, the proportion of visitors from outside Germany accounted for 55 per cent of the total, up two per cent from last year with visitors hailing from 143 different countries.

But it wasn’t just about the numbers but the quality.

“It’s vital that all ‘opinion leaders’ – buyers from big trading companies – are present… and this was the case up to and including the highest managerial levels,” says Uwe of Zak Designs.

Visitors were described, without exception, as being receptive with the show delivering “a high level of satisfaction – 96 per cent, a level of visitor satisfaction that is higher than the previous year”, says Thomas of the German Association for Tableware and Housewares.

And many exhibitors felt visitors were highly interested in concepts, in particular, a sign that retailers and buyers are interested in reaching new target markets.

“Ambiente is still the platform and the industry’s leading trade fair but the focus is no longer exclusively on new products;

For our brand, Asia continues to be the biggest growth market and we meet many of our customers at Ambiente.

US buyers are somewhat restrained but that is not unusual in an election year.

Positive signs are coming from Iran following the end of trade restrictions. The mood and receptiveness of the visitors was good.

Harald Wusthof, managing director, Wusthof Dreizackwerk KG

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The fair has been a complete success for us and we were able to welcome significantly more visitors to our stand than in 2015. The new Eva Solo collection was well-received by all.

Christian Daugbjerg, sales manager, Eva Solo

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The industry had forecast signs of recovery and at Ambiente we also felt that the general economic situation is improving. The show was well-attended and we had positive feedback from customers.

There was great interest in our innovative coating systems and especially the five new non-stick coating technologies for bakeware, cookware and small electrics that we introduced.

Laura Scanzi, marketing manager, Whitford

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What the retailer says… “I’ve been attending Ambiente for 30 years and this year I spent a day longer there than usual and it was certainly worth it. There are so many suppliers who launch at Frankfurt and there is product on show there that you just don’t ever see in the UK, at British shows. Juicing is really big now and baking products and accessories are getting more and more elaborate every year. There were some lovely new knife ranges from Lion Sabatier and Le Creuset launched new cookware and stoneware items, which we loved.”

Gary Gordon, owner Kitchen Kapers, chain of four specialist cookshops in UK 86 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL

Germany’s retailers rang up their biggest sales increase, over three per cent, for 20 years in 2015, according to a report by the HDE*, the result they say of the good economic conditions in the wake of increased employment, higher real wages and lower inflation. instead, vistors are increasingly interested in new concepts and are certainly open to them,” says Markus, highlighting how this year, rather than present new products, the Fissler brand presented all of its product as well as unveiling an entirely new look and feel with its brand-new campaign Home of Cooking which “was very well received by visitors”.

One of the world market leaders in high-performance blending, Vitamix, which is celebrating its 95th anniversary, also focused on showcasing its entire range along with highlighting its strategic marketing campaign and innovations for 2016 at the show, rather than launching new product, introducing visitors to its plans for 2016, including extensive visual merchandising material and new POS concepts.

“As the leading trade fair for the consumer-goods sector, Ambiente continues to be the most important platform for presenting our range of products and reaching new target groups,” says vice-president of international household sales, Michel Nouafo.

Board chairman, Thomas Radke

of Leifheit AG agrees: “We enjoy being able to show our range in its entirety, as at POS. This creates a completely different impression than in a catalogue or on a tablet computer.”

The categories of small electrical appliances continues to increase its share of the market with interesting innovations. Healthy nutrition and efficient preparation are the main consumer-oriented features in 2016 with juicers, mixers and multi-functional kitchen machines particular popular.

“As I discovered at Ambiente 2016, juicing in general seems to be a sub-category that’s getting bigger and bigger as so many people are now offering different products to prepare juices in the home,” says Gary Gordon, owner of Kitchen Kapers, a small chain of independent cookshops in the UK. Buyers also gave an enthusiastic reception to products in the BBQ segment; for consumers “barbecuing is no longer just a summer treat, which makes it one of the expanding segments at Ambiente,” says Thomas Kastl, director of dining, Ambiente.

There is also a trend towards

sustainable product concepts.

Nadine Seidel of rks Design aus Holz noticed “an unmistakeable shift towards sustainability” at Ambiente with “key international buyers asking about it”.

Nadine adds: “Our inclusion in the Ethical Style Guide has been a great help because it also enables us to make use of the Ambiente brand internationally.”

Kitchenware buyer for retailer Cook Shop, which has 55 outlets across Greece, Kostas Sarafidis, “noticed an increased focus on environmentally-healthy products and eco-friendly materials”.

In conclusion, Stephen Koziol, chairman of the European Lifestyle Association says: “Customers are optimistic about the future and the propensity to order is correspondingly high.

“Ambiente is the world’s market leader for kitchen products and a must for the sector.

Ambiente brings together the key manufacturers and brands.”

Next year will see the UK as the 2017 Partner Country when Ambiente is held from February 10-14, 2017. www.messefrankfurt.com

Growth categories While the categories of bakeware and beverage appliances (blenders and juicers) continue to perform well, we highlight other categories on the up.

Flavour category With health and flavour key and more consumers cooking from scratch, herbs and spices are increasingly being used in cooking leading to demand for herb kits and spice mills. Mastrad unveiled a herb stripper and Cole & Mason launched a Fresh Herb range. See page 10.

Storageware With consumers today increasingly focused on limiting waste and preparing more fresh food, clever space-saving storage that is versatile and looks good is in demand.

Everyone from Joseph Joseph, BergHoff and Oxo to LSA, Black + Blum and Thomas launched clever storageware this season.

Multi-functional prep With less kitchen space, consumers are demanding quality products that can perform multiple functions and brands are responding: Kuhn Rikon unveiled its 5-in-1 auto safety can opener; Loveramics delivered a cheese grater that can also store, and Zyliss launched a 3-in-1 mango tool.

On-the-go beverageware With consumers leading more hectic lives, more concerned about the environment and more healthconscious, on-the-go beverageware such as reusable water bottles or thermal flasks for coffee are in demand and brands are delivering with evermore clever features. Eva Solo unveiled and won an award for its My Flavor Carafe, while Zoku, Zak Designs and Black + Blum all launched versions.

Grills and accessories Growth in outdoor and casual dining and a focus on healthy cooking has led to an increase in cooking outdoors, grilling especially, with grills and barbecue tools in demand.

What the retailers say…

Ambiente 2016 was pretty busy. I noticed an increased focus on environmentally-healthy products with eco-friendly materials and a definite increase in the number of blenders and smoothie makers on offer.

These categories were in growth last year but seem even more dominant this year.

Kostas Sarafidis, manager, Cook Shop, a chain of multi-brand kitchenware stores with 55 outlets throughout Greece

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Ambiente is our most important fair, we had more than 20 buyers attend this year. In Hall 1, we found a lot of innovation around cooking, especially Joseph Joseph. We discovered many new items – barbecue, smoothies and healthy cooking appliances – from brands like Vitamix and KitchenAid, which are very much meeting the trends.

Hermann Hutter, managing director, abt department stores, four stores across southern Germany

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* The Federation of the German Retail Trade report (Hauptverband des Deutschen Einzelhandels – HDE)t

Did you know…?

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