In & Around Food World

March 2010

by Dick Bestany

The International Boston Seafood Show (IBSS) and Seafood Processing America (SPA) will return to Boston, Mass March 14-16, 2010. Together these events form North America’s largest seafood event. This is the Place to find the newest fresh, frozen, and packaged seafood products and processing equipment, and stay on top of emerging consumer trends. IBSS and SPA serve as the key places for the seafood industry to access and learn about the North American seafood market.

Every year over 17,000 buyers and sellers from more than 90 countries, and nearly 900 exhibitors, attend this event. Visitors include top retail and foodservice buyers, as well as distributors, suppliers, importers, exporters, and other seafood industry persons. Exhibiting companies showcase fresh, frozen and packaged seafood products, as well as processing equipment and services.

The Little Utz Girl is speaking out - on her new blog and facebook page, that is - giving fans the opportunity to connect and chat with her while she writes about snack food news, recipes and life as a corporate icon.

The blog, titled Snack Central (UtzSnackCentral.com) is one of the few written from viewpoint of a company mascot. It offers a way for consumers to speak directly with a character that has, up until now, lived silently as the face of Hanover, PA based Utz Quality Foods.

Updated several times each week, Snack Central will feature recipes, product reviews, snack facts and consumer photos. The blog will also host monthly polls and award Utz snack-related prizes to readers chosen at random.

The Little Utz Girl will also answer snack-related questions posed by readers with help from a panel of Utz snacking experts. All questions e-mailed to the Little Utz Girl will receive a personalized response.
 
Speedy recovery wishes go out to Katie Ellis, daughter of AWI president Bernie and Kathleen Ellis. Katie had been hospitalized for a very serious case of pneumonia but we understand that she is now home and progressing slowly but nicely.

A landmark study, “Hunger in America 2010,” recently released by the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) reports that more than 478,100 people, including 224,707 children, receive emergency food each year through the food bank and its network of 700 partner agencies.

“Hunger in America 2010” is the first research study to capture the significant connection  between the recent economic downturn and an increased need for emergency food assistance. In the Washington, DC metropolitan area, an alarming number of client households are experiencing low or very low food security or hunger - about 70 percent. An estimated 88,400 people receive emergency food assistance each week from a food pantry, soup kitchen, or other agency served by the Capital Area Food Bank - 19,000 more than four years ago.

The study also reveals that more than 50 percent of those receiving food assistance have jobs—they are educated people experiencing underemployment, the working poor and even retirees who have had to resume working. When faced with paying rent or a mortgage, or other living expenses like utilities and buying food, 40 percent had to make a choice, and food is often the most flexible line item in a budget, so it gets cut.

Says Lynn Brantley, president and CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank,”...the study reflects what we have been seeing for the past several years—record number of Americans suffering from hunger. This year, we are commemorating our 30th anniversary and while the food bank started as an emergency food provider, it was never our mission to be a mainstay. But the need for the food bank is greater than ever; and neither people nor our partner agencies can make it without us serving as the hub for sourcing and distributing food in this community. The Hunger in America study should open the eyes and hearts of the community and our elected leaders to ensure that everyone has access to food. In 2010, with our vast resources, it is unimaginable that we have so many children, families and individuals going without one of life’s most basic needs - food. Hunger is unacceptable.”

The Capital Area Food Bank, a member of Feeding America, is the Washington, D.C. Metro area’s largest public, nonprofit food and nutrition education resource. For more information on hunger, visit their website at www.CapitalAreaFoodBank.org.

This year the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association (IDDA) show will be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, June 6 – 8.

The show offers a unique venue for exhibitors to prepare, display and serve a variety of products to a large number of customers and qualified prospects. It’s a place where you can shake their hand, look them in the eye, get them to taste and hold your product, and talk to them about solutions.

According to the IDDBA, this is the show where you can find top retailers representing 51,937 stores, located in one place for three days. It’s a great opportunity for anyone in the food business to be with, and to talk to, decision makers of the major independents and chains.
For more information, contact the IDDBA by telephone at 608-310-5000; by fax at 608-238-6330; or email at exhibits@iddba.org.

Congratulations to Giant/Carlisle bakers who for the ninth consecutive year walked away multiple winners at this year’s Chocolatefest held in January in Hershey, PA. Giant competed with 31 cake entries this year and received a total of 12 awards in the retail and professional competition categories.

In the retail category, Karen Drumheller for the West Lawn Giant won “best overall” and received first place in most creative and best theme. Also in the best theme category, Sandy Heffelfinger, Harrisburg Giant, received second place and April Narehood, State College Giant, took third.
Heffelfinger also took home second place for the prettiest and most creative.

Patricia Loy and Tammie Carter from the Camp Hill Giant received third place for prettiest and Shweta Gupta with the Exton, PA Giant got third place in the most creative category.

Rounding out the Giant bakers in the professional category, Theresa Ware, Hellertown Giant received second place for most tasty and third in best theme. Mary Ann Madrzykowski, Camp Hill Giant, took home third prize for most tasty, Nancy Youngblut, Whitehall Giant, received third for prettiest cake and Renee Neff, Scranton Giant, was awarded third place for most creative.

Professional chefs and bakery professionals from throughout the area judged the competition. All proceeds form Chocolatefest benefited Keystone Human Services.

We know that many in the food industry used to frequent Boccaccio Restaurant in Baltimore’s Little Italy. We want to report that we have recently learned that the building that housed the restaurant, which has been vacant since the death of chef/owner Giovanni Rigato, went on the auction block last month and was bought by Baltimore attorney and Orioles owner Peter Angelos.

Marylanders for Better Beer & Wine Laws (MBBWL), Maryland’s largest consumer advocacy non-profit dedicated to improving Marylander consumers’ legal access to wine and beer, announced the election of its new 2009 board of directors. The board consists of various professionals throughout the state who represent the beer and wine industry as well as business leaders, community people and entrepreneurs.

The board consists of the following individuals:

Cecile Giannangeli, owner of finewine.com in Montgomery County; Ian Mendelsohn, owner of IM Wine in Howard County; Cleaveland Miller, owner of Calvert Discount Liquors in Baltimore County; Mike Besche, cellar master of the Washington, DC Commanderie de Bordeaux; Michaeline and Donald Fedder, wine and beer aficionados; Dorothy Fuchs, president of Purple Dot PR; Rick Funkhouser, representative of the International Wine & Food Society of Baltimore; Bryan Gately representative of Cork & Fork food and wine society; Sharon Waller, wine and beer aficionado and Adam Borden, managing director of Bradmer Foods, LLC.

MBBWL was formed in 2005 to advocate for Maryland beer and wine laws that benefit consumers, promote competition, protect the environment and support Maryland’s brewers and wineries. MBBWL represents all Marylanders - consumers, retailers, producers, and distributors - and has almost 2,000 members statewide. Specific reforms that MBBWL support include allowing consumers to order wine delivered directly to them and to buy beer and wine at grocery stores. To learn more about MBBWL visit www.mbbwl.org.

Birthday wishes go out this month to: Barbara Wolf and Steve Delman, Acosta Sales & Marketing; Tom Bleakley, Star Sales and Marketing; Ken Gore, K.B. Gore & Co.; John Weiland, husband of Best-Met’s Nina Weiland; and Denis McCrossan, Crystal Geyser Water.
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You can e-mail Dick Bestany at