Continued success

The Fancy Food Show was a three-day extravaganza of food and drink. There were 2,100 exhibitors and most I spoke with were pleased with the attendee traffic. While there was disagreement in the estimates of numbers of gourmet food buyers walking the show floor, the general consensus was that show management did a good job of keeping it a trade show and excluding the grazers who were just there for the samples.

Many new product introductions at the show continued to focus on the low-carb phenomena. It's been interesting to note the progress of these items this year. While , clearly a force in the marketplace through consumer demand and new product introductions, the pace may be slowing a bit.

Gus Valen, chief executive officer of the Valen Group, presented some of the results of his company's low carb study at the Gourmet Award Show in Dallas in early June. He confirmed the huge size of the "carb controller" market-59 million Americans)-and forecasted sales growth at between 30 and 50 percent for the next two years.

On the other hand, on July 6, Sally Squires in ; her "Lean Plate Club" column in the Washington Post talks about a group of 11 health organizations which have gotten together "to dispel what they called popular misconceptions about the low-carbohydrate approach and to warn about the risk of its long-term use." Nine of the 11 groups are non-profits, including one funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fifty-nine million people represent a huge market and this debate will continue for some time. It strikes me that gourmet food is a winner either way. We're all about high quality products, healthy choices and variety, regardless of which diet you are (or aren't) on. Let's keep that message in front of our customers for continued success.

Rick Rector

Publisher

rrector@gourmetnews.com

Copyright United Publications, Inc. Aug 2004
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