Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM SEPTEMBER 2016 54 Y ou've probably heard all about the smart home and the move to connect us to the devices in our home. But what about the kitchen? Research shows we spend a total of three years or our lives in our kitchens and there's an emerging market trying to revolutionize the way you cook, eat, order food and interact in the most popular room in the home. The smart kitchen industry wants to disrupt the worlds of culinary, smart home, appliance, and commerce and industry players want to create new experiences in the kitchen. The leaders of this emerging space will come together on October 5 and 6 in Seattle at the second annual Smart Kitchen Summit. The Summit will feature startups to influencers at the convergence of technology, design and food and how the move to make our kitchen intelligent will impact our lives. THE CONNECTED KITCHEN Across the retail landscape, retailers are starting to double down on kitchen products that use technology in new and different ways. Whether it's something as simple as Williams- Sonoma's new Bluetooth thermometer or a crowdfunded device that makes canned or bottled beer taste like draft beer making its way to Best Buy, retailers are trying lots of different products that change the way we cook, drink and eat. What makes the kitchen different? According to retailers, much of the answer lies in straightforward convenience and utility. Michelle Baden Foss, who oversees the food prep category for high-end retailer Williams-Sonoma, says the category, if done right, brings value to consumers' lives in the form of convenience. "Our customers respond best when an item is truly smart," said Baden Foss. "When it offers them something that enhances a product and their lives. If you can customize your morning latte and then press go from under the covers, people want to have that convenience." One of the biggest challenges for emerging technology makers and retailers is convincing consumers there are new and often better ways to do things. Sometimes its companies like Jarden who have a history of products in our kitchens with familiar names like the Crock-Pot. Leaders like Jarden are looking at how to take the smarts behind new technology ideas and make our beloved kitchen appliances work even better. President of the USA division of Jarden Alejandro Pena puts it succinctly: "Technology that doesn't solve a problem is technology for the sake of technology that eventually will fail…. We don't just want to make more products; we want our products to do more for consumers." THE SMART KITCHEN SUMMIT The Smart Kitchen Summit is really the first of its kind to tackle the technology and design convergence that's changing how we eat, buy, store and interact with our food. The Summit will bring together start-ups, leaders and innovators for an evening reception followed by a day-long event on October 5 and 6 at in Seattle. This year's panelists represent leaders across industries such as food tech, kitchen retail and commerce, consumer technology, food & home media and kitchen design. Panels, solo presenters and keynotes will tackle a myriad of topics including the emergence of guided cooking systems, AI and Big Data and how they're transforming the way we cook and eat, innovations in kitchen appliances and gadgets and reinventing retail in a connected era. The future of the smart home is wide open, but it seems almost inevitable that technology will transform the way we interact with everyday items in our lives. This is certainly true for the kitchen– a room we spend most of our time in – and all the ways we use it. From cooking, storing food, entertaining, sharing a meal to living a healthy life, our kitchens are truly the hubs of our every day. To hear the lively discussion from some of the visionaries at this intersection, join us on October 5 and 6 at the Smart Kitchen Summit in Seattle and help us make some sense of the future of the connected kitchen. THE SMART HOM E + FOOD: MEET THE CONNECTED KITCHEN Michael Wolf, NextMarket Insights and curator of Smart Kitchen Summit RO Michael Wolf Guest Columnist

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