Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/375622
info@ReliantRibbon.com • Call 1-800-886-2697 A Family Business Since 1963 Th e P e r f e c t To u c h S H O W R O O M L O C A T I O N S : ATLANTA • DALLAS • NEW JERSEY Let us help you design the perfect finishing touch. · 15,000 Stocked Ribbons & Bows · In-House Printing Service · Custom Bows & Ribbon Strips 50 Years of Custom Ribbons and Bows sales@stickyfngersbakeries.com www.stickyfngersbakeries.com 1.800.458.5826 Fall in love with our new flavors! Try our new gluten-free Pumpkin Cranberry & Chocolate Chip Scones, available now! Winter Fancy Food Show Booth 1363 Food From Britain continues to build a U.K. food presence in the U.S., particularly with specialty cheeses—something Matthews initially thought would be a disaster. "I was astounded to see cheese so successful and well-received, because early on we thought that Americans only thought of cheese as something you put in a burger," he says. "Certainly an unfair comment now!" MAX RIES Reese Finer Foods From selling imported cheese in the Midwest out of the back of his car, to enrobing ants and grasshoppers in chocolate for Americans to try, Max Ries created an exotic market for specialty foods that captured the atten- tion of consumers. Foray into Food. Ries was creative and experimental in the ways he thought about food. Flavor and aroma aside, he also focused on presentation and application. After immigrating to Chicago from Germany in 1939, he began selling imported European cheeses out of the back of his station wagon. Seizing a fledgling interest in new, high-quality foods, his small business quickly grew as he expanded his global inventory. He soon developed food gift boxes, imported delicacies from Europe and the Far East, and embraced the exotic. In 1942, he launched Reese Finer Foods. Breaking Boundaries. In 1960, Ries bought a farm in Wisconsin—an area that reminded him of his birthplace in Germany and a place where he could open a roadside retail food business. Here he would grow then-unknown produce, such as baby corn, miniature watermelons, and martini peppers, which spurred the interest of the American palate. He later sold these products under the many brands he created: Reese Finer Foods, Dipitty-Dil, The Jug BBQ sauce, Sue Anne Foods, and Dina Foods. Ries created packaging that was attractive, practical, and often glamorous. He added pour spouts to the Reese line of syrups and packed luxury olives in giant snifter glasses. He had the foresight to understand that without innovative marketing, specialized products could be a hard sell. Ries was creative and experimental in the ways he thought about food. Flavor and aroma aside, he also focused on presentation and application. FALL 2014 71