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/838473
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SPECIALTY FOOD BUSINESS SUMMIT C arla Hall, famed chef and co-host of ABC's "The Chew", kicked off the second-annual Specialty Food Business Summit on April 2 in Chicago with an insightful and inspiring keynote presentation, during which she encouraged specialty food makers to "Say yes. Adventure follows, then growth." The summit's 300 attendees took part in one of two educa- tional tracks: Digital Marketing and E-Commerce or Operations and Food Safety. The evolving needs of omnichannel shoppers were discussed during presentations tying into the former topics. "Today's consumer is always on, has more options, shifting loyalties, and rising expectations," said presentor Marcelo Mijares of MCD Partners. Aaron Levy of Elite SEM, spoke about the increasing sophis- tication of search engine marketing and noted that "SEM used to be about keywords on devices, but now it's about finding people with the right intent." Speakers also shared practical tips on cost-effective ways to execute digital marketing campaigns. Brian VanArsdale of Crush & Lovely, focused on campaigns costing less than $1,000. Presenters also took a deep dive into best practices for establishing a successful e-commerce business. Betsy McGinn of McGinn eComm Consulting, who built Seventh Generation's multi-million-dollar e-commerce business, led a panel on how to set up and build a business on Amazon, including ways to impact organic search, such as ensuring key search terms like "vegan" or "nut-free" are in the title and page content. During the Operations and Food Safety portion of the Summit, Amy Mieding, of ADP TotalSource, urged attendees to "spend as much time as possible recognizing and rewarding your best employees, they will get you to the future." Attendee Andre Otero of Taste of Brasil restaurant, noted the value of information shared during the event: "One day of being here, it has saved us months of research trying to figure things out on our own." Specialty food members who couldn't attend the summit this year can purchase and watch each session from the Learning Center at learning.specialtyfood.com. specialtyfood.com user- name and password is required to log in.—S.K. SFA to Honor 27 New Specialty Food Hall of Fame Inductees T he SFA will be inducting a new class of indus- try leaders into the Specialty Food Hall of Fame. Established in 2015, the Hall of Fame's mission is to honor individuals whose accomplishments, impact, con- tributions, innovations, and successes within the spe- cialty food industry deserve praise and recognition. The 2017 class of 27 individuals will be honored on June 25, at the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City as part of a special event that will also include presenta- tion of the Association's Lifetime Achievement Awards to honorees. The 2017 Hall of Fame inductees are: • John H. Affel: World Finer Foods, Inc., Bloomfield, NJ • Bruce Aidells: Aidells Sausage Co., San Leandro, CA • Ted Bolle: Telefood Magazine • Bob & Verna Budd: Oak Hill Farms, Atlanta, GA • Jeffrey M. Cohen: Sutton Place Gourmet, Bethesda, MD • Al Cook: Melba Food Specialties, Inc., Brooklyn, NY • Leo A. Dick: Leo A. Dick & Sons Co., Warren, MI • Samuel W. Edwards III: Edwards Virginia Smokehouse, Surry, VA • Kurt Hamburger: Jacob Hamburger Co., Inc., Portland, OR • Rex Howell-Smith: Central Market, Dallas, TX • Scott Jensen: Stubb's Bar-B-Q & Rhythm Superfoods, Austin, TX • Natalie King: Stonewall Kitchen, York, ME • Paula Lambert: Mozzarella Co., Dallas, TX • David Lemberger: Lemberger Candy Corp., Paramus, NJ • Leo Lemberger: Lemberger Candy Corp., Paramus, NJ • Fred Meyer: Fred Meyer/Kroger, Portland, OR • Joseph Moskowitz: Larkin Cold Storage & Columbia Cheese, Long Island City, NY • Nell Newman: Newman's Own Organics, Aptos, CA • Frank Patrick: George Delallo Co., Mt. Pleasant, PA • Stanley Poll: William Poll, Inc., New York, NY • Ron Shalinsky: The Better Cheddar, Kansas City, MO • Michael Silver: Neomonde Baking Co., Morrisville, NC • Hal Theis: Reese Finer Foods, Bloomfield, NJ • Michael Thompson: Venus Wafers, Inc., Hingham, MA • Peter Young: Young's Specialty Foods, Tustin CA • Yuval Zaliouk: YZ Enterprises/Almondina, Maumee, OH —S.K. SUMMER 2017 31