Blount Summit Focuses on Storewide Solutions, International Flavors

According to Todd Blount, president of Blount Fine Foods, it’s the shared “love of food” and passion for melding tradition with innovation to produce quality foods that brought nearly 100 attendees to the third Blount Culinary Summit, held in Newport, R.I., in late July.

Fall River, Mass.-based Blount welcomed attendees and shared his company’s vision, “Born from the love of food,” at the event, which brought together grocery retail and foodservice executives interested in learning more about consumer, flavor and industry trends. Featured presenters included Progressive Grocer’s Joan Driggs; Chris Warsow, corporate executive chef of Bell Flavors & Fragrances; and author and Chef Steven Petusevsky.

The Culinary Summit was emceed by Bob Sewall, Blount’s EVP of sales and marketing. Sewall is also the force behind Bob’s Big Give bobsbiggive.com, which he started more than 10 years ago by personally matching all donations to directly support the needy of Rhode Island. While still “grassroots”, generosity from Blount employees, industry and friends have increased the reach of the initiative. In 2016, Bob’s Big Give donated more than 150 Thanksgiving meals through four Rhode Island organizations.

In her “Retail Reinvention” presentation, Driggs described the changing retail landscape, being shaped by such market factors as information-empowered shoppers, technology and the competitive retail landscape. When layered with the continuing shift to health and wellness, retailers and their supplier partners must respond with solutions – not by category, but throughout the store – and need to adapt to the shopper demand for more transparency.

“Shoppers of tomorrow will be fixated on wellbeing, and that includes their health as well as their personal safety,” Driggs said. “They’ll be more knowledge-empowered and will demand greater levels of convenience, but only if they trust you enough to do business with you.”

Driggs challenged attendees to focus on delivering against shopper needs, including increasing levels of convenience and helping shoppers meet their personal expectations for health. It’s important for retailers and their supplier partners to demonstrate support for shoppers, communicating in ways and to the degree that shoppers find most comfortable, while also providing them with a positive shopping experience – both online and in store.

Warsow presented some key elements from Bell Flavors’ annual trends and flavor inspirations report, Spark, specifically:

• Late Night Japan – including the rise of izakaya, the Japanese version of pub food – often fermented and spicy -- and sake and tea-based cocktails in the U.S.
• Polynesian – featuring expected seafood in non-traditional formats, including wrapped and cooked in leaves, including taro, a plant used from leaf to root on these Pacific islands.
• Test Kitchen – while fire in the kitchen is usually discouraged, Warsow reports that under the practiced hand of professional chefs, “charred” is rising in popularity, as is ferments, preserves and sous vide.

And Petusevsky – who has authored "The Whole Foods Market Cookbook, a Guide to Natural Foods," which is based on the recipes he developed for the retail chain – took summit attendees on a global tour with “Lessons from a Traveling Chef.” Petusevsky demonstrated how he took authentic dishes from their local clime to retail deli cases, restaurants and businesses throughout the country.

“While your culinary program should always reflect your company’s mission statement, there are ways of merchandising and positioning products that turn the familiar left of center,” Petusevsky told attendees. Examples include the handmade “little ear” pasta of Puglia, Italy, which became a pasta salad that fit right in with a Colorado-based retailer’s mission and customer palette. Or how avocados from Jamaica inspired a half-avocado appetizer with infinite filling options. Even a farmer’s market in Wisconsin, chock full of seasonal tomatoes, inspired a fresh mozzarella and heirloom tomato salad for another retailer.

(Photos courtesy of Blount Fine Foods)