Bakeware
TA Associates to Acquire Stonewall Kitchen
Stonewall Kitchen, a leading family of specialty food, home goods and personal care lifestyle brands, has been advised by Harris Williams, a global investment bank specializing in H&A advisory services, in its sale to TA Associates.
“The successful expansion beyond food and into high-growth personal care and home fragrances categories speaks to Stonewall Kitchen’s platform strength,” added Kelly McPhilliamy, a managing director at Harris Williams. “The company is successfully executing an exciting strategy that delivers continued runway for growth.”
Stonewall Kitchen is a leading specialty food, home goods and personal care producer headquartered in York, Maine. Founded in 1991 by partners Jonathan King and Jim Stott, the two established the Stonewall Kitchen brand by selling jams and jellies at local farmers’ markets with a flavorful line of distinctive and high-quality products. Over time, they expanded the brand to include sauces, condiments, crackers, and baking mixes, always focusing on innovative product development, beautiful packaging, and exceptional guest service.
Stonewall Kitchen’s origins and expansion to housewares is explored in the March issue of Kitchenware News & Housewares Review.
IHA Global Innovations Award Finalists Named
The 65 finalists in the IHA Global Innovations Awards (gia) for product design have been announced by the International Housewares Association. Global honorees in each of 13 categories will be announced during the invitation-only gia dinner March 5 during The Inspired Home Show 2022, IHA’s Global Home + Housewares Market, at Chicago’s McCormick Place Complex.
Entries were judged by a panel of industry experts and news media. The finalists and global honorees will be on display in a new exhibit in the Hall of Global Product Design in the Grand Concourse Lobby of the North Building as well as in the New Product Showcases located in the Buyers Club in each Show building. The Inspired Home Show opens at 10 a.m. on March 5 and runs through 5:30 p.m. March 7.
The gia product design finalists are:
Bath & Personal Care: Bug Bite Thing, Bug Bite Thing; F&H of Scandinavia A/S, UME Bath series; madesmart, Drying Stone Toothbrush Tray; Travelon, SOMNiWRAP Travel Pillow; Zoku, LLC;Travel Hand Wipes
Cleaning: Evriholder Products, LLC; Joie Chameleon Drain Cleaner; Evriholder Products, LLC, Sophisti-clean Compact Dish Rack and Silicone Mat Set; Proud Grill Company; Q-Swiper Steam Clean Grill Cleaner; Sanimaid ApS, #Stain Remover; ZoomBroom, ZoomBroom Tornado
Cook & Bakeware: Grand Fusion Housewares, Inc., Leakproof Silicone Non-Stick Baking Mat; IRIS USA, Inc., 6-Piece Cookware Sets with Cool-Touch Removable Handle and Tempered Glass Lids, MEGASTONE Non-Stick Coating; Le Creuset Of America Inc., Signature Bread Oven; SRT I.K. International, Special Roasting Tray; THE COOKWARE COMPANY (USA), LLC, Greenpan Reserve 10 pc set
Home Décor & Gifts: Hangman Products, Inc., No Stud Floating Shelves With Dye Sublimation Finishes; Picnic Time Family of Brands, Parisian Picnic Basket; Wabash Valley Farms, 12 Days of Christmas Popcorn Seasoning Advent Calendar; Wine Grasp Company, wineGrasp Single; WOLF, Palermo Double Watch Roll w/ Jewelry Pouch
Home Organization & Storage: Bous, KING JIM “TEPRA Lite Compact, Palm-sized Label Printer; Brabantia USA, Mindset Toilet Butler; Inspired Product Development Group, Cabinet Caddy SNAP!; JJAAMM, llc, Heavy-Duty Wrap-It Storage Straps; YouCopia, FridgeView Rolling Egg Holder
Household & Home Electrics: IRIS USA, Inc., WOOZOO Ultrasonic Top-Fill Cool Mist Humidifier, NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD. Venture Lab, Sumikaze Pure Air; simplehuman, cleanstation; THE FOUNDATION, Steamery Cirrus No. 3; Viatek Consumer Products Group, Int’l., Q-Beam Clamp Lamp
Kitchen Electrics: Chefman, PowerCrisp Microwave; Gourmia, FoodStation Smokeless Indoor Grill & Air Fryer with Smoke Extracting Technology, 5 One-Touch Cooking Functions and Extra-Large Nonstick Cooking Surface; Innospec, Hot Bento; Jura Inc., JURA Z10; Revolution Cooking, LLC, Revolution InstaGLO R270 Toaster
Kitchen Hand Tools & Cutlery: DANDY, ScooperDuper Folding Food Scraper by DANDY; Dreamfarm, Brizzle – scoop drizzle basting brush; Gourmet Kitchen Works LLC, GEFU Spice Tower; Microplane, Extra Coarse Mixing Bowl Grater; That Inventions, ScoopTHAT Radii
Kitchenware: Dreamfarm, Spina – spin and strain colander; Georg Jensen, Bernadotte French Press; simplehuman, compost caddy; VACCARO, Cutting Board Set; Zip Top, Reusable Silicone Snack Containers
Personal Care Electrics: BeiAng Air Tech Ltd., AirCap; Better Living Products Int’l., Inc., FOAMA Touchless Soap Dispenser; Crane USA, Inc., Crane 4 in 1 humidifier; Hidrate Spark, HidrateSpark PRO; Viatek Consumer Products Group, Int’l., Body Dryer
Smart Home Products: Aeris Health Inc., Aeris by iRobot aair 3-in-1 Pro; CookingPal Ltd., Multo; Mastrad, Inc., meat°it 3; Olimpia Splendid USA, Dolceclima Fresco 15 AC WI-FI; PantryChic, a division of Nik of Time, Inc., PantryChic Smart Storage System Starter Kit
Sustainable Products: ( r e )x, 100% Recycled Ocean and Ocean Bound Plastic Hangers; Bee’s Wrap, Reusable Produce Bags – Large 2 Pack; Brabantia USA, StepUp Pedal Bin; Georg Jensen, Sky Drinking Bottle; Zoku, LLC, Zoku Pocket Utensils
Tabletop: Drink Tanks, Travel Keg; Freshlink Product Development, LLC dba PREPARA, Honey Pourer; Gourmet Kitchen Works LLC, Olipac FILARE; Picnic Time Family of Brands, Cava Wine Tasting Kit; Reduce, Saltini Tumbler
For coverage of The Inspired Home Show and more, subscribe to Kitchenware News & Housewares Review.
The Inspired Home Show 2022 Sets Keynote Topics, Schedule
Keynote addresses at The Inspired Home Show 2022 will cover exclusive IHA data on consumer values, insights on shifting consumer lifestyle trends, an inside discussion about one of the industry’s fastest-growing and most influential online food and home platforms and a revealing view into the future of color in home and housewares.
The show, March 5-7 at Chicago’ McCormick Place, will be the first in-person gathering of the industry’s premier marketplace since 2019. The keynotes are set for Sunday and Monday in the Grand Ballroom in the South Building. The hour-long sessions begin at 7:30 a.m. and noon each day. Admission is free to all attendees.
The lineup showcases the return of veteran IHA trend forecasters and keynoters Leatrice Eiseman, director of the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training and executive director of the Pantone Color Institute; and Tom Mirabile, principal of Springoard Futures, who will be joined by Leigh Ann Schwarzkopf, founder of Project Partners Network.
Schedule highlights also include a special fireside chat with Amanda Hesser, co-founder and CEO of Food52; and a discussion on consumer home and housewares purchase drivers with authors of the 2022 IHA Market Watch report: Leana Salamah, vice president, marketing, International Housewares Association; Mirabile of Springboard Futures; and Joe Derochowski, vice president and home industry advisor for The NPD Group. Peter Giannetti, editor-in-chief of HomePage News, will moderate the fireside chat with Hesser and the discussion with the IHA Market Watch team.
Click here for more information on the keynote sessions. Click here to register, here for COVID precautions and here for more information on the show.
Subscribe now to Kitchenware News & Housewares Review for coverage of The Inspired Home Show.
Authentic Stoneware for a Touch of Farmhouse Kitchen Style
By Lorrie Baumann
Stoneware from La Manufacture de Digoin has now become part of the extensive range of fine European imports offered by The French Farm. While The French Farm’s product range is centered on fine foods, it also includes cutlery collections by Jean Dubost, handcrafted olive wood utensils from Berard, lavender-scented personal and home care products from Le Chatelard 1802, Jacquard tea towels from Coucke, The French Farm collection of wood cutting and service boards, and now, traditional farmhouse-style stoneware items from La Manufacture de Digoin. “Since we do very well with housewares, I decided to bring in the Digoin line a few months ago. People have seen it in gift shows in France,” said Gisele Oriot, The French Farm’s Founder. “It has been a really old-fashioned line that has had a new look by the new owner of the company.”
The new stoneware was made in a French factory in Burgundy that was founded in 1875 as a family-owned business that specialized in handcrafted pottery and made the kinds of objects typically found in a 19th-century French farmhouse kitchen – the pitcher for the milk, the jug for the cool drinking water, the crock for the pickles. “I’m actually from Burgundy, and we still have my grandfather’s farm, and there was always a brown jug and a jar, and everything was manufactured by the Digoin company,” Oriot said. “It would say ‘Digoin’ on the item. Everything was brown – no red, no yellow, just brown.” Once those farmhouses gained electric power, the need for many of those objects was superseded by refrigeration. Cheap plastics came into those kitchens, and the factory’s business declined. The company was in its last throes when it was rescued by Corinne Jourdain and a group of investors. “Her ambition was to perpetuate a historical expertise and to bring back to former glory those meaningful culinary objects,” according to the company.
For Jourdain, that meant keeping the company’s traditional craftsmanship but updating its sense of style, starting with the addition of colored glazes that would fit into the modern design aesthetic of a contemporary kitchen. “’Let’s do some blue. Let’s do some green.’ She basically took a new look at the whole line,” Oriot said. “This was in 2014. It’s starting to catch on. They’re selling to gift shops and upscale restaurants in France. She’s making it fashionable again.”
Oriot saw the new line for the first time in one of those gift shops when she went back to France on a visit to family there. Then she found out that the factory was nearby and offered tours – and also factory sales. “I went to see the old factory, and it was like magic. There was all this clay, and she had all these beautiful colors,” Oriot recalls. “I took a tour and asked her if she had a distributor in the U.S. She didn’t.”
Oriot placed an order, added the line to her catalog and premiered it at a New York gift show. “We’re shipping everywhere now,” she said. “There is interest in the line.” The collection offered in the U.S. by The French Farm includes a Large and Small Jug, Cruet, Canister with Lid, Vinegar Jar, baking dishes, salad and serving bowls, a utensil crock and terrines like those that French charcuteriers once used in their shops. “The butcher or the charcuterier would bake their recipe in those big brown dishes,” Oriot said. “They would finish the pate and clean it [the terrine] and bake another one in it and sell it by the slice.”
The stoneware is durable and oven-safe, she added. “You can cook in it. It’s very, very strong.”
For more information, visit www.thefrenchfarm.com.
Emile Henry Adds Square Pizza Stone
The large square ceramic pizza stone from Emile Henry grills brick-oven style pizzas in home ovens and on backyard grills easily and quickly. The ceramic square with upward sloping edges heats in about 15 minutes, changing the process of making homemade pizza from a time-consuming event to a fast meal. Most pizza stones take much longer, some nearly an hour.
Made in France with Flame technology, the square pizza stone distributes heat evenly throughout the pie. The result is evenly cooked pizza dough that doesn’t burn on the bottom before the toppings have cooked. Unlike other pizza stones, this one is glazed so that it is easy to clean, leaving no food, stain or odors.
The square pizza stone is light-weight and features large handles making it easier to lift and carry. Cooks can cut right on the stone or they can slide the pizza off onto a cutting board. The stone is naturally non-stick and is dishwasher safe. This new stone is available in burgundy and charcoal colors and retails for $50.
Specialists in culinary ceramic for more than 168 years, Emile Henry creates cooking products stamped by its unique savoir-faire. Inspired by its history and desires, the family-run company continues to use its passion for authentic, homemade cooking prepared with love and shared with pleasure. Like all Emile Henry products, the Pizza Stone is made of all natural materials and is backed by a ten-year warranty, which is not offered by any other ceramic manufacturers. Carefully shaped, each piece is signed by the artisan who makes it. The ovenware is then meticulously checked by the person who packs it, adding a label with their name for traceability and as a guarantee of quality. Emile Henry is located in the Burgundy town of Marcigny, France. To find out more about Emile Henry, visit Emile Henry USA at www.emilehenryusa.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment.