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Winter Fancy Food Show seminars tell of tools, trends for retailers

RETAIL TOURS, CUSTOMER SERVICE, PROMOTION THEMES HIGHLIGHT EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

SAN FRANCISCO-Fueling the specialty retail trade with new tools with which to distinguish their stores in a competitive retailing environment is at the heart of the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade's Winter Fancy Food Show education program here in January.

The retailer education program kicks off with two specialty retail store tours led by Epicurean Excursions on Saturday, Jan. 17, a day before the three-day Fancy Food Show begins.

A tour of San Francisco's newly opened Ferry Building Marketplace takes place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The tour, which includes lunch, visits the market's 22 retailers, including Cowgirl Creamery's Artisan Cheese, LuLu Petite, McEvoy Ranch and Racchiuti Confections.

A second tour, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., explores four wine country specialty retailers in Napa Valley's St. Helena-Viansa Winery & Italian Marketplace, Keller's, Culinary Institute at Greystone's Spice Island Marketplace and Dean & Deluca. Lunch at Market is included in the tour.

A three-hour tour of the small markets of San Francisco departs at 9 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 18, an hour before the Fancy Food Show convenes at the Moscone Convention Center here.

This tour visits Bi-Rite, a chef-owned market; Cooper's, a corner neighborhood market featuring cheese and wine; and The Lunch Club, a prepared foods and general store inspired by London establishments.

Prices for the seminars vary and registration is required. Preliminary trade show attendance registration, which is $35 per person, ends Dec. 5. After Dec. 5, the on-site attendance fee increases to $60 per person. The trade show runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 18 and 19, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday. Visit www.fancyfoodshows.com for more information.

Throughout the show, the following retailer seminars are being offered:

SUNDAY, JAN. 18, 11 A.M. TO 1 P.M.

*Sensational Customer Service-How to Make It Happen In Your Store: Specialty food industry experts Jan Leigner, Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker; Art Herrera, Coopers Gourmet; Marlene Goetzeler, Freeport Bakery; Bennett A. Robinson, Raise the Bar, Inc. discuss how they achieve customer service in their stores.

SUNDAY, JAN. 18, 1 P.M. TO 3 P.M.

* Creating Gift Baskets That Sell: Cherie Reagor of The Basket Connection presents this seminar about getting marketing value out of inventory overages; shipping tips; evaluating the product and production costs; and the appeal of themed baskets.

SUNDAY, JAN. 18, 3 P.M. TO 5 P.M.

* Raw Milk Cheeses-A Guided Tasting: Slow Food USA Presents this guided tasting by Debra Dickerson, American Cheese Society, and Mark Gillman, Catco Corner Farm, featuring American farmstead cheeses made with raw cow's milk.

MONDAY, JAN. 19, 8 A.M. TO 10 A.M.

* Growing Your Mail-Order Operation-How to Take it to the Next Level: Targeting a trend in specialty food retailers expanding their businesses through mail order, Mo Frechette, Zingerman's, and Tony Cox, Catalog Solutions, present this seminar. Tips will include developing a holiday staffing and training timeline; how customers read a catalog; how to select and merchandise products in a catalog; and building a mailing list of valuable names.

MONDAY, JAN. 19, 8 A.M. TO 4 P.M.

The Emerging Generation-Purchasing Values, Service Expectations and Workplace Ethics: The NASFT presents this three-seminar series by Robert Wendover of The Center for Generational Studies.

* From Standing in Line to Clicking Online-The Psychographics of the Emerging Consumer: 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

* From the Lone Ranger to A Pierced Stranger-The Changing Faces of Customer Service: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

* From Ricky & Lucy to Beavis & Butthead-Managing the New Workforce: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

TUESDAY, JAN. 20, 8 A.M. TO 10 A.M.

* Partnering with Suppliers for SalesBuilding Promotions: Paul Ferrari, A.G. Ferrari Foods; Paul Saltzman, A Southern Season; and Clarke Pomeroy, Domestic Cheese Distributors, present this panel discussion about identifying and working with trade organizations, distributors and brokers that provide marketing support for their products.

* Enhancing Your Business and Your Image through Fair Trade: TransFair USA presents this panel discussion of retailer success stories relating to the incorporation of fair-trade programs into their stores. Speakers are Brandon Bagley of Wild Oats Markets, Larry Bain of Jardiniere and Acme Chophouse, and Helen Russell, Nugget Markets.