Gourmet gift basket online

Butterbean Trading to go gourmet

ATLANTA-Gourmet foods are in Butterbean Trading Co.'s future. Greg Foster, founder, president and chief executive officer of the online firm that offers uniquely Southern furniture, home decor and gift items, is exploring what gourmet products might make the Butterbean cut.

Foster plans to add food offerings by the first quarter of next year, he said, and perhaps a few trial items for the holiday season.

The items have to reflect the essence and vibrancy of the South, he said. They ought to be uniquely Southern rather than stereotypically so. Catfish pâté may fit the bill, while moonpies might be too obvious.

Foster and his partners, who include his wife Christine, who handles marketing, started in earnest to develop a business plan for Butterbean in 2002. They formally launched the specialty retail venture last July.

Foster is especially confident in Butterbean's affiliation with Turner South, a regional television network owned by Time Warner. The network, which produces home and garden and cooking shows focused on the Southern lifestyle, has a minority interest in Butterbean-less than 20 percent. As part of its investor role, Time Warner provides advertising for the items sold on the Butterbean Web site-www.butterbeantrading.com.

Butterbean receives free TV advertising it could not otherwise afford and Time Warner is using advertising inventory that it has not sold.

"It's a beautiful sort of way of monetizing this unused ad inventory," said Foster. Time Warner shows are better connecting with the audience that had been asking the network where they could buy items featured on its shows, he added.

Turner South broadcasts "Southern Living Presents," "Southern Home by Design," and "Home Plate," a cooking show about Low Country cuisine.

Butterbean offers about 500 TV-show-featured items, such as iced tea spoon holders, a lazy daisy serving platter, a decorative serving piece in the shape of a fish, a picnic basket and the popular Pig-Tail Flippers used to flip burgers (and a variety of meats and vegetables) on the grill or in the pan. Butterbean also sells furniture, home accessories and holiday items.

A catalog may come later, but Foster plans to concentrate first on building the online business.

With the launch of its food category next year, Foster plans to offer ingredients featured on the cooking shows.

Beyond the special sauces and rubs, jams, jellies, and compotes and vinegars that Foster is scouting, he is also considering offering barbecue from a wide variety of regions.

"The idea would be to be able to drop ship barbecue, to put it on dry ice and fly it around the country," he said. Foster noted that barbecue is different from region to region. Birmingham barbecue is different from Baton Rouge barbecue. Even within North Carolina barbecue means one thing in some parts of the state and quite another in other parts. Diversity includes regional variations of mustard-based sauces, tomato-based sauces and dry rubs.

The barbecue concept is complex to bring to market, but Foster is sure there's a way to make it profitable.

His wife came up with the name during a late night discussion. They always knew "trading company" would be part of the name. "Butterbean" seemed to be the whimsical missing link.

"You know, I grew up not eating butter beans," Foster said. "They were the things you hid under the rice."

Today, butter beans are front and center, and Foster said the company is developing a T-shirt to accommodate customer requests for products featuring the butter bean. He sees it as a sign that capitalizing with Southern style is a good idea.