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By the time you read this article, things could be drastically different than they were at the completion of its writing. The perilous state of the economy and consumer reaction to the hourly happenings on the world stage make predictions tenuous at best. However, the one thing that has resonated from kitchenware vendors is a sense of optimism as they note that the industry benefits whether a bull or bear market. After all, people gotta eat.

A Sign of the Times

The September tragedy changed the way we view our everyday activities. We've slowed down to say hello to our neighbors. We've retreated to our homes to spend more time with our families. We now look more closely at how we spend our money and we are more likely to cook at home more often.

For some time, there has been a growing interest in cooking at home, fueled partially by the ever-popular parade of cooking shows on television. As consumers became more confident in preparing foods in their kitchens, they increased their desire to show off their skills. And as home entertaining gained popularity, new kitchenware products, from stylish new gadgets to commercial-quality espresso machines and everything in between, came into demand.

In 2000, U.S. consumers purchased more than $69 billion of housewares products. That rings in at $640 for each of 108 million households, and represents an annual household increase of 5.9% over the last five years. As of press time, the International Housewares Association's most recent Housewares MarketWatch found that for the 2nd Quarter 2001 versus the 2nd Quarter 2000, overall sales in both electric and nonelectric categories declined modestly in department store, mass merchant, and home specialty channels.

However, reports in mid-November 2001 showed retail sales inching up slightly after declining in September. Simultaneously, interest in home entertaining seems to have increased significantly in the past few months — an encouraging sign for the kitchenware industry.

All of the factors mentioned above bode well for the housewares industry, and at the retail level, offer retailers the opportunity to strengthen their customers' loyalty.

Comfort Me with Food

Meat loaf, mashed potatoes, pot roast, and potpie — consumers are comforting themselves with foods that send them back to a time when they felt safe. A recent issue of Time magazine (November 19, 2001) emphasized the back-to-basics tone many consumers are expressing, noting that a homemaker in Illinois has patented a mashed potato machine that cooks, mashes, and flavors potatoes in 20 minutes. While I'm not sure we need another single-use product on our kitchen counters, the point is that this machine addresses two of the American consumer's desires — convenience and comfort food.

Kitchenware products that have experienced increased sales concomitant with the desire for comfort food include covered dishes that lend themselves to comfort food cooking. The classic faitout pan, Dutch oven, French oven, or casserole all fit the bill. These all-purpose covered casserole dishes offer versatility and convenience when we create the soups, stews, and other soothing foods that fill our need for comfort. Additionally, one-pot cooking allows chefs to prepare meals ahead of time and place them in the fridge or freezer until it's time to pop them into the oven. Once finished, the attractive and colorful pots go beautifully on the table.

And, perhaps the epitome of comfort foods will always be those cooked on the backyard barbecue, so keep your eye out for a host of new grill introductions.

Comfort Me with Food at Home

At press time in early November, pictures were being painted of Norman Rockwell-type holidays as America recalls simpler times and enjoys simpler pleasures — family, friends, and home entertaining.

Manufacturers have been successful in providing products to help the host prepare and serve with style and ease. The oven-to-table category not only provides vessels that perform well, but ones that look beautiful as they're taken from the oven to the table. New product introductions are not only driven by the increase in home entertaining, but by convenience — a word on the tip of every consumer's tongue when asked about what he or she desires from their kitchenware products.

The focus on home entertaining took hold in 2000, and for vendors will remain a strong category, one that has further strengthened since September. Chafing dishes, serving platters, and fondues complemented with serving tools such as soup and sauce ladles, cake and pie servers, and serving utensils, all speak to the prevalent home entertaining theme.

The rise in home entertaining bodes well for the sale of a variety of specialty cookware items in the wings, as well as those introduced in the last year. Crepe pans, omelets, stir-fry pans, and asparagus cookers are examples of items that can offset the softer sales some may feel in the regular cookware lines — not to mention that they fit in with the comfort food aspect.

Eggs are no longer a bad word, and the successful introduction of several egg-related items, including the Berndes egg poacher last year, illustrates the reemergence of the popularity of eggs. Look for a continued interest in egg-related items, from egg cups to egg timers, to whimsical stainless steel egg spoons.

Tableware lines have also been extended. If consumers are comfortable inviting people to the table, it is important to have the accessories — teapots and cream and sugar and butter dishes to complement other serving pieces.

Specialty pieces enable the host to present the food in the most elegant or fun manner. Specialty pieces can add spark to what might otherwise be a flat color theme. Aside from making a color statement, the shapes of these unique pieces can add excitement to presentation. The sharp corners of Asian dinnerware may be yielding — albeit ever so slightly — to more round and oval curves in serveware. Breaking out of the traditional geometric mode, manufacturers will be offering consumers more organic forms in the tableware category. Plus, fun, whimsical shapes like a bell pepper casserole or heart-shaped bakeware are finding their way to the table as an increasing number of vendors expand their offerings in this sub-category.

The fondue, a '70s trend come-again, feeds the nostalgic, ethnic, and entertaining demands of consumers in a more sophisticated way this time around. Today, consumers are scooping up multiple fondues — one for cheeses, another for meats, and a third for desserts. Piggybacking on the "everyone cooks their own food" aspect of the fondue, the Swiss raclette's popularity is slowly heating up; accordingly, manufacturers have increased their SKUs to offer different sizes and designs to meet individual entertaining needs. Both products play to the resurgence of people sharing a meal together and the symbolism of dipping into the same pot together.

Hand in hand come the related accessories necessary to complete the fondue or raclette story. The Lazy Susan, small accessory dishes, bowls, and utensils all help create a coordinated look.

Patriotism in the Pantry

No doubt there will be a lot of red, white, and blue at the January show as manufacturers fuel our patriotic fervor. Expect to find tabletop items, linens, and serving utensils with a dash of American patriotism used as accent pieces. This Americana theme will be more pervasive in basic items and decorative pieces since there probably aren't many consumers looking for a red, white, and blue-striped stand mixer.

Boston Warehouse is an example of a company that expanded its Americana collection. Its new partyware includes the Americana Flag Tablecloth, reusable ice cubes, and a freezable stirrer set. The collection, which was introduced earlier in 2001, sold well especially as a 4th of July item, but now as patriotism is soaring, the demand for products such as these will be stronger.

Decorative items for the kitchen, such as cookie jars, spoon rests, and holiday-themed ceramics, that add a bit of whimsy also feed into home entertaining and are expected to generate strong sales. The Jazz line of mills from William Bounds is an example of a product that breaks tradition and offers consumers an attention-grabbing centerpiece for home entertaining. Introducing fun, whimsical items in the kitchen is a departure from all that serious metal and black-and-white. Such products can help excite and attract consumers who are seeking something new and unique to add to their collections, or to just brighten up their kitchens.

Comfort Me with Color

While black and stainless will remain the dominant colors especially for kitchen tools, in the oven-to-tableware category, color still reigns. Colors counteract the sobering effects of the technology revolution that is most often represented by metal by providing a sensory experience. The color story continues to refresh the kitchen year in and year out.

Manufacturers are increasingly using color to help extend the use of products such as bakeware and ovenware throughout the year. The light, refreshing green of Emile Henry's Provençal Vert is a good example of how manufacturers can use color to add a spring or summer slant to their lines.

Color also evokes comfort when it is deeply rooted in an ethnic background. French Provençal fabrics depict a warm tradition for consumers, regardless of whether they grew up in Provence or not. The Moroccan tagine conjures up the red and orange colors of Indian spices and curries.

Color can convey the warmth that consumers desire at the table, as well as allow the home chef to enhance the presentation of the food and let their personalities emerge.

For companies like Le Creuset or KitchenAid, where colors are a big part of the overall package, colors will continue to drive introductions. Blue may remain the most popular color in the kitchen, but red is expected to be the color fastest growing in popularity.

While color is cyclical in nature with cycles changing every few years, what has remained a mainstay in the kitchen, especially in the small electrics category, is black. Lately, however, black is increasingly appearing in tabletop and accessory piece lines, ranging from Chantal's EveryWhere collection to the Le Creuset Poterie line of stoneware. Black now adorns the collection of bakers, ramekins, covered dishes, and more as do a variety of other colors. Black on items other than the coffee machine, grinder, toaster, or microwave is perceived as the color able to lend an urban, sophisticated look to the kitchen and dining room.

Metal Madness

The home housewares market has been borrowing from the professional kitchenware market for some time, and consumers are continuing to demand commercial-quality kitchenware from vendors. From the Viking range to espresso machines with commercial technology, when consumers decide to spend money, they want the best there is to offer.

The strong demand for all things professional is not only reflected in the quality, but in the look. Stainless steel and metal looks on major appliances down to the smallest of kitchen gadgets continue to be strong sellers. Expected to gain a stronger hold this year will be the brushed metal look — a move that may represent a desire to soften up the high-gloss look of the past few years. This softening still offers consumers the metal look they demand, but updates it in an attempt to further drive sales. Brushed teakettles from Chantal, brushed peppermills from William Bounds, chrome coffee makers from Capresso and Cuisinart, brushed metal cookware from All Clad — all answer the continued demand for metal in the kitchen.

Better Basics

Improved basic everyday kitchen items from peelers to can openers are what vendors will offer this year. These improvements extend beyond aesthetics and touch on increased functionality to benefit the consumer.

Contoured handles, for example, are especially important for the aging population to whom ergonomics is a big issue. Scanpan addresses this issue with its new ergonomic nonstick cookware assortment that includes a right- or left-handed ergonomic handle for better control and handling.

Larger and brighter LCD readouts on everything from coffee makers to timers may seem like small changes, but are big in the eyes of consumers.

Heading into the high-tech category, as we wait for life in the kitchen to transfer from "with-the-touch-of-a-button" technology to "voice recognition," there is much to be excited about as the new year begins. Vendors note numerous products on the drawing board slated for mid- to late-2002 introductions, but for the time being, many will focus on "tweaking" existing products for the first half of 2002. Examples include adding new sizes to existing products (Cuisinart is offering a l3-cup version of their 21-ounce food processor, but with a handle), and incorporating single-use items into one multi-use unit (VillaWare combines three appliances in one — a waffle maker, a sandwich maker, and a pizzelle).

Sup it Up

Coffee sales show no signs of abating. While the trend to develop new products continues, manufacturers are focusing on fine-tuning the array of existing coffee- and espresso-related products already on the market.

As vendors tweak existing coffee-making products, their minor changes in design to accommodate technology upgrades can make a large difference in ease of use. Manufacturers in this category are borrowing technology from one industry and applying it to another. Coming soon to a coffee machine near you is an electronic device that counts the number of pots of coffee made. A blinking light — similar to one in a car alerting you of the need for service — tells you that it is time to change the water filter. Not only does this lessen concern about food safety issues (keeping bacteria out of the water), but also about water quality, an all-important factor in brewing a quality cup of coffee. Now, it will be easier than ever to remember to change the filter.

Parallel to the continued interest with coffee makers is the one in tea-brewing equipment. Look for numerous introductions in both categories, especially in accessories such as grinder brushes, frothing pitchers, tampers, tea infusers, and tea bag squeezers to help round out the consumer's collection at home.

The Competitive Edge

As retailers head to the Housewares Show, the most frequently asked question is, "What's New?" Certainly, new products will premiere at the show, but many manufacturers tell us that instead of pushing something "new" on consumers, they are creating different programs to help retailers, including special promotional pricing, in-store displays with educational videotapes, and much more.

Consumers will always value the experience of walking into a store and having contact with employees who can explain the features and benefits of kitchenware products.

As retail competition heats up, customer loyalty becomes critical. Reach out to your customers and fulfill their needs. Now, it is more important than ever to start spending more interactive time with customers. Work on signage, in-store demos, and presentation. Ask customers to tell you what they're thinking about — everything from product selection to price, to customer service. Customer loyalty has its price and that price involves effort, but is well worth the return it brings.