DIY food and handcrafted 'made in Japan' goods at Chicago home show
From March 10-13 the latest household and home products, interior design trends and consumer electronics from a range of top American and international manufacturers will be on display at the International Home and Housewares show in Chicago. Highlights at this year's exhibit include Japanese exhibitors from some of the areas worst affected by 2011's tsunami, DIY food production and the Global Innovation Awards.
The show, which attracts over 60,000 professional attendees, 15,000 US buyers and 6,000 international buyers per year, is divided into four sections Clean Contain and Sustain; Dine and Design; Wired and Well; and Global Crossroads.
Clean Contain and Sustain covers a wide range of furniture, cleaning products and bath/ shower accessories; Dine and Design showcases the latest in cookware, dinnerware and kitchen products; Wired and Well includes some of the latest major appliances, energy conservation products and household electronics; while Global Crossroads is home to the international exhibitors' pavilions.
One of the most buzzed about sections at Global Crossroads this year is the Japanese pavilion which will be displaying goods from ten exhibitors based in some of the areas worst hit by last year's tsunami. Almost exactly a year after much of northern Japan was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami these ten exhibitors will be bringing a range of eco-friendly, made-in-Japan products to the public.
In the kitchen area members of the National Association for the Speciality Food Trade (NASFT) will be offering attendees a taste of their products and over 500 new companies including Ariston Specialties, Back to the Roots, 100% Chef Cocina, and the Chocolate Company will be showcasing their products. Back to the Roots is one company attracting a lot of attention this year for its DIY approach to food. Founded by Alejandro Velez and Nikhil Arora during their last semester at UC Berkeley in 2009, the firm retails a 'grow your own' mushroom garden which uses recyled coffee grounds.
Other highlights of the show include the Global Innovation Awards (GIA) which honor excellence in design and retail. Presented by the International Housewares Association (IHA), organizers of The International Home and Housewares Show, the GIA first began in 1999 and were awarded for retail excellence, before expanding in 2011 to include design excellence.
Young designers will also be honored in the show's 19th annual Student Design Competition with rewards young designers that have created household products that ‘combine function and flair'.
The International Home and Housewares show is a significant North American show in the industry, though IMM Cologne in Germany, which this year took place on January 16-22, attracts more than double the number of visitorys with nearly 140,000 guests and over 1,000 exhibitors from around the world each year; the next edition of IMM Cologne takes place from January 14-20, 2013.
http://www.housewares.org/show
