Kitchen Culinary News February 14

In the past few days some news stories from the kitchen and culinary world caught my eye and I wanted to pass them along to you.

Tony Luke, Jr. & Ergo Chef Partner On New Cutlery

For those who may not know him, Tony Luke, Jr. is known for his Philly-style sandwich and worldwide chain of Tony Luke’s restaurants. His place in South Philly is known as the REAL choice among lovers of old style Philly sandwiches, not the two more “famous” cheesesteak restaurants who compete with each other using celebrity photos and lots of neon.

Like they did with Guy Fieri, Ergo Chef has created a branded knife for Tony Luke. The knife is an offset 7″ serrated multi-use knife with a non-slip ergonomic handle that looks solidly built and worthy of a South Philly legend.

Tony Luke serrated multi-use knife

HoMedics Scales Shift To Taylor

Taylor Precision Products recently added the HoMedics label to their stable of brand names in a move that the company believes will improve their market presence in the bath and kitchen scale categories. The HoMedics brand joins a Taylor scales portfolio that includes the venerable namesake Salter, as well as The Biggest Loser and Bowflex brands.

Founded in 1987 by Ron Ferber and Alon Kaufman, HoMedics established a reputation as the leading manufacturer of back and body massagers. Spanning nearly 25 years, HoMedics Inc, has grown through its focus on innovation in the health and wellness industry, as well as expanding its market through targeted acquisitions.

Link to the original Home World Business Article.

Grounds Zero: A Starbucks-Free Italy

As the Bloomberg Businessweek article states, if it weren’t for Italy, Starbucks as we know it today probably would not exist. Founder Howard Schultz came up with the idea for his cafe while on a business trip to Milan in 1983. At the time, Starbucks was a simple coffee roaster — not the cafe we know today — and Mr. Schultz was the marketing director.

Now 30 years later, the chain has expanded into 11,000 locations in the U.S., 925 outlets in Japan, 730 in the U.K. and 314 in Mexico. Starbucks has stores in a vast array of countries including Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. On Jan. 30th, Starbucks announced that it will open its first outlet in India later in 2012.

For several years they have stated an intention to introduce Starbucks to Italy, but to date have not opened there. My feeling is that it would be the height of ego/bravado to believe they could improve upon the coffee culture that inspired their founder. I think Starbucks would be somewhat successful, as they are smart business people and would draw most of their early revenue from tourists who are familiar with the brand and potentially Italians who gravitate toward US brands. Conversely, they might also show themselves a pale imitation of the original when their formulaic products stand side-by-side with the world’s greatest coffee bar market. It could also bring scorn and protests from Italians insulted by an American company stepping on their beloved cafe culture.

Besides, introducing Starbucks to Italy could actually cause the universe to collapse upon itself and we don’t really need that do we?

Read the full original Bloomberg BusinessWeek article.

————————————————————-
Affiliate Partner