International Home and Housewares Show 2017 Favorite Finds

If I told you that the International Home and Housewares Show sold out almost three months before opening day, would you be surprised? How about if you knew that there were over 2200 exhibitors from around the world (and 400 NEW companies) in attendance? The Show’s home for four days is in Chicago at McCormick Place. With over 62,000 attendees from 125 countries walking the show, there are a number of for-sure things that you will leave with:

• The creativity in housewares is endless!
• Technology is strongly entrenched in our kitchens making “SmartHomes” available to everyone.
• Millennials are making an impact on trends.
• Eco-friendly products are gaining momentum.
• Colors are most welcome, wanted and defined in the housewares world.
• Housewares Industry professionals are extremely generous.
• McCormick Place and its three massive halls are huge. 16,000 steps a day. Next year, wear better shoes!
• Too much to share in one post. My annual summary will be in two parts.

This year’s show theme was of the Smart Home. How to integrate technology into the various aspects of your kitchen is really endless as we saw at the Smart Home Pavilion. Amazon integrations were seen in a number of different products. For example, the GeniCan, which makes it possible to stay on top of your grocery list by automatically scanning the bar code of products you are throwing out, was a big hit. Your list is then ordered through Amazon Dash.

Another product that will make coffee lovers happy is Behmor’s Connected Brewer which lets users tell Alexa to brew their favorite coffee or check on the status of their brew cycle. With the connection to Amazon Dash Replenishment Service, owners can easily order their specific roast automatically before they run out.

Wouldn’t it be great to have someone in your kitchen to answer a cooking question while you are in the midst of a recipe? Well, with Hello Egg, a voice operated kitchen assistant, you can have that support.This cleverly designed technology helps you to:

• Plan your weekly meals
• Order grocery delivery
• Provide easy to follow step by step recipe videos
• Backs you up with 24/7 support of the real cooking experts team

The final example of technology implementation into our cooking is with Char-Broil’s new SmartChef TRU-Infrared Gas Grill. This Wi-Fi connected grill syncs with your smart phone to send you real time alerts and information through the cloud. Now you can easily monitor gas levels and cook times, control grill temperatures and receive key grilling times without needing to run out to the grill.

When you wander a kitchen store, where do you find yourself most intrigued? For many, it will be the gadget department. Tools for anything and everything to make your kitchen experience easier, more efficient, more creative and perhaps less painful. (remember some gadgets are sharp!)

Brands like Chef’n and Microplane have designed products that are multi-taskers – especially beneficial for those with small spaces or little storage like this 7 in 1 Ultimate Bar Tool. See all it’s uses here:

Accomplish a task quickly and evenly with the Veggie Wedgie as seen here:

For those who love fresh lemon, lime or orange juice, check out the 3 in 1 Twist and Zest tool from Microplane. Here’s a snapshot of how it can help you in the kitchen or bar:More of an attachment than a gadget that could only come from KitchenAid is this Sheet Cutter that makes unraveling an apple or zucchini effortless. Here are two videos to see how it works. Part 1 Part 2 

Spiralizing lemons for your drinks with Chef’n Lemon-aid. If you want to see how this works, visit here:

Fermentation is of interest to homeowners and Masontops is jumping into help with their 9 piece Complete Fermentation Kit. Make your own kimchi, pickled vegetables and so many other recipes. 

With so many intriguing brands to learn about, products to try, and techniques to learn, it’s no wonder that this summary takes two posts. Come back Monday to see the eco friendly ideas, color implications, creative gift ideas for the wine lover and learn about the generosity of housewares industry professionals.

Thanks for stopping by!