Ryanair and EOS -- great airline models

Two exciting airline business models -- one Irish and one American -- will hopefully come to Canada one day.

Paradoxically, Europe's most profitable airline, Ryanair, gives away 25% of its flights for free. In the last 12 months, it has flown 35 million passengers to more than 100 European destinations for an average cost of just US$53.

"I flew Ryanair from London to Ireland and they charged me one Pence (a little more than two Canadian pennies)," said a friend recently. "I went online at their site and when I booked my flight they charged me next to nothing. This was because I had booked in advance."

On its current website, Ryanair says it will give away four million tickets between October to December for only 19 Pence apiece. Passengers wishing to take advantage of these freebies must book during off-peak times of the day, well in advance of their trip and between cities that have lots of vacancies.

Ryanair's strategy is inspired. By giving away flights, it has created a huge storm of publicity in Europe, built huge traffic to its site and filled their flights. In essence, Ryanair has people racing to fill its airplanes way ahead of time.

The Irish company was founded by the Ryan family years ago in Dublin and is now a successful public company, listed on the Dublin Exchange. Latest results are 2006 revenues of E1.69 billion (Euros); profits of E302 million and 35 million passengers. At the same time, the airline enjoys a 22% net profit margin, compared with Southwest Airlines' net of 7.2%.

The rest struggle. There is no other airline like it. Revenues increased by 12% despite a 74-per-cent fuel cost hike that year. Traffic growth increased 26% along its 330 routes. The fleet now numbers 103 aircraft and Ryan Air (ryanair.com) is adding 46 new routes this year.

In March, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said he wanted to make air travel completely free one day, then promised by the end of 2010 that 50% of Ryanair's customers would fly at no cost to themselves. This is accomplished by a number of techniques. He calls the company the "Wal-Mart of flying" because it assiduously watches costs. Some 98% of flights are booked online which saves a bundle every year. The Irish airline, however, charges for services other than tickets. It sells seat-back advertising and charges for food, beverages and baggage check-in services. Charging US$3.50 per bag discourages check-in which reduces the aircraft's weight, thus reducing fuel costs. It gets a percentage of car rental or hotel bookings made by its passengers through its site too and has even "sold" some of its planes' fusilages as gigantic billboards to be painted by advertisers.

In 2007, on-flight gambling will be available, allowing the airline to earn a small percentage of the house proceeds. The airline, like Southwest, also uses only one type of aircraft to keep maintenance costs lower and only flies between small, secondary airports.

Another innovator is newly-launched EOS Inc. which dramatically undercuts big airlines by offering a business-only transAtlantic service between New York City and London. EOS is not a no-frills operator like Ryanair but a high-end one.

In October, the airline began operating a service between John F. Kennedy International Airport and London Stansted Airport, with one daily flight in each direction. It has three Boeing 757s.

"Eos" was the Greek Goddess who heralded the arrival of dawn. Fares are US$6,500 round trip, roughly 20% below the big airlines' high-end business fares. Even better than such a savings, these flights are more like a journey on a private jet than a trip flown on a commercial carrier.

Each 757 can fly up to 220 passengers but EOS only has 48 seats on board. These are configured into seating areas with fold-out tables so that passengers can hold meetings or eat around a table. In addition, passengers' seats fold out to private, 78-inch beds. Bathrooms have fresh flowers, shaving cream and disposable razors by the sink. The meals are gourmet and passengers can cuddle up with cashmere blankets in their mini-suites.

The airline was started by a director of strategy at British Airways in 2004 and the management team includes a number of former airline executives who plan to expand their fleet to 20 planes within five years.

EOS provides its business class passengers with a number of advantages. Savings are available for those booking seven days in advance, and even greater if bookings are made 14 days ahead of time. There are weekend specials too. But fares are flexible and unrestricted. EOS permits one-way travel, does not require a minimum stay or a Saturday night stay.

Meanwhile, the world's "legacy" carriers lost about US$42 billion last year collectively.

Jack Matthews to Build EnCana headquarters in Calgary

Dallas-based developer Jack Matthews has landed the deal to build the head office project for Calgary’s EnCana Corp. which will be the tallest building in Western Canada. It’s a homecoming for Jack who left Canada 12 years ago following a dust-up involving Toronto’s airport.

He grew up in Ontario, the son of a successful developer Don Matthews of the Matthews Group. His brother-in-law is former Ontario Premier David Peterson.

Jack’s woes in Canada started in 1993 after a consortium, called Paxport International, landed the $4-billion contract to privatize and redevelop Toronto’s airport. Jack became its chief executive because of his expertise in building and operating major projects. However, the contract was cancelled by the Liberal government the same year.

Paxport’s partners sued for contract breach and Jack returned to commercial development. In January 1994, he left for Dallas.

“All the money I had was tied up in the airport deal so I had to mortgage my house to get going in business. I figured Dallas was as good a place as any,’’ he said. “We had also done development business around the U.S. so I was familiar with their way of doing things.”

In 1996, the airport matter was finally resolved. Paxport’s partners, which included Charles Bronfman, and the feds settled before the trial judge ruled.

By then Jack was busy building his business south of the border. He began small. But today his company, Matthews Southwest, is doing one of the largest urban redevelopment deals in the U.S. on 83 acres in South Dallas.

“It was a derelict area and we’ve built loft apartments and entertainment, music venues there,” he said. “It’s now the trendiest part of Dallas. We’re also doing another 1,200-acre residential development north of the city around a great golf course.”

The 1,200-acre development consists of homes and retail sprawled around the lake within commuting distance of fast-growing Dallas. “I like doing business in Dallas but it’s different,” he said. “People there are so friendly that you don’t really know who your friends are.”

Now he’s set to do the most prestigious office project west of Ontario, also in another eminent capital within the oilpatch. In this case, Calgary. He’s impressed with the efficiency of the place, but not surprised.

“I wouldn’t have expected anything less after all,” he said.

The EnCana deal came about when the corporation created a research team to investigate building designs and financial business models. It surveyed North America and found two gems in Canada — a pair of uniquely designed and financed office buildings in Mississauga, Ont., built by Matthews for corporate clients Bell Canada and Bell Mobility.

“They liked the terms and the design,” said Jack. “I believe in partnering with corporations and I guess they liked that approach too.”

The deal was inked recently and the EnCana project is scheduled to be finished by 2010. It will straddle two city blocks near Petro-Canada’s headquarters in downtown Calgary and comprise one million square feet. The architect will be world-renowned Norman Foster of Britain, known for his environmentally friendly design work.

Key to Matthews’ competitive advantages is his firm’s ability to complete complex projects and in partnering financially, or sharing the cost-savings plus value of the tenure, with them.

Jack grew up in the development business and in 1985 became president of his father's firm, Matthews Group Ltd. Under his leadership, its went from $69-million to $500-million a year. He also made acquisitions that gave the company a national presence through Carlson Construction, Mustang Engineering and Matthews Projects in Western Canada and Matthews Contracting in Eastern Canada.

Dave Lubars with BBDO

New York Sun Tuesday July 25:

Experienced ad man Dave Lubars likes to point out that between 1985
and 2003 the number of TV stations soared from 15 to 200 in some
regions; the number of magazines jumped by 50%; the bombardment of
advertising messages went from 950 per day to 5,000 and the Internet
is now in two out of three homes.

"Despite all this choice, the amount of time people spend consuming
media remains the same or around 60 hours per week," said Mr. Lubars,
the khaki-clad Chairman and Chief Creative Officer for BBDO North
America. "The most valuable thing in life is time and consumers can
flick off anything they don't want to watch like a fly. Now we must
use all different ways to seek them out. Our job is to find a way to
get masses of people to engage and fall in love with you."

Mr. Lubars, 47, re-joined BBDO in 2004 after a stint with another
agency in the midwest. In 2005, BBDO booked a record $1.5 billion in
new business and was named Agency of the Year by the industry's
ADWEEK, Advertising Age and Britain's Campaign. This summer, BBDO won
more creative awards at the annual Cannes Festival than any others.

"We're had some success but the awards were the wrong color. Too many
bronzes," he said in a recent interview in his office.

The storied agency (which coined the "Pepsi Generation" or the "ring
around the collar" tag line) was created in 1928 and became one of the
first on Madison Avenue, now a figurative description of the global
advertising industry. But while agencies exist everywhere, Manhattan
still remains the hub.

"New York City is the advertising center of the world because it's the
media center and the biggest clients are also in the east," he said.
"This island is an oasis of creativity. New York invented creativity
in advertising and talent comes here because the city is a big draw."

The industry is an eclectic mix of skills, but Dave Lubars is unique
in that he began studying journalism before switching to advertising.

"I've always liked to write, but journalism's formulaic. It didn't
suit me," he said.

His journalistic background has made him concerned about trends which
have changed the practice of journalism, its usefulness to advertisers
as well as its business model.

"Seems to me journalism was supposed to be society's ombudsman and now
television and print both pick sides. Where does one get an agnostic
view? Do you know? Should they do this? It's dangerous. I don't know
if it's a top of mind thing, if people know what's happened, regarding
biases," he said.

"I also think many reporters have become lazy, looking for titillating
little sound bytes or making reckless statements that affect peoples'
jobs and lives," he added.

Mr. Lubars believes that advertising must deliver more than
traditional services. For instance, he hired famous Hollywood
directors to create a series of mini films to promote BMW cars.

"Their customers were young guys already into technology and they knew
that 90% were online already. The client panicked because it couldn't
get mass marketing so we did these films," he said.

BBDO is currently doing a half-animated digisode series for kids on
behalf of Snickers, the candy bar. The agency and its client also have
formed a partnership to cash in on the merchandising, gaming and DVDs
that will result. It's also doing a series of comedy for sponsor
Sierra Mist which will sponsor a traveling improv theatre.

"We are chefs not waiters. We are in the service business. Waiters
take orders from clients but what clients want is for you to be a
chef. They want to enjoy sumptuous sauces or other delights which add
value," he said. "Take Snickers. They never thought of this series but
just wanted to place some ads. We brought back more."

With competition for consumer headspace accelerating and TV viewers
able to bypass commercials, content has become king, he said.
"I zip through the commercials. If me, the head of a large advertising
agency doesn't like looking at ads, then who does?" he said.
"Advertisements had better be entertaining because the marketplace is
going to get noisier and noisier."

He believes that reading news online is "not realistic", that print
will be immune as people will continue to prefer to curl up with a
newspaper, magazine or book and that advertising agencies and
Hollywood face the biggest challenges.

Pamela Wallin on Anti-Americanism in Canada

Diane Francis column Wednesday Post July 19:



Canadian broadcaster Pamela Wallin has just ended her four-year term as Canada's Consul-General in New York City and now heads off to become a corporate director and associate at a U.S. think tank.

"I will be staying here in New York City 60% of the time and 40% in Canada. I have homes in both places. I will live the cross-border life and practice what I preach, living and breathing and sharing the two countries. I can't imagine not being in both places," she said over breakfast in a New York diner this week.

Pamela has made a huge difference during her stint as a diplomat, raising Canada's profile through the media and special events with American partners.

She was asked to stay as Consul-General by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but declined, in order to move onto other things. Likewise, she's not returning to journalism.

Plans include serving on several prestigious boards, to be announced soon, and establishing a Canadian program at the Rockefeller Foundation's Council of the Americas, a New York think tank.

She's become very attached to New York even though it's a gigantic urban area with apartment buildings that are occupied by as many people as live in her tiny hometown of Wadena, Saskatchewan. Population 1,500.

"I love being in New York. It's a cliché but there's an indescribable and seductive energy in this city and it's more than just the fact that there are eight million people here," she said. "New York is more than the sum of its parts. It's a cultural hub, a financial hub and media hub. It's the ideas hub too. It's a place where people think and debate."

Her appointment by former Prime Minister Jean Chretien followed her participation in a successful "Canada Loves New York" rally after 9/11. Some 23,000 Canadians trekked to the city and Pam hosted a live, three-hour broadcast celebrating the friendship. Months later she was offered the job.

"I came here with a passion to do something about the Canada-U.S. relationship," she said. "I guess this was because, like most Western Canadians, I grew up with a positive sense of Americans. Also like a lot of Western Canadians, I had American cousins, family on the other side of the border."

"This experience in the last four years has changed me. It's given me insights, information and skills that now I need to use," she said. "The Americas Society will allow me to continue working on improving the relationship between the two countries. The boards I'm going to do will be about imparting that information."

She also has agreed to speak to targeted audiences on both sides of the border as to how to improve the relationship.
"This is fundamental to Canada's future," she said. "The north south axis is crucial. Canada exports more to Home Depot in the U.S. than to France. 87% of our exports are to the U.S. And 24% of U.S. exports go to Canada, its largest market. But the two don't understand one another. As one writer said Americans are benevolently ignorant about Canada and Canadians are malevolently informed."

She has regarded her job as Consul-General as that of "a giant translator" who really wants Canadians to understand they have to get this right and nurture the relationship for a change.

"If you had a corner store and sold 87% of everything on your shelves to the Smiths, you would know when their childrens' birthdays were, you would send presents and cards, you would know what colors they liked, who their friends were, their enemies. Well, Canada is that corner store and we're out of date about the Smiths."

The relationship deteriorated as a result of some actions by Canadian politicians, she said.

"Post 9/11 ideological differences between our governments got in the way.

It wasn't that we said no to Iraq, but how we said no and the name-calling," she said. "The new PM wants to have a frank, business, working relationship and that's appropriate."

Mishandling the relationship has had "economic consequences", she added.

"It did not result in the shut down of a plant but investment decisions favoring Canada were not made. This is only logical. If you are at war and under siege and you have to choose between a plant in Canada and one in Tennessee you're going to favor the home team," she said.

Her interest in the U.S./Canada relationship also arose out of journalism.

"There were my family connections plus the predominant story when you cover politics in Canada is the relationship with the Americans. Every politician in trouble in Canada takes on the Americans to change the subject. This cannot continue."

PR and the Blogosphere

A few years ago, when Richard Edelman and his public relations associates
wanted to pitch a story on behalf of a corporate client, they would call
their contact list of influential editors and television personalities.

These days, they also pitch Web loggers.

"Public relations has changed so that now we call both. In other words, we
pitch from the bottom up as well as from the top down," Mr. Edelman said in
a recent interview with The New York Sun. "We have nine full-time bloggers
to advise clients how to blog and how to deal with blogs."

He is CEO of Edelman Public Relations, the world's largest independent
agency, with 2,000 employees in 49 offices worldwide. The company has led
the industry in terms of its commitment and investment in the so-called
blogosphere, which now totals an estimated 34 million blogs worldwide.
Edelman's total billings for the 12 months ending in May are $305 million,
up from $206 million the year before.

Known as "emerging media," blogs began as diary entries by individuals to be
read, and replied to, solely by friends. Because they are posted on the Web,
though, they have the potential of reaching anyone with a computer around
the world if the ideas, photographs, or artwork therein are considered
captivating, controversial, or somehow of value. Some now have enormous
audiences, in the hundreds of thousands.

"Companies must learn how to manage this," Mr. Edelman said. "The reality is
that companies face the problem of having employees with blogs who are
griping about internal matters concerning their employer. Companies now have
consumers with blogs who are annoyed and complaining about products or
corporate behavior on the Web to hundreds or thousands of other consumers.
Still others have blogs by NGOs that are complaining about offshore labor
practices or environmental problems caused by a company¹s operations or
products," he said.

Blog management has become a logical extension of public relations and
advertising strategizing, he said. Not surprisingly, technology companies
selling computers and software have used blogs for some time. They have
marketed and promoted their products through their own blogs and by
providing information to authors of blogs aimed at technology afficionados.
Other advertisers are now getting this message.

"Tech companies get it, but packaged goods or food companies are going to
change," Mr. Edelman said. "Microsoft promoted its X-box using blogs who
cover gaming to get traction and create a positive predisposition for
consumers and the media."

Most recently, Britain's Unilever moved markedly into blogs to promote its
Dove and AXE personal care products. "For instance, the first media mention
of the Dove `Real Beauty Campaign', featuring six women in underwear, was
made in an influential blog called Gawker, which was chosen because of its
large, influential audience," he said.

"Certain blogs are read by reporters in the mainstream media and then they
call the client to do a story, and that¹s how publicity is obtained," Mr.
Edelman said.

His company was involved this year in a successful promotion for AXE body
spray on MySpace, a network of teenagers' blogs. A popular MySpace female
contributor agreed to sign up "friends for AXE" and attracted 60,000 teenage
boys for the promotion.

"The promotion cost $100,000 and it generated all kinds of press interest,"
he said.

Another example of blog-related public relations involved Wal-Mart
Corporation's recent annual general meeting. Edelman's bloggers set up a
special Web site in advance that was promoted, and offered live video from
the "American Idol" winner who was performing at the meeting.

"This humanized the company and gave them the horizontal conversation: the
peer-to-peer conversation, or word of mouth," he said. "The `new thing' in
all forms of marketing is that companies must understand that the person
consumers trust most are persons most like themselves. What we¹re seeing is
a devolution of authority."

Edelman is 80% owned by the Edelman family, and key employees own 20%. It
was founded by Richard¹s father, Daniel Edelman of Chicago, who is chairman.
Considered a pioneer, the senior Mr. Edelman launched the enterprise, and
public relations itself, with his "Which twin has the Toni?" hair perm
campaign in the 1950s, which proved that major attention in the press could
increase sales.

Today's public relations is about finding out how to spread a message in a
manner that consumers trust. This means spreading the word in unorthodox
ways and not strictly through paid advertisements.

"We¹ve increased our income by 28% in the last two years," he said. "We
argue that if public relations is 4% of a corporation¹s budget it ought to
be 5%. This is where companies have to spend money, and they are getting the
message."

dianefrancispost@gmail.com

Sir Martin

Diane Francis column for Friday post july 14:




Sir Martin Sorrell is founder and CEO of global powerhouse WPP Group PLC which owns some of the biggest brand names in the business.
WPP, a publicly-listed holding company headquartered in Britain, owns companies like JWT (formerly J. Walter Thompson); Ogilvy & Mather; Grey Worldwide; Y & R (formerly Young & Rubicam); Hill & Knowlton; Burson-Marsteller, among others.
WPP's 70 companies compete as independent operations (he calls them "tribes") but are expected to meet tough financial targets and to cooperate if it makes sense.
Sir Martin began gobbling up agencies in 1986, and was a pioneer in the consolidation of the advertising world into six gigantic holding companies in order to better serve multinational companies. Like the others, WPP functions as a global full-service agency. Clients include more than 300 of the Fortune Global 500 and over half of the Nasdaq 100.
Before founding WPP, Martin Sorrell led the international expansion of famed UK advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi (now part of rival French holding company The Publicis Groupe) as their group finance director from 1977 until 1984. He is an economics graduate of Cambridge University with an MBA from Harvard University.
Today, Sir Martin travels constantly as an unofficial ambassador for Britain's business community as well as in his capacity as CEO of an enterprise with 72,000 employees and 2,000 offices in 100 countries.
He spoke of a number of other issues in a recent interview in his New York City offices:

Q: What's the state of advertising these days?

A: "Pretty good. And growth is three speeds. The fastest is Asia, Latin America, Middle East and Eastern Europe. Canada's pretty fast too because of the commodity prices.
The US is in the middle and the lowest is Western Europe. It's been tough in Germany, France and the UK, not Italy however. We can see a flip up in Germany these days."

Q: Does Advertising keep up with economic growth?

A: "It's been growing a little faster than economic growth, but in 2007 and 2008 we expect it to exceed growth. Last year, advertising grew by 3 to 4% and worldwide economic growth slightly less."
"But 2007 and 2008 will be higher than economic growth because of the Beijing Olympics and the U.S. presidential election. Hillary Clinton alone is talking about spending US$100 million. McCain will probably spend the same amount plus all the others running for election that year."
"This year, the mid-term congressional election campaigns alone will spend US$1.5 billion on advertising."
"We reckon the Olympics and U.S. elections will add another 1 to 2% to growth in advertising revenues for the industry."
(That 1 or 2% would represent US$12 billion or US$24 billion more on advertising globally. In 2005, advertisers around the world spent about US$1.2 trillion promoting their products and services by putting their messages in print or broadcast media or on the web, billboards, movie theatres, elevators, cell phones and various quirky venues.)

Q. How is technology changing the future? What about online advertising which is growing rapidly but still only represents about 5% of the total spent?

A. "What do traditional media and networks do about the web? That's the question. Companies are diversifying their budgets into other media in search of new, or to retain old, audiences. Microsoft is spending US$200 million to US$450 million online for advertising."
"The problem [re technology] is more difficult for media than for agencies. We don't bet on technologies. Media companies must."
The media choices around now make agencies more valuable to advertisers, he added.
"Media planning and media buying are growing rapidly because of the pricing issues and the new technology issue. They must do more research than ever to find out how to reach many audiences."

Q. What about Google which is devouring ad revenues?

A: "The question is Google a friend or a foe? Google's market capitalization is US$130 billion and its revenue is US$5 billion. We [at WPP] have a market cap of US$15 billion and revenues of US$10 billion. Google has 3,000 employees, we have 72,000 employees. Google has 25 offices and we have 2,000 offices."
"In other words, they are not stupid. They have firepower."
"But Google is our friend too. We're their third biggest customer. They want us to buy more. At the same time, they are threatening to set up electronic media platforms to buy and sell media."
Currently about US$1.5 billion of WPP's US$10 billion in revenues derive from on-line outlets, he said.

Q. What about China's potential? Ad spending there already is second only to the U.S. in terms of its proportion to GDP?

A. "We're devoting many resources there, and in Asia as a whole, because of the potential. We will grow organically there and that growth will outpace other regions."
"If I were graduating college today I'd learn Mandarin and move to Shanghai."

Fancy Food Fair

Diane Francis column Wednesday July 12:

As many people as live in Peterborough filled the cavernous Javits Center for this year's Fancy Food Show. For two days this week, buyers from grocery chains and gourmet food outlets grazed on samples given away by hundreds of food exhibitors.

This is the biggest annual showcase for specialty foods which include everything from condiments to confectionary, fancy olive oils, meats, cheeses and truffles.

Some 2,200 food purveyors from the U.S. and 71 countries who make 160,000 products were represented this year. The specialty, or gourmet, food business in the United States alone rang up US$34.7 billion in sales last year, roughly the size of Canada's auto parts or softwood lumber exports.

"This is an important event for people in the food business. It's a great show that gave me my start as an exporter out of Canada," said Myra Sable in an interview in her smart, black-and-white booth for "Sable & Rosenfeld" products, which include her "Tipsy" line of alcohol-soaked olives, onions and cherries.

"Here is where the buyers, distributors and brokers come to look for new products to offer their customers. And we have to be here."

She launched her business in the 1970s with a former partner, Carole Rosenfeld. The two started the business as a housewives' hobby but it grew to the point where, briefly, they were mixing ingredients for Russian mustard in their bathtubs because the orders started to come fast and furiously. Today, 80% of her sales are exports to the U.S.

What's interesting is that the business has changed profoundly and specialty foods have now gone mainstream.

"It used to be that a grocery store had a single shelf, called gourmet, that had things like artichokes in a can or fancy olives," said Myra. "Now specialty has been integrated into the grocery stores."

In 2005, about 71% of specialty foods were sold in supermarkets or other mass marketing outlets. But the fastest growing segment was "natural food" stores, such as the Whole Foods chain, which now represent 9.1% of sales.

This B2B confab was also populated by the important middle "men" such as distributors who warehouse and sell or brokers. Successful distributor Peter Steiner, of Steiner Foods Inc., represents 6,000 products from 30 countries in three states. He said competition remains fierce among manufacturers, but retailers are not being attacked by on-line shopping.

"Food is different, and specialty food even more different," he said. "These are not commodities. People have to touch food, look at it, read the labels. There's lots of shopping on-line but it's hard to shop for something unique and new on-line."

On hand at the show was Marc LeMay, international market development officer with Agriculture Canada, who brought a dozen Canadian food manufacturers to the show to help them crack the gigantic U.S. market.

First-time exhibitor Greg Brooks of Montreal displayed his spicey line of condiments called "Peppermaster".

"This is an opportunity for me to find buyers and distributors. I'm still small, about $250,000 in Canada, and building my name," he said. "I got into the food business because I've owned restaurants and began cooking as a kid. I made my first hot sauce at eight years of age and it changed my life."

Anita Saini of Milton Ontario is a start-up food producer and displayed her goods in the hopes of attracting sales. Her three-month-old company, Maya Indian Gourmet, produces three "simmering sauces" based on her mother's recipes.

"I've been in corporate marketing for a number of years and this is my first entrepreneurial venture. I researched the market and found that there was no ethnic organic products out there," said the 30-year-old. "We have had some interesting conversations at this show already."

Buyers from giant food companies like Kraft or retailers like Walmart, Safeway, Whole Foods and hundreds of smaller U.S. chains cruised the aisles, looking for new flavors, unique packaging or unusual foods.

They are in search of products that will appeal to "food adventurists". This market is described by the show sponsor, the National Association for Specialty Food Trade, as urban, elite, 25 to 54 years of age, trendsetters among peers, home entertainers, travelers, restaurant patrons and people open to new experiences.

But there's another gourmet target market that was represented this year at the show - the four-legged variety. Dick Dinsmore, owner of Poochie's Choice in West Virginia displayed his menu of items which included fancy, iced dog biscuits, dog candies and dog cakes and cake mix kits including disposable baking tins.

"We moved pet treats up-market and out of the pet shop," he said. "People have dogs and people have money to spend on them."

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