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The Ginormous Indoor Craft Show Takes Place in Chicago Twice a Year
Chicago's historic Merchandise Mart (the big, older building on the right side of the photo) draws huge crowds of buyers for its twice a year One of a Kind Show. I attended the holiday season version, which took place from December 5 through 8.
The show is massive, taking up the whole 7th floor of the Mart. To provide some kind of context, the Merchandise Mart covers two square city blocks. When it opened in 1930, it was the biggest office building (in terms of square footage) in the world, a title it maintained until the Pentagon was built outside Washington, D.C. during World War II.
There were all kinds of items available for sale, from fashions for every part of the body to many aspects of art to jewelry to fragrances to food. You can guess what I was there for.
And I was happy to run into several producers who I know well, through my own adventures or through my consulting work with Naturally Chicago. Meet them through the photos below.
Daly's Donuts was launched early in 2023 by Conor Daly (right in photo) and his then-fiancé Alejandra (they got married recently). Their delicious donuts, from a recipe Alejandra spent years perfecting, are baked and are much lighter than fried doughnuts.
River Valley Ranch of Burlington, Wisconsin has been selling mushrooms at many of the Chicago area's farmers markets since 1976. Along with its wide range of fresh varieties, they have a menu of value-added products that feature the world's favorite fungi.
Lots of creative people are making innovative food products to meet consumer preferences. Few are doing something that qualifies as heroic. Mohammed Salehi is one of these.
Mohammed grew up in Herat, an agricultural area of Afghanistan. He provided linguistic services to U.S. soldiers and Marines serving during the long-lasting war. In 2014 he moved to ChIcago to pursue higher education, but his heart was in Herat.
Heray Spice is the result of his journey. He purchases saffron and other crops from Afghan farmers, some of whom turned away from opium poppies. The company employs many Afghan women and sets aside 5 percent of its net income for education programs in his homeland.
Click below to learn more about this virtuous enterpreneur and his products.
There's good reason why Gindo's Spice of Life, based in the Chicago suburb of St. Charles, calls its Spice of Life products "The Craft Beer of Hot Sauce." Creativity is at the core of the amazing variety of hot sauce flavors (and Scoville heat units) dreamed up by the married couple of Chris and Mary Ginder (Gindo, a play on Chris' last name, is the origin of the company's name).
Whether you're looking for a change from the same old or a change of pace gift for a hot sauce loving friend, you should check out Gindo's.
The namesake owner of Katherine Anne Confections grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin and developed a passion for making caramels. You can buy her caramels — and some of Chicago's finest chocolate creations — at her two brick and mortar stores and various retail outlets.
And winter is the perfect time to sample Katherine Anne's amazing hot chocolates.
If you are a meat lover, then you'll almost certainly find that the bacon sausages created at Big Fork by founder-owner Lance Avery are as good as they sound. And his Original Chicago Sauce — containing all the ingredients that flavor the legendary Chicago hot dog — may just be his signature product.
The Hatchery, located in Chicago's East Garfield Park neighborhood, is the city's leading food and beverage start-up incubator. Impact Culinary Learning, created by Chef Rick Bayless to provide food education to underprivileged youths, is located at The Hatchery.
The Naturally Chicago Connection
I am acquainted with the following businesses through my communications work at Naturally Chicago, the association for the region's natural products consumer packaged goods industry. All four are Emerging Brands partners of Naturally Chicago.
The AF in Fueled by AF is founder Angelica Ford, whose nut butters and protein bites are gaining quite a following. It's hard to stand out at a show featuring hundreds of vendors, but Angelica did, finishing first in the Patrons Choice voting.
Do you like Indian food? Would you like a delicious, clean label product that puts authentic Indian dishes on your table in just five minutes? Then you need to try the freeze-dried, just add water recipes from The Cumin Club. I've had their food and I love it.
With a product that is based on a recipe from her grandmother Carolyn, founder Amie Kesler (in the photo above) has gained praise and sales for her Carolyn's Krisps snacks that are part cookie, part cracker, all cheezy, and very clean label.
Chicago's Tierra Negra is making its niche with its unique Mexican dark salsa. I had the pleasure of sampling their product for the first time at Naturally Chicago's Day of the Dead celebration on October 30.
I captured this view of downtown Chicago and the Chicago River on my way home from the One of a Kind Show.
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