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IHA’s blog features informative posts written to keep the housewares industry educated and informed about key strategic issues and IHA member services.

Renewed Interest In Cooking, Health And Wellness Brings Opportunities To Turn Food Shoppers Into Housewares Buyers

As home cooking has experienced a remarkable rebound (thanks to economics, television, and a growing interest in healthy eating that spans the generations), there are tremendous opportunities for retailers to turn food shoppers into housewares buyers, according to a panel of retailers and category experts at the 2016 International Home + Housewares Show today. The seminar,…

Design Debut: Meet Fellow

Design Debut brings the very latest new products to the Show. The 11 entrepreneurs lining the east wall of Discover Design come from the dynamic start up culture and often establish their companies with Kickstarter support. For example, coffee-lover Jake Miller launched the Duo Coffee Brewer on Kickstarter in 2013. A former brand manager at Caribou Coffee, he started…

Design Debut: Meet IntoConcrete

Design Debut brings the very latest new products to the Show. The 11 young companies invited to exhibit include successful entrepreneurs applying new technologies to new product categories and designers who experiment with traditional materials in fresh ways. Concrete products can be beautiful, innovative and sustainable. “Concrete is chic in the modern design capitals of…

Design Debut: Meet Savor

Design Debut introduces young companies to the world of housewares at the Show. Savor began when two professional women who met at their children’s school joked around about how they were exhausted from trying to juggle a newborn, family and a job. They created a company when they discovered the need for a product that fit their family lifestyle. Karla and Jennifer, tell us…

Design Debut: Meet Thing Thing

Design Debut brings the very latest new products to the Show. These entrepreneurs come from the dynamic start up culture and often establish their companies with Kickstarter support. Others are successful artists entering the home goods market. Thing Thing, a manufacturing studio in Detroit established by four designers in 2012, works intuitively with materials and methods…

Design Stars – Design Highlights from the gia Product Design Awards

Discover Design, the premier design destination at the International Home + Housewares Show, offers a collection of companies showcasing the latest products, product design, and collections found in housewares. Exhibitors are based on recommendations from and approval by the retail and design community. At the 2016 Show, several exhibitors from Discover Design were selected…

Informing Innovation: Designing the Future of Food

Meet LinYee Yuan, MOLD; Kavita Shukla, Fenugreen; Kyleigh Wawak and Eleanor Sandford, gravitytank; Brad Crepeau, Food Cycle Science We think about food several times a day, but may not think about food design when we rush for our morning coffee or dig into our dinner. Design is more than a beautiful food arrangement prepared by a restaurant chef. Design and food connect in…

Design Debut: Meet Doug Foreman and the biēm Butter Sprayer

Design Debut brings the very latest new products to the Show. These entrepreneurs come from the dynamic start up culture and often establish their companies with Kickstarter support. For example, the biēm Butter Sprayer, which transforms a real stick of butter to a spray in seconds, launched on March 1st. This new hand-held device gives users a much more efficient way to use…

The Smart Kitchen: Trends and Early Success Stories

By Vicki Matranga Design Programs Coordinator Informing Innovation: Meet Greg Kahn, GK Digital Media, Santiago Merea, Yummly; Jenny Cooper, Google and Mike Fretwell, Jarden Consumer Solutions Home environments, kitchen appliances, phones—how do they connect and why? Physical products that respond to our activities and communicate with each other and with services promise…