Mar. 13—Team Modern gave its trade show at The Center for Rural Development the name "Elevate." In 2024, they did just that, elevating the annual event by bringing in one of the food world's biggest personalities.
Andrew Zimmern, an award-winning chef known for his TV shows on the Food Network and Travel Channel, made an appearance in Somerset on Wednesday to show off some inspiring ideas for local food and service professionals in attendance at the Elevate Team Modern Trade Show.
"We tasked our marketing department at the end of '23 (to answer the question) 'What can we do to keep our show from getting stale? What can we do that would be unique, out-of-the-box, generate some buzz, and elevate the experience for our customers?"" said Team Modern President Michael Ray. "This experience, we think it's unique. How many times are our customers going to be able to watch a celebrity chef in person? The opportunity to provide that experience to our customers was really exciting for us."
Zimmern is a native of New York and later Minnesota who has claimed a prestigious James Beard Foundation award four times and has made a name for himself with TV audiences on shows like "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern," "Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre World," and "The Big Food Truck Tip."
He told the crowd before his noon cooking demonstration — and later the Commonwealth Journal in an exclusive interview following said demo — that he jumped at the chance to come to Somerset when invited by Team Modern.
"Cooking in front of real people and being able to make a bigger difference in someone's life," he told the Commonwealth Journal about his interest in attending the show.
"I think sometimes at really big shows that are national, I love doing them, but I'm not sure that those big companies with multi-million dollar marketing plans and comms teams and research culinary departments need my help as much as people in smaller towns that have stores that are trying to do the best they can for their community, and have a healthy and thriving business," he continued. "So I think I have an opportunity to make a bigger impact by coming to places like this, and I love people."
Zimmern said his initial impression of Somerset is that "it's great" and was excited to return to this part of the state, a place he's been through before. A well-traveled culinary icon, Zimmern knows well that different regions have vastly different characters when it comes to food, and Kentucky is no different.
"First of all, the pioneering aspect of this country in many places was born here (in Kentucky); Daniel Boone found the Cumberland Gap here," he said. "This is a part of the world where there are still people that hunt in the evening for their breakfast and hunt in the morning for their dinner. There is an agrarian aspect to this state that's just absolutely fantastic. You have some big, thriving cities. You can also get lost out here pretty easily. And it's so darn beautiful. Every time I'm driving across this state, I remind myself again, 'God, I've got to spend more time here.'"
Zimmern's noon demo might have focused on simple and creative ways to create items that stores can sell for breakfast, but food is more than just something people eat — it's something that can tell a story, and that dimension of dining is something Zimmern embraces as a food personality.
"I think it's important when, even if you're putting pizza in one of those little carousels and selling slices, if that's all you have in your (convenience) store for example, the opportunity to add a couple of toppings from another country and write a little card and stick it on that carousel ... and say, 'This is fresh Roma basil from my grandmother's garden,' I think that's enticing. I think that tells a story," he said. "If you say, 'I have Thai chilies on here, you should try them. It's spicy but it's yummy,' you're telling a story. You're engaging people with a flavor from another place and time.
"Breakfast pizzas are relatively new in our world — 15, 18 years since the first one was sold — and look at how far they've come," he added. "Everyone does the same old, same old breakfast pizza — sausage, bacon, cheese, egg. I'm waiting for people to elevate (it and) stick chicken adobo on there and roll it up with some beans and rice with an egg. It's super hearty, you don't need to over-portion someone. It's a much different flavor, it's much better for you, and ... you're telling a story with that great Mexican food, and everyone loves Mexican. There's not a person from the tip of Texas all the way up to the northernmost parts of Alaska that doesn't like Mexican food."
Ray said the Team Modern marketing team came to him with the idea of bringing a celebrity chef to the show, and when they looked into Zimmern's background, they knew he was the right person for the opportunity.
"His values and what he's about really aligned with us, and so we thought it was the perfect fit," said Ray. "Being able to talk to him over the last few weeks as we prepared for this, even when he thought about the way he was going to take common ingredients that our customers are already using — they're already using tortillas, they're already using chicken tenders — he's elevating those to a new level, and our customers may not do exactly his recipe, but if it makes them think about food in a different way, we've been successful."
Helping out at the event were students from Somerset Community College's culinary program. Chef Ed Nazario, one of the program's instructors, said that Team Modern got in contact with them about preparing some of the ingredients needed for the demo. Students took time in class this week to make those preparations and help out Zimmern, chopping vegetables and making sauces.
"We just kind of set it all up and organized it for him," said Nazario. "... (The students) were excited to come here, they were excited to be able to be part of it, and obviously come and watch (Zimmern) actually perform. They can see a successful chef in action and know that there's no limits to what they can do. They can get to this point, because he was where they are at some point. He was a student too."
Ray described the annual trade show as Team Modern's "Super Bowl," where the locally-owned wholesale distribution company gets to connect with more customers than at any other time of the year.
"We have convenience store and food service customers from across three our four states here at The Center every year," said Ray. "We bring together 150 vendors and 400-500 customers and let them interact. They book product to be shipped through Team Modern, so it's good for us, but also is good for their business. They see new items, they see new ideas, they save a little money through some deals that the vendors offer. It's become a real event."
The numbers of vendors and manufacturers as well as customers that Ray mentioned were right about on target for what the event saw in 2024, with a packed hall at The Center, filled with rows of colorful signs and food items available to sample from different businesses.
"I'm excited that the show floor is full, and so I think it's been a success," said Ray. "... Hopefully we get to the point where we've got to stretch this over a couple of days, but right now, we can get everything done we need to do (in one day)."
