Wrap Up Your Holiday Shopping with These One-of-a-Kind Brands
Photo by Bob Benenson
The One of a Kind Show is a massive pop-up maker’s market that takes place at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart twice each year. The one held earlier this December was timed for holiday shopping.
Bob Benenson, Naturally Chicago’s communications consultant, visited the show and provides the following ideas for food-related gift-giving. The vendors just happen to be acquaintances from the Naturally Chicago community and folks Bob knows from his publication Local Food Forum.
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Photo by Bob Benenson
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 and more. You can guess what I was there for.
And I was happy to run into several producers who I know well, through my through my consulting work with Naturally Chicago and my own food adventures. Meet them through the photos below.
The Naturally Chicago Connection
I am acquainted with the following businesses through my work at Naturally Chicago. All four are Emerging Brands partners of Naturally Chicago.
Photo by Bob Benenson
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.
Along with its delicious products, Fueled by AF has a mission to employ individuals with disabilities.
Photo by Bob Benenson
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.
Photo by Bob Benensoon
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.
Photo by Bob Benenson
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.
Other Food Friends
Photo by Bob Benenson
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.
Photo by Bob Benenson
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, and even mushroom-growing kits.
Photo by Bob Benenson
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. Army soldiers and Marines 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.
Photo by Bob Benenson
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 switch from the same old or a change of pace gift for a hot sauce-loving friend, you should check out Gindo's.
Photo by Bob Benenson
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.
Photo by Bob Benenson
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.
Photo by Bob Benenson