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Merchandise Connection International Corporation, also known as MCIC, is one of America’s leading designers, manufacturers, and importers of hospitality tabletop items, covering the entire tabletop from dinnerware and glassware to cutlery and serving pieces. With their own manufacturing facilities overseas and affiliation and exclusive rights to represent some of the finest brands in the world, such as Lucaris Crystal, Comas Flatware, and Just Slate serving pieces, MCIC is well positioned to serve the foodservice and hospitality industries in the United States.
To serve its customers with expedited service, MCIC maintains warehouse inventories of its products in three locations: New York, Texas and Southern California.
To learn more about MCIC and its wide range of tabletop products for the hospitality industry, go here: http://mcicusa.com/ For the first time, Vinexpo Asia-Pacific 2014 is partnering with crystal stemware producer Lucaris in offering world-class, Asian-made crystal glasses for use throughout the upcoming Vinexpo Asia-Pacific 2014.
Once again, luxury crystal wineware maker LUCARIS will be bringing in Jeannie Cho Lee, the first Asian Master of Wine and award-winning author of "Asian Palate" for “LUCARIS Master of Wine Seminar" to be held tomorrow in Singapore. LUCARIS will unveil ‘Shanghai Soul Grande’, its latest addition to the premium collection LUCARIS Shanghai Soul of crystal wineglasses. The event will be held on Thursday 11th July, 2013 at 7pm @ The Gallery, Grand Hyatt Singapore and it’s open to public and tickets are available. To see the entire lineup of luxury wineglasses from Lucaris, go here:http://www.lucariscrystal.com/index.php
In America, Lucaris Crystal is available from Merchandise Connection International Corp. You can visit their website by going here: http://www.merchandiseconn.com/
On May 2nd, Lucaris Crystal lead by Ms. Sunsanee Supatravanij, Managing Director of Ocean Glass PCL, in association with Thailand’s Best Sommelier Competition 2013, hosted the Lucaris Master Wine Seminar at the Ballroom in the Conrad Hotel Bangkok. The Lucaris Master of Wine Seminar was conducted by number one Asia Master of Wine Ms. Jeannie Choo Lee, featuring Lucaris Hong Kong Hip Collection. Several Thai dishes were chosen by Jeannie Choo Lee MW to pair with Australian Leeuwin Estate Art Series wines. The event was a great success and attracted 135 wine business professionals, leading sommeliers for around the country and wine connoisseurs. In North America, Lucaris Crystal is distributed by Merchandise Connection International Corporation. To learn more about Lucaris, go here: http://www.lucariscrystal.com/
To learn more about MCIC, go here: http://www.merchandiseconn.com/
other standard products such as Lucaris Crystal, Studio William flatware, Chelsea glassware, and dKe dinnerware. Supplying the entire tabletop, MCIC has built quite a following in an incredibly short period of time. The new website also has a downloadable version of the MCIC 2013 catalog. Great products, great people....and now, a great new site. To see the new website from Merchandise Connection International Corp and learn more about their wide portfolio of products, go here: http://www.merchandiseconn.com/
Since bursting onto the U.S. hospitality market, Merchandise Connection International has always offered an abundance of styles and shapes in dinnerware, glassware, cutlery, and now, slate serving pieces. Through stringent quality control, effective management and efficient teamwork, the company has achieved a significant position within the North American tabletop industry in a very short period of time.
To learn more about Merchandise Connection International Corporation or to get a copy of their new catalog, go here: http://www.merchandiseconn.com/new/
A relative newcomer to the hositality scene in America - Merchandise Connection Internation Corporation - has opened a lot of industry eyes in an incredibly short period of time. With great products at great prices ....and, even better service.... MCIC has made big waves in the glassware, flatware, and dinnerware segments on America's restaurant and hotel tabletops. TabletopJournal recently at with MCIC's CEO Kian Forouzesh to discuss the interesting company that he and his team are building. Here's what he had to say..... What is the current vision you have for MCIC? Although we are beyond the start up phase, we still like to call ourselves a startup because we are a work in progress. The current vision is that we would like to cover all the tabletop aspects – dinnerware, flatware, glassware – at a variety of price and quality levels. We started as a medium price/quality dinnerware company, then added flatware, glassware to fit that segment. Then, as our customers demanded, we grew into other levels – first in the higher end products, and then eventually into more basic, banqueting and catering level products - in those same categories. So, our vision is to be a complete source of tabletop across a variety of price and quality levels as our customers dictate. We want to be a complete tabletop supplier able to fit into our customer’s budgets for all their foodservice outlets from employee dining and cafeteria on up to high-end, white tablecloth restaurants. Your product range is already wide ranging in terms of quality and categories….are there any holes you’d like to fill in the MCIC product offering? Yes. We have a fantastic program of dinnerware at lower and mid levels with products that are correct with their quality and also offer great value. But, we would like to add a dinnerware at the very top of the market. Our accessory line is excellent, but at the very high end tip of the dinnerware market, we would definitely like to expand. However, keep in mind that every single product line we have, we truly believe in. We do not have products simply to show them. We must believe in the product and its place in the market, before we decide to get behind it. So, sometimes it takes a while to find the right “fit”. What is the criteria you look for when you are considering a new brand or product? First, we consider the quality and how it fits with where it is priced. It has to be the right value. There is value at all quality levels and, hopefully our products are seen by our customers as good value whether they are buying our low-mid tier products or our upper end lines.Secondly, when we consider a new product we think about how will it fit into our existing product range? It must help us round out our tabletop offering and not simply be a duplicate of something we already have. Ideally, it will be complementary to our current products. Are there any other brands/products or categories that you will be adding to the existing portfolio? Of course. We are a company that always is looking to grow. As we speak we are in negotiation with a European manufacturer for tabletop accessory pieces that we feel the chefs will love. We hope to have these products available for our customers this Fall. There are other categories that we are discussing, but those are a bit further out so, I am hesitant to speak about them now. But, we definitely are looking to grow.
MCIC has been involved in the foodservice and hospitality markets for approximately four years. Often, it takes time to gain traction as a supplier that operators have trust in, but you have had exceptional success early on. Tell us about some of those successes. Fortunately, we have had a number of very good successes. For instance, with the Lucaris glassware line we have been able to show decision makers, in chain hotels in particular, its strength and durability, the clarity, and how well Lucaris showcases their wine offerings. Lucaris has often been used in wine tastings around the world and won awards for its ability to enhance the taste of the wine. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that we have Lucaris as the preferred glassware for the St. Regis brand at Starwood Hotels, for instance. Customers won’t choose Lucaris because wins awards or it is well known in the Pacific Rim, they choose it because it is a great glass, an excellent value, and will work well for them operationally.
I had mentioned earlier that we will soon announce something in the serving accessories area, but we are a young company and we are always looking for cool, new complementary products.
When people see the exciting products such as Lucaris, Studio William, and DKE dinnerware that MCIC is bringing to the marketplace, what should they do to get more information or to purchase them? The best way to contact us directly is through our Website: www.merchandiseconn.com. That way, we can respond quickly with the required information. Also, we address our customers’ needs by either mapping them to one of our sales representative in their geographical location, or if a representative is not present in that specific location, we will support them directly though our own company. Ok, final question. We know that you, and the entire team at MCIC, have been working very hard to introduce your product lines to the North American hospitality market. But, it seems that in addition to great tabletop, hospitality people also love great music. What’s on the Kian Forouzesh iPod? I listen to everything, depending upon my mood, from classical to hard rock. Usually, it’s classical music when I am working with papers, reading, or writing emails. When I’m driving its hard rock, heavy metal…Korn is my favorite….crazy stuff. When I’m at home, I put on lounge music, grab a glass of wine, and try to relax. So, everything has its place. When Lucaris Crystal, the Thai manufacturer of upscale wine glasses, launched in Mumbai recently, Indian wine writer Subhash Arora was there to cover the event. In entering the fashion concious Indian market, Lucaris employed the creative brand positioning strategies of combining with Swarovski Crystal Charms as enticement to purchase .... and launching at top Mumbai restaurant, Indigo, whose chef/owner Rahul Akerar has become synonomous with hospitality excellence in today's India. Lucaris is the higher-end glass producing division of the 33-year old Ocean Glass Company of Thailand which has captured a big chunk of the Indian wine glass market share because of the proper shape - designed on the lines of Riedel, but at affordable prices. According to Arora, Ocean/Lucaris has been successful in the India hospitality market by offering price competitive alternatives with similar quality to upper-end luxury brands. You can read Subhash Arora's entire article by going here: http://www.indianwineacademy.com/item_6_523.aspx In America, Merchandise Connection International is the exclusive importer for Lucaris. To learn more about Lucaris Crystal, go here: http://www.lucariscrystal.com/ Lucaris is the preferred glassware for St. Regis hotels. Lucaris, known for its world-class crystal wineware made its foray in India with the launch of the limited edition Lucaris Crystal Charm Collection, Crystal Wine Glasses and Crystal Charms made with Swarovski elements. The collection which epitomizes style and luxury was launched at the elegant & exquisite soiree amidst the splendid setting at top restaurant Indigo on September 21st. Lucaris & Indigo hosted the ‘The Perfect Encounter Dinner’ in the presence of some of the prominent names of the Mumbai social circuit like Narendra Kumar, Avantika Khilanchand Raju, Laila & Ricky Lamba, Monisha & Ravi Jaisingh, Malini and Rahul Akerkar, Kora and Puru Raj Kumar and many others. Lucaris brings to India for the first time the crystal stemware for the most enjoyable dining and wining experience. The launch was kick started with a blindfolded wine tasting session followed by the food & wine pairing dinner. Each guest was asked to rate the various wines served to them as they remained blindfolded. The sparkling night saw the guests enjoying the wine served in the special crystal wine glasses and crystal charms made with Swarovski elements and of course the scrumptious delicacies served at the venue. All in all the launch of Lucaris limited edition collection launch was a dazzling show as it showcased its impressive collection. For the consumer market in India, Lucaris, limited edition Crystal Charm Collection will be exclusively available on shopping.indiatimes.com only for a limited period. Speaking about the launch, Sunsanee Supatravani, Managing Director Ocean Glass PCL, said,“Luxury industry in India is growing faster & has a huge potential for fine luxurious glassware. Everyone who attended the launch adored the timeless elegance and designs of the collection; and we are overwhelmed by the response we have received for our collection. Lucaris Crystal Charm Collection exudes extraordinaire grandeur with its world class quality & design. Launching in India had always been on our wish list and now that we are here, we hope to create a name for ourselves”
To learn more about Lucaris crystal, go here: http://www.lucariscrystal.com/
The exclusive Lucaris importer for the North American hospitality market is Merchandise Connection Interantional. To find there website, go here: http://www.merchandiseconn.com/new/ |
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