PNE showcases the fine art of the pitch
A dozen could-be buyers stand transfixed around a booth at the PNE marketplace as pitchman Graham Chabot explains how the FRYAIR oven could up their culinary game.
“Just like a slow cooker, guys, you set your temperature and the time on these. You could go off, have a shower, be on the computer, do whatever you want to do,” Chabot tells them through a headset.
Chabot’s booth is among the top attention-getters at this year’s marketplace, say PNE organizers. It is one of more than 150 that are packed into the PNE Forum and one of many that draws steady crowds.
Soups, chowders, salmon, cod, rotisserie meats, kebabs, cakes, cookies, spring rolls and pretty well everything else you can think of can be made in an air fryer, according to Chabot’s pitch. Fried foods like yam fries and onion rings or even chicken wings? You bet, and they come out tasting fried, but without all the grease.
Chabot has pitched products at the PNE for 11 years, he told Postmedia News after he finished the sell. He is from Saskatoon and has sold products at exhibitions around the country.
The hours are long but it’s enjoyable work, Chabot said when asked what the job is like. “It’s a lot of repetition and making it sound fresh every time.
“I’m an actor, so it’s kind of a stage in a way and an opportunity to do some acting and put on a show.”
Asked if he uses one of the fryers at home, Chabot said: “Oh yeah, I don’t even turn my oven on anymore.”
The line came out so naturally it could not possibly be a line. Or could it be?
Faizzal Fatehali, a manager of the PNE’s exhibit space, is among a team of people who help find the hottest products to bring to the show.
“We want, obviously, the best-of-the-best. And not necessarily the same product every year,” said Fatehali, who has worked his job for the past five years.
But it’s a balance. People seek freshness, but they also want to be able to re-purchase some of their favourite goods year-after-year, he said.
When asked which booths tend to sell well, Fatehali said it’s those that sell kitchen goods like pots and pans, knives and cookers and cleaning products like mops and brooms.
Asked whether he can tell in advance whether a product will sell, Fatehali responded immediately: “You can tell when they do a pitch. Anything with a demonstration sells.”
As for things that don’t sell easily? “They’re not here,” Fatehali said with a laugh.
We want, obviously, the best-of-the-best. And not necessarily the same product every year.”
Faizzal Fatehali