Specialty foods

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Specialty foods are foods that are typically considered as "unique and high-value food items made in small quantities from high-quality ingredients". [1] Consumers typically pay higher prices for specialty foods, and may perceive them as having various benefits [1] compared to non-specialty foods.

Food Substances consumed as nutrition

Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for an organism. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organism's cells to provide energy, maintain life, or stimulate growth.

Contents

Compared to staple foods, specialty foods may have higher prices due to more expensive ingredients and labor. [2] Some food stores specialize in or predominantly purvey specialty foods. [3] [4] Several organizations exist that promote specialty foods and its purveyors.

Etymology

The term "specialty foods" does not have a standard definition. [1] Food processors, regulators and consumers may be confused by the term due to its potential ambiguity. [1]

Specialty foods

Caviar has been described as a specialty food Caviar and spoon.jpg
Caviar has been described as a specialty food

Foods that have been described as specialty foods include:

Artisanal food encompasses breads, cheeses, fruit preserves, cured meats, beverages, oils, and vinegars that are made by hand using traditional methods by skilled craftworkers, known as food artisans. The foodstuff material from farmers and backyard growers can include fruit, grains and flours, milks for cheese, cured meats, fish, beverages, oils, and vinegars. The movement is focused on providing farm to fork type foods with locally sourced products that benefit the consumer, small scale growers and producers, and the local economy.

Caviar Food consisting of salt-cured, fully ripe internal egg masses of female wild sturgeon from the Caspian Sea and Black Sea

Caviar is a food consisting of salt-cured roe of the Acipenseridae family. Caviar is considered a delicacy and is eaten as a garnish or a spread. The roe can be "fresh" (non-pasteurized) or pasteurized, with pasteurization reducing its culinary and economic value.

Artisan cheese cheese produced by hand using the traditional craftsmanship of skilled cheesemakers

Artisanal cheese refers to cheeses produced by hand using the traditional craftsmanship of skilled cheesemakers. As a result, the cheeses are often more complex in taste and variety. Many are aged and ripened to achieve certain aesthetics. This contrasts with the more mild flavors of mass-produced cheeses produced in large scale operations, often shipped and sold right away.

Chocolate Food produced from the seed of Theobroma cacao

Chocolate is a usually sweet, brown food preparation of roasted and ground cacao seeds that is made in the form of a liquid, paste, or in a block, or used as a flavoring ingredient in other foods. The earliest evidence of use traces to the Olmecs, with evidence of chocolate beverages dating to 1900 BC. The majority of Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Maya and Aztecs. The word "chocolate" is derived from the Classical Nahuatl word chocolātl.

Foie gras spread made from the liver of a fattened duck or goose

Foie gras is a specialty food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been especially fattened. By French law, foie gras is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by force-feeding corn with a feeding tube, a process also known as gavage. In Spain and other countries, it is occasionally produced using natural feeding. Ducks are force-fed twice a day for 12.5 days and geese three times a day for around 17 days. Ducks are typically slaughtered at 100 days and geese at 112 days.

Mostarda

Mostarda di frutta is a Northern Italian condiment made of candied fruit and a mustard-flavoured syrup. Commercially the essential oil of mustard is employed, which has the advantage of transparency; in home cooking, mustard powder heated in white wine may be used.

Some specialty foods may be ethnic specialties. [21]

Ethnic group Socially defined category of people who identify with each other

An ethnic group or ethnicity a category of people who identify with each other, usually on the basis of a presumed common genealogy or ancestry or on similarities such as common language or dialect, history, society, culture or nation. Ethnicity is often used synonymously with the term nation, particularly in cases of ethnic nationalism, and is separate from but related to the concept of races.

Foods that have been described as specialty foods as per not precisely corresponding to other food categories include:

Umeboshi being dried in the sun Umebosi Doyobosi.jpg
Umeboshi being dried in the sun

By country

China

In China, specialty foods have been described as having "important roles in the food culture..." [23] Some Chinese recipes may be footnoted with a statement that ingredients may only be available in specialty food stores and Chinese markets. [24]

United States

In the United States, specialty foods and their purveyors are regulated by both federal and state agencies. [25]

The Specialty Food Association's annual "State of the Specialty Food Industry 2014" report stated that in 2013 in the U.S., specialty foods and beverages sales totaled $88.3 billion, accounted for an increase of 18.4% since 2011, and was a record high for the fourth consecutive year. [26] [27] The report also stated that around 80% of specialty food sales occur at the retail level, and that seven out of ten specialty food retailers reported that the word "local" had the most importance as a product claim. [26]

Bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturers

As of March 2015 in the United States, the number of bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturers (companies that process cocoa beans into a product in-house, rather than melting chocolate from another manufacturer) had increased to at least 60. [28] The Fine Chocolate Industry Association stated that this represented "a tenfold increase in the past decade that's outpacing growth in Europe". [28] [29]

California

In 2012 in the United States, the specialty foods market sector was experiencing significant growth, with its annual growth rate at 8–10%. [1] In 2010, specialty foods comprised 13.1% of total retail food sales and totaled $55.9 billion in sales. [1]

In 2010 in Oakland, California it was reported that abandoned industrial spaces previously occupied by large food producers were being inhabited by small specialty food companies. [30]

In 1998, the U.S. state of California had the second-highest amount of specialty and gourmet foods of all U.S. states. [31] This has been attributed as possible due a diverse variety of unique fruits and vegetables that can be grown in Southern California. [31] Another possibility for the high quantity and diversity of specialty foods in California is that food innovations often occur in the state, as has occurred in other sectors such as health food and organic produce. [31]

In 1991, the Los Angeles Times reported that city officials in Monterey Park, Los Angeles County, California, suspected that significant numbers of non-residents were visiting the city to shop at Asian markets there to obtain specialty foods. [32]

Vermont

In terms of food-place association perceptions, Vermont has been described as being associated with "homemade-style specialty items", along with maple syrup. [31]

Companies and stores

Some companies, grocery stores and food stores specialize in or predominantly purvey specialty foods. Some of these companies include:

Organizations

United States

National Association for the Specialty Food Trade

Also known as the Specialty Food Association, it is a non-profit trade association founded in 1952 in New York that has over 3,000 members. [38] The organization also oversees its Specialty Food Foundation, a foundation that "works to reduce hunger and increase food recovery efforts via grantmaking, education and industry events". [39]

Connecticut

  • Connecticut Food Association – has a specialty food division [40]
  • Connecticut Specialty Food Association [41]

Massachusetts

  • Massachusetts Specialty Foods Association [42]

Michigan

  • Traverse Bay Specialty Foods [43]

New York

In New York's Finger Lakes region, the Worker Ownership Resource Center established the Specialty Food Network. [44] The network was established to "help clients start or expand small food businesses" and to promote the businesses and products of its members. [44] Establishment of the network was enabled in part with a grant from the John Merck Fund. [44] In 1998, the network had 46 members. [44]

South Carolina

  • South Carolina Specialty Food Association [45]

Vermont

  • Vermont Specialty Food Association [46]

See also

Related Research Articles

Cocoa bean Fatty seed of Theobroma cacao which is the basis of chocolate

The cocoa bean or simply cocoa, which is also called the cacao bean or cacao, is the dried and fully fermented seed of Theobroma cacao, from which cocoa solids and cocoa butter can be extracted. Cocoa beans are the basis of chocolate, and Mesoamerican foods including tejate, a pre-Hispanic drink that also includes maize.

Cupcake small cake for one person

A cupcake is a small cake designed to serve one person, which may be baked in a small thin paper or aluminum cup. As with larger cakes, icing and other cake decorations such as fruit and candy may be applied.

Central Market (Texas) gourmet grocery store chain

Central Market is an American gourmet grocery store chain owned by H-E-B Grocery Company based in San Antonio, Texas. Most locations also have a full-service kitchen, offer cooking and wine classes in their culinary school, and offer catering services. The chain has ten locations, all in Texas. Central Market was named "Outstanding Specialty Food Retailer" by Specialty Food Magazine and the National Association for Specialty Food Trade.

Fortnum & Mason upmarket department store

Fortnum & Mason is an upmarket department store in Piccadilly, London, with additional stores at St Pancras railway station and Heathrow Airport in London, as well as various stockists worldwide. Its headquarters are located at 181 Piccadilly, where it was established in 1707 by William Fortnum and Hugh Mason. Today, it is privately owned by Wittington Investments Limited.

The Food Emporium

The Food Emporium is a chain of grocery stores in New York and New Jersey. The supermarket banner was created by Shopwell Inc., whose roots can be traced to Daitch Crystal Dairies. Shopwell Inc. was acquired by The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) in 1986 and at the time, the company operated the upscale, gourmet banner stores in New York City, Westchester County, NY, Fort Lee, NJ and Fairfield County, Connecticut. The Food Emporium grew throughout the 1990s, converting many of its New York-area A&P stores to The Food Emporium and expanding the chain to New Jersey. The 2000s brought new, stronger competition to the New York area and the chain shrank, receding mostly to Manhattan. At the time of A&P's liquidation in 2015, The Food Emporium had 11 stores. The banner was acquired from bankrupt A&P in late 2015 by Key Food Stores Co-op, Inc., which currently operates seven of The Food Emporium stores.

Joseph Schmidt Confections was a San Francisco-based chocolatier, which created gourmet confections with imported Belgian chocolate. The line of confections included truffles of various sizes, slicks, and mosaics. Joseph Schmidt confections ceased operations in 2009.

Dan's Chocolates is a Burlington, Vermont chocolate maker.

Foie gras controversy

The production of foie gras involves the controversial force-feeding of birds with more food than they would eat in the wild, and more than they would voluntarily eat domestically. The feed, usually corn boiled with fat, deposits large amounts of fat in the liver, thereby producing the fatty consistency sought by some gastronomes.

Gourmet Ghetto neighborhood in Berkeley, California

The Gourmet Ghetto is a colloquial name for the business district of the North Berkeley neighborhood in the city of Berkeley, California, known as the birthplace of California cuisine. Other developments that can be traced to this neighborhood include specialty coffee, the farm-to-table and local food movements, the U.S. introduction of chocolate truffles and baguettes, the popularization of the premium restaurant designed around an open kitchen, and the California pizza made with local produce. The business district, also known as Gourmet Gulch, is sometimes more formally referred to as "North Shattuck." After coalescing in the mid-1970s as a culinary destination, the neighborhood received its "Gourmet Ghetto" nickname in the late 1970s from writer Alice Kahn. Early, founding influences were Peet's Coffee, Chez Panisse and the Cheese Board Collective. Alice Medrich began her chain of Cocolat chocolate stores there.

Alice Medrich is a businesswoman, baker and cookbook author with a particular interest in chocolate. She founded the Cocolat chain of chocolate stores, has authored numerous cookbooks, and is referred to as the First Lady of Chocolate.

Third wave of coffee

The third wave of coffee is a movement to produce high-quality coffee. It considers coffee an artisanal food, like wine, rather than a commodity. This involves improvements at all stages of production, from improving coffee plant growing, harvesting, and processing, to stronger relationships between coffee growers, traders, and roasters, to higher quality and fresh roasting, at times called "microroasting", to skilled brewing.

Prestat

Prestat Ltd is one of London's oldest chocolate shops. It has been awarded two Royal Warrants: from Her Majesty The Queen and Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

Dorothy Lane Market

Dorothy Lane Market is a chain of gourmet grocery stores based and located in the Dayton, Ohio region. In 2001 and 2007, Dorothy Lane Market was named one of only six Outstanding Retailers by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) at the International Fancy Food Show in New York City. Annual company revenue is $80,000,000 and the company has just over 800 employees. A culinary school is also located in the Dorothy Lane Market at the Centerville location.

DArtagnan (food company) American food company

D’Artagnan (D'Artagnan, Inc. also known as D'Artagnan Foods) is a food seller and manufacturer of beef, pork, lamb, veal, pâtés, sausages, smoked and cured charcuterie, all-natural and organic poultry, game, free-range meat, foie gras, wild mushrooms and truffles. Privately owned by Ariane Daguin, who co-founded the company in 1985, its corporate headquarters and distribution center are in Union, NJ. The company generates revenue through direct sales to restaurants, retailers and to the consumer public on its website. Reporting $50 million in sales in 2008, D’Artagnan employs 125 people, and has a fleet of 18 trucks that deliver products to restaurants throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Consumer website orders are shipped in insulated boxes by overnight courier.

Pacari Chocolate is a chocolate company operating out of Quito, Ecuador. Pacari Chocolate was founded in 2002 by Santiago Peralta and Carla Barboto, who own and operate the company. Pacari Chocolate is the first chocolate company in the world to receive a biodynamic certification from Demeter International. Pacari is family owned and is a bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer, as well as fair-trade, Kosher, and Certified Organic. Pacari Chocolate products are available in most health food and luxury chocolate outlets in the United States, Europe, South America and Malaysia.

Choctál LLC is a single-origin ice cream company that produces four varieties of chocolate and four varieties of vanilla in pints and 4-ounce single-serve cups. The 4-ounce cups are also packaged separately in Chocolate and Vanilla Tours.. Choctál is known for being the only single-origin ice cream company; each type of ice cream is made from a single variety of cacao or vanilla beans, creating more complex flavor than traditional ice cream. Single origin is a concept often found in coffee. Choctál is headquartered in Pasadena, California. The ice cream is produced in Cedarburg, Wisconsin with no artificial additives, eggs, or gluten and rBST-free milk.

Andrea Jourdan Canadian writer

Andrea Jourdan is a Canadian chef, ghost writer and a culinary author with over 100 published cookbooks.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Zhao 2012, p. vii
  2. ↑ Hall, S. (2005). From Kitchen to Market: Selling Your Gourmet Food Specialty. From Kitchen to Market: Selling Your Gourmet Food Specialty Series. Kaplan Publishing. ISBN   978-0-7931-9997-6.
  3. ↑ Wemischner, R.; Karp, K. (1997). Gourmet to go: a guide to opening and operating a speciality food store. John Wiley. ISBN   978-0-471-13939-3.
  4. ↑ Pegler, M.M. (1999). Specialty Food Store Design. Visual Reference Publications. ISBN   978-0-934590-77-8.
  5. ↑ Hartman, Lauren R. (29 June 2015). Artisanal Foods Increase in Popularity. Food Procescsing. foodprocessing.com.
  6. ↑ Pipkin, Whitney. (11 April 2016). Maybe this is how ‘artisanal’ foods can finally spread the wealth. Food. Washington Post.
  7. ↑ Zhao 2012, p. 298.
  8. ↑ Prisco, Joanna (October 2, 2013). "Americans Hungry for Funky, Innovative Cheeses". ABC News . Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  9. ↑ Ferdman, Roberto A. (February 24, 2015). "It's true: Americans like to drink bad coffee". Washington Post . Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  10. ↑ Szogyi, Alex (editor) (1997). Chocolate: Food of the Gods. Issue 14 of Contributions in intercultural and comparative studies (ISSN 0147-1031). Greenwood Press. p. 137. ISBN   978-0-313-30506-1.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ "Demand for foie gras soaring in California after ban lifted". Fox News. January 21, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  12. ↑ Moore, Derek (January 8, 2015). "Courts overturn foie gras ban". Petaluma Argus Courier. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  13. ↑ Holusha, John (July 11, 1986). "Laboratory Morels 'Bloom'". The New York Times . Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  14. ↑ Small, E.; Canada, National Research Council (2009). Top 100 Food Plants. NRC Research Press. p. 346. ISBN   978-0-660-19858-3. Quote: " In Italy, it (mostarda) is sold by the barrel, while in other Western countries mostarda is generally marketed as a gourmet item in specialty food stores"
  15. ↑ McGrath, R.G.; MacMillan, I.C. (2000). The Entrepreneurial Mindset: Strategies for Continuously Creating Opportunity in an Age of Uncertainty. Working paper series (Snider Entrepreneurial Center). Harvard Business School Press. p. 213. ISBN   978-0-87584-834-1.
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  18. 1 2 Farnham, Alan (March 25, 2014). "Celebrity Chefs Buying Truffles to Tune of $30K a Day". ABC News. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  19. ↑ Vasarri, Chiara (October 21, 2014). "Truffle Boom Brings La Dolce Vita Amid Italy Economic Slump". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  20. ↑ Tolson, Shaun (November 6, 2014). "The Truth About Truffle Oil". Robb Report. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  21. ↑ Halter, M. (2007). Shopping for Identity: The Marketing of Ethnicity. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 110. ISBN   978-0-307-42770-0.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bowden 2007, p. 222.
  23. ↑ Newman, J.M. (2004). Food Culture in China. Food culture around the world. Greenwood Press. p. xii. ISBN   978-0-313-32581-6.
  24. ↑ Dahlen, M. (2010). A Cook's Guide to Chinese Vegetables. askmar publishing. ISBN   978-1-935842-03-3.
  25. ↑ "Resources". Northeast Center for Food Entrepreneurship, Cornell University . Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  26. 1 2 "The State of the Specialty Food Industry 2014". Specialty Food Association. October 27, 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  27. ↑ "Frozen Dessert Sales Up 28% in US Specialty Food Market". Frozen Foods Biz. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  28. 1 2 Pierson, David (February 28, 2015). "Artisanal, hand-crafted chocolate is a growing niche". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  29. ↑ "Niche Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Production Shows Rapid Growth". Specialty Food Association. March 2, 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  30. ↑ Jou, Diana (December 13, 2010). "Small specialty food companies moving into Oakland's factory spaces". Oakland North. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  31. 1 2 3 4 Shortridge, B.G.; Shortridge, J.R. (1998). The Taste of American Place: A Reader on Regional and Ethnic Foods. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 108. ISBN   978-0-8476-8507-3.
  32. ↑ Hoder, Randye (June 6, 1991). "A Passion for Asian Foods : Markets: City officials suspect that many non-residents flock to Monterey Park for its specialty food stores. One developer is banking on it". Los Angeles Times Articles. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  33. ↑ "Boulder Specialty closes IPO". Denver Business Journal. December 22, 2005. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  34. ↑ "Centennial Specialty Foods loses nearly 800K". Denver Business Journal. March 31, 2005. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  35. ↑ "Centennial Specialty being delisted". Denver Business Journal. October 25, 2005. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  36. 1 2 "Innovative Food Holdings Launches Retail-Focused Specialty and Organic Food Offering, Acquires Organic Food Brokers, LLC". PR Newswire. October 1, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  37. ↑ Fromartz, S. (2007). Organic, Inc.: Natural Foods and How They Grew. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN   978-0-547-41600-7.
  38. ↑ "Who we are". Specialty Food Association. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  39. ↑ "Specialty Food Foundation Announces Grants to 14 Anti-Hunger Programs". Food Shift. December 17, 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  40. ↑ "Connecticut Food Association". Connecticut Food Association. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  41. ↑ "Connecticut Specialty Food Association". Connecticut Specialty Food Association. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  42. ↑ "Massachusetts Specialty Foods Association". Massachusetts Specialty Foods Association. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  43. ↑ "Traverse Bay Specialty Foods". Traverse Bay Specialty Foods. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  44. 1 2 3 4 Markley, K.; Hilchey, D.; Program, Cornell Farming Alternatives (1998). Adding Value for Sustainability: A Guidebook for Cooperative Extension Agents and Other Agricultural Professionals. Community agriculture development series. Farming Alternatives Program. pp. 55–58. ISBN   978-0-7881-8993-7.
  45. ↑ "South Carolina Specialty Food Association". South Carolina Specialty Food Association. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  46. ↑ "Vermont Specialty Food Association". Vermont Specialty Food Association. Retrieved 2 March 2015.

Bibliography

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