Sound like foods you'd only find at a gourmet restaurant? Not anymore.
All of these products are available at your local grocery store, specialty
shop, through mail order or over the Internet. It is all part of a massive
trend in the food industry, an attempt to make the once elite world of
gourmet or luxury food products everyday items for many Americans.
According to experts it is a trend that appears to be growing, fast.
The gourmet food industry is a $33.7 billion a year business (1996)
Gourmet food sales have grown an average of 6.6% per year for the last
five years
By 2000 the gourmet food industry will do about $47.6 billion a year
business (a 41% increase)
(Cushman, 1996)
So what exactly is a gourmet food product? Many retailers simply define
it as foods using premium quality ingredients or an item that has a given
added value or appeal to the consumer because of the ingredients used. In
fact gourmet foods are becoming so mainstream that it is hard to categorize
them many times. Foods that were once considered foreign or time consuming
to prepare are now becoming the standard for many consumers. Take the new
interest in home meal replacement. These are high quality products that are
bought already prepared either at your local grocery store or even your
favorite restaurant. It is certainly convenient but it is also utilizing
gourmet products based mainly on customer demand. The line that separates
the two areas of convenience and gourmet is blurring and industry experts
have a good idea why.
In today's fast paced world cooking from scratch is not only impractical
for many households but is sometimes impossible. One of the largest
segments of the gourmet food market is the 20 to 30 something "yuppie".
These are the working professionals who spend a lot of time eating out
whether it be for work or pleasure and have the opportunity and income to be
exposed to more gourmet products. These are people who claim to be good
cooks but "just don't have the time" (Slind-Flor, 1985). Because of this
they are willing to spend extra money to purchase their favorite gourmet
foods either prepared or partially prepared if it will save them time rather
than making it themselves.
These "yuppies" have such an impact on the market that many retailers
will often watch the gourmet food magazines to see what trends show up.
These are the items that the "yuppies" will be looking for in the stores.
If it can't be found in the stores, there are alternatives.
MAIL-ORDER
Mail order companies offering gourmet products have seen annual
increases in sales of 10% in the last several years with an estimated growth
to $3.1 billion by 2000(Cooper, 1995). Now that items like ice cream,
steaks, live lobsters and other perishable gourmet products can be shipped
quickly across the country, people are finding it to be more of a
convenience and are stepping up to purchase the higher quality rather than
settling for what is offered at their local market. A similar option is
through the Internet. Companies from all over the world offer their
perishable gourmet food products to the willing customer and at the click of
the mouse you can have caviar from Russia, and the best French cheeses on
their way to your doorstep.
The growth of the gourmet food industry can be attributed to two main
factors. One the tastes of the consumers demanding the products are more
sophisticated, in general, than those of generations before. Once they've
been exposed to these products and as long as they have the money willing to
spend, why go back. The second factor is that obtaining these once hard to
get food products has never been more convenient. There couldn't be a better
selling point than that.
NEW TRENDS IN GOURMET FOOD
Every year the industry holds the Fancy Foods Show. It is an
opportunity for retailers to sample and view the new products on the market.
Some examples from this year's show included:
Chocolate Barque (bars of chocolate with crushed flavored coffee beans
inside)
Key lime as this year's hot flavor trend
Savory biscotti (flavored with sundried tomatoes and herbs)
Y2K got you worried that you will face the millennium without your
favorite gourmet food? Bistro has a web site offering frozen quality meals for the consumer to stock up on.
GOURMET FOODS ON THE WEB
Gourmet Food ala web www.bonappetit-int.com/
Oregon Gourmet Foods www.teleport.com/~ogf/index.html
Dean & Deluca www.dean-deluca.com
Only Gourmet www.onlygourmet.com/
Foodstores.com http://thefoodstores.com/index.htm
REFERENCES
Slind-Flor, Victoria, "When Yuppies Get the Yummies, Price is No Bother
Whatsoever", New Orleans Business, 1985.
Cooper, Ron, "It's in the Mail: Local Makers of Gourmet Food Products Follow
National Trend as Mail-order Sales Keep Rising", Business First of
Louisville, v11 n23 s1 p1, 1995.
Cushman, Jennifer, "Sophisticated Tastes Reach for Gourmet", Tucson Citizen,
p1, 1996.
Watson, Brenda, "The Lap of Luxury", Frozen and Chilled Foods, v51 n6 p12,
June 1997.
Zuber, Amy, "Fine Dining's Upscale Items Invade Grocer's Shelves", Nation's
Restaurant News, v30 n46 p35, Nov 25, 1996.
Dornblaser, Lynn, "Moving Upscale", Bakery Production and Marketing, v31 n5
p34, April 15, 1996.
CHATEAUBRIAND JAMAICAN SMOKED TROUT DOLMA STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES RUSSIAN BELUGA
FRESH CAMEMBERT CHEESE FIDDLEHEAD FERNS VIDALIA ONION & SWEET PEPPER HABANERO TEQUILA OIL VINAGRETTE CASSOULET AMARETTO CHEESECAKE BOURBON PECAN TART WHITE TRUFFLE HONEY MORELS & WILD LEEKS
Coffee Jelly (decaf even!)
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