Last year specialty food sales hit $120.5 billion in the US according to the new State of the Specialty Food Industry report. Sales have grown 21% since 2013 with the natural foods market growing the fastest. See the entire report here.
Big box retailers such as Kroger, Costco and Target account for more than 80% of sales since they have expanded into the specialty foods market. But smaller specialty food stores continue at a 20% rate even with large retailers attempting to copy their product lines. The top-selling categories include cheese, meat, poultry and seafood along with chips, pretzels, snacks, coffee, tea and candy.
“American consumers continue to move toward specialty foods and away from mass,” says Ron Tanner, V.P. of Philanthropy, Government and Industry relations for the Specialty Food Association. “Consumers are looking for foods with fewer and cleaner ingredients, and products that are made by companies with values they care about. All of these define specialty food.”
Boxes That Make Your Product Shine!
Nashville Wraps continues to expand our gourmet food packaging. New this season, we have added more small sizes to our Gift & Gourmet Boxes including clear lids to showcase your products. These boxes come in black, white, chocolate, metallic gold and metallic silver. Also new are these Tall Gourmet Window Gift Boxes with clear windows and tuck lids.
Perfect for pairing with truffles and wine or spices and olive oil, our new Bottle Hanger Favor Boxes (shown at the top) are ideal for gourmet retailers. Fill these clear lid boxes with gourmet candy, pasta or spices for a beautiful hostess, birthday or wedding gift. You can even use these for bath and body products by adding bath salts with bottles of lotion or body wash.
Cute & Versatile Reusable Totes
We’ve expanded our reusable bag line with these natural Cotton Jute Reusable Totes. These heavy duty bags are available with natural, red or black rope handles and matching straps for closing. You can offer them as a resale item, and they also make a wonderful gift basket alternative that’s both pretty and practical.
Independent gourmet retailers CAN compete in this market by providing personalized service, unique products and a shopping experience large retail chains cannot offer. By specializing in niche items along with savvy social media marketing, you will create a loyal and sustainable customer base.
We hope you will try our many new gourmet packaging products this season. You can find all our new products here.
Leave a Reply