A specialty food is a

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is in ...

that is typically considered as a "unique and high-value food item made in small quantities from high-quality ingredients". Consumers typically pay higher prices for specialty foods, and may perceive them as having various benefits compared to non-specialty foods. Compared to

staple food A staple food, food staple, or simply a staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard Diet (nutrition), diet for a given person or group of people, supplying a large fraction of ...

s, specialty foods may have higher prices due to more expensive ingredients and labor. Some food stores specialize in or predominantly purvey specialty foods. Several organizations exist that promote specialty foods and its purveyors.

Definition

There is no standard definition for "specialty food".

Specialty foods

Foods that have been described as specialty foods include: * Alici from the Gulf of Trieste near Barcola. *

Artisanal food 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 backya ...

s. *

Caviar Caviar (also known as caviare; from fa, خاویار, khâvyâr, egg-bearing) is a food consisting of salt-cured roe of the family Acipenseridae. Caviar is considered a delicacy and is eaten as a garnish or a spread. Traditionally, the te ...

. * Cheese and

artisan cheese 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 con ...

. *

Specialty coffee Specialty coffee is a term for the highest grade of coffee available, typically relating to the entire supply chain, using single origin or single estate coffee. The term was first used in 1974 by Erna Knutsen in an issue of ''Tea & Coffee Trade J ...

– sometimes referred to as artisanal coffee. * High-quality

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec ci ...

. *

Foie gras Foie gras (, ; ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a duck or goose. According to French law, foie gras is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by gavage (force feeding). Foie gras is a popular and well-known delica ...

. * Iberico, Serrano, and other artisanal

Dry-cured ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ha ...

. *

Morel ''Morchella'', the true morels, is a genus of edible sac fungi closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi in the order Pezizales ( division Ascomycota). These distinctive fungi have a honeycomb appearance due to the network of ridges wi ...

, Chanterelle, Matsutake and other rare

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

. *

Mostarda ''Mostarda di frutta '' (sometime also called ''mostarda'') 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 ho ...

. * Gourmet

pet food Pet food is animal feed intended for consumption by pets. Typically sold in pet stores and supermarkets, it is usually specific to the type of animal, such as dog food or cat food. Most meat used for animals is a byproduct of the human food ind ...

s. *

Edible seaweed Edible seaweed, or sea vegetables, are seaweeds that can be eaten and used for culinary purposes. They typically contain high amounts of fiber. They may belong to one of several groups of multicellular algae: the red algae, green algae, and brown ...

. * Stinky tofu ( Chinese: ''chòu dòufu'') – has been described as a local specialty food in the Old City of Shanghai. *

Truffle A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus ''Tuber''. In addition to ''Tuber'', many other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including '' Geopora'', '' Pe ...

s. * Truffle oil. * Taboo food and drink is also a good way to find "other" speciality foods. File:Chocolate mayordomo oaxaca (cropped).jpg, Bean-to-bar

, used here to prepare hot chocolate File:Cutting foie gras-2.jpg,

being sliced File:Mostardadicremona.jpg, ''Mostarda di Cremona'' File:Stinky Tofu Mala.jpg, Stinky tofu File:Truffe noire du Périgord.jpg, A black Périgord

truffle A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus ''Tuber''. In addition to ''Tuber'', many other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including '' Geopora'', '' Pe ...

Some specialty foods may be

ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established fo ...

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

Kimchi ''Kimchi'' (; ko, 김치, gimchi, ), is a traditional Korean side dish of salted and fermented vegetables, such as napa cabbage and Korean radish. A wide selection of seasonings are used, including '' gochugaru'' (Korean chili powder), ...

. *

Olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ' ...

s. *

Royal jelly Royal jelly is a honey bee secretion that is used in the nutrition of larvae and adult queens. It is secreted from the glands in the hypopharynx of nurse bees, and fed to all larvae in the colony, regardless of sex or caste.Graham, J. (ed.) (199 ...

bee pollen Bee pollen, also known as bee bread and ambrosia, is a ball or pellet of field-gathered flower pollen packed by worker honeybees, and used as the primary food source for the hive. It consists of simple sugars, protein, minerals and vitamins ...

and

propolis Propolis or bee glue is a resinous mixture that honey bees produce by mixing saliva and beeswax with exudate gathered from tree buds, sap flows, or other botanical sources. It is used as a sealant for unwanted open spaces in the beehive. Prop ...

. *

Sauerkraut Sauerkraut (; , "sour cabbage") is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ...

. * Sea vegetables. *

Umeboshi Umeboshi ( Japanese: 梅干し, pronounced , literally 'dried ume') are pickled (brined) '' ume'' fruits common in Japan. The word ''umeboshi'' is often translated into English as 'salted Japanese plums', 'Japanese plums' or 'preserved plums ...

. File:Corbiculette congelate.JPG, Frozen

, a human

food supplement A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement one's diet by taking a pill, capsule, tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients either extracted from food sources or that are synthetic in order ...

File:KOCIS Kimchi (4553316599).jpg,

File:Olives au marché d'Apt.jpg, Various

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ' ...

By country

China

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

United States

In the United States, specialty foods and their purveyors are regulated by both federal and state agencies. 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. The report also stated that around 80% of specialty food sales occur at the

retail Retail is the sale of goods and Service (economics), services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturing, manufacturers, dire ...

level, and that seven out of ten specialty food retailers reported that the word "local" had the most importance as a product claim.

Bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturers

As of March 2015 in the United States, the number of

bean-to-bar Bean-to-bar is a trade model that was born from the artisan and craft chocolate movement representative of an individual company buying ethically sourced cocoa beans to make high-quality integral chocolate. The term refers to the upper portion ...

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. Th
Fine Chocolate Industry Association
(FCIA) stated that this represented "a tenfold increase in the past decade that's outpacing growth in Europe". In April 2020, the FCIA launched the campaign websit
Make Mine Fine
in order to support small scale farmers who rely on cocoa for their livelihoods in tropical countries and highlight the work of chocolate manufacturers who buy their beans.

California

In 2012 in the United States, the specialty foods market sector was experiencing significant growth, with its annual growth rate at 8–10%. In 2010, specialty foods comprised 13.1% of total retail food sales and totaled $55.9 billion in sales. 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. In 1998, the U.S. state of California had the second-highest amount of specialty and gourmet foods of all U.S. states. This has been attributed as possible due a diverse variety of unique fruits and vegetables that can be grown in Southern California. 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 A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy. A health ...

and

organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

produce. 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.

Vermont

In terms of food-place association perceptions, Vermont has been described as being associated with "homemade-style specialty items", along with

maple syrup Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple tr ...

Companies and stores

Some companies, grocery stores and food stores specialize in or predominantly purvey specialty foods. Some of these companies include: * Asian markets and supermarkets * Boulder Specialty Brands Inc. * Centennial Specialty Foods Corp., Centennial, Colorado * Innovative Food Holdings * Organic Food Brokers, Boulder, Colorado
The Seven Elements, Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
*

Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market IP, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an upscale American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A ...

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. 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".

Connecticut

* Connecticut Food Association – has a specialty food division * Connecticut Specialty Food Association

Massachusetts

* Massachusetts Specialty Foods Association

Michigan

* Traverse Bay Specialty Foods

New York

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

South Carolina

* South Carolina Specialty Food Association

Vermont

* Vermont Specialty Food Association

References

Bibliography

* *

Definition

Specialty foods

By country

China

United States

Bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturers

California

Vermont

Companies and stores

Organizations

United States

National Association for the Specialty Food Trade

Connecticut

Massachusetts

Michigan

New York

South Carolina

Vermont

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading