30 SPECIALTY FOOD SPECIALTYFOOD.COM
Brick-and-mortar
retail channels*
Online retail
channel**
Foodservice
2020 2019 2018
76% 75%
22%
22%
2%
3%
80%
14%
6%
**Online retail channel estimated by SFA
Source: SPINS/SFA
The Size of the Specialty Food Market
at Retail and Foodservice
Share of U.S. Sales of Specialty Food
by Channel
S T O R E
Grocery and ecomm boomed in 2020 just as foodservice
su€ered big losses. Foodservice operators are wisely
expanding takeout/delivery and o€-premise options to
bolster recovery of that channel in 2021-2022.
Ecommerce benefited from consumers sticking close to
home all year, but shoppers flocked to sites like Amazon
and Walmart most often. This helped some specialty
brands but likely didn't promote the specialty market as
a whole as much in terms of total sales opportunities.
Specialty's share of the total food and bever-
age market is yet another key indicator of the
category's overall presence and importance.
In 2020, specialty food sales accounted for
21.5 percent of all food sales, up more than
one full percentage point of share just since 2018.
21.5%
of all 2020
food sales
Specialty Food:
