T
he winter holiday season is projected to be
especially festive as revelers opt for home-
based gatherings in the face of rising costs.
Having honed their culinary skills during the
pandemic, Americans are keen to show off their
prowess in the kitchen. While traditional favorites
will have a place on the table, holiday appetizers
made with specialty ingredients are expected to
stand out.
"We anticipate that holiday appetizers will
be bolder and more unique this year, while still
nodding to holiday favorites and traditions," says
Laura Taylor, vice president of brand strategy
and insights at UNFI. "Consumers are more likely
to incorporate more internationally inspired or
restaurant-style appetizers, as they may be more
willing to experiment with new appetizers versus
main courses."
Boding well for specialty food makers is the
fact that a new generation of home chefs, who
began looking to TikTok, YouTube, or Tasty for
recipe inspiration during COVID-19 stay-at-home
orders, are eager to entertain for the holidays, says
Joan Driggs, vice president of thought leadership
for IRI, who points to members of Gen-Z and
millennials, in particular.
"The holidays have a bright outlook since
people are so much more comfortable entertaining
at home," she says. "Think of all the charcuterie
boards and the how-tos that are out there.
Specialty offers a lot of shortcuts so maybe it's a
dressing or a sauce that has a premium price, but
they're making it from scratch so are leaps ahead
[cost wise] with the specialty item."
Younger consumers also trend high when it
comes to specialty food usage, show the findings of
SFA's Today's Specialty Food Consumer report (see
p. 29). Millennials lead other generations in their
use of specialty foods with 86 percent reporting
that they are likely to purchase specialty foods, up 6
percent compared to last year. They are followed by
members of Gen-Z (78 percent), Gen-X (78 percent),
and Baby boomers (67 percent).
Specialty food consumers are also typically
more affluent, and therefore not as likely to trade
down to private label, says David Browne, one of
the researchers behind SFA's State of the Specialty
Food Industry Report.
"Whole Foods and Publix and some of the
more premium private labels have lost some
share in recent times despite private label gaining
share nationally, so it's illustrative of the fact that
[affluent consumers] have brands that they're loyal
to, are very committed to the market, and less likely
to drop out for financial reasons," he adds.
Record-Breaking Holidays
Carrie Walters, culinary director at Dayton, Ohio-
based specialty grocer, Dorothy Lane Market, says
its three stores are busier than ever and she expects
this holiday season will be record-breaking. "To
help forecast out what and how much we buy,
we spent time looking back on our sales and with
COVID we compare and contrast numbers from
three years ago," she says.
Popular around the holidays are a dozen
varieties of dips and cheese spreads that DLM
makes in-house. Charcuterie boards are also big
Fabrique Delices
Black Truffle Salami
Partners Stone Ground Wheat
Hors d'Oeuvre Crackers
24 SPECIALTY FOOD SPECIALTYFOOD.COM
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