In 2004, there were approximately 12,000 new food products introduced to the American consumer. We estimate that nearly 4,000 of those could be considered specialty or gourmet foods.

So, what are we doing with 4,000 more salsas, condiments, teas, etc.? Why this profusion of competing products that are not all that different from one another (or so it would seem)?

We are fickle consumers. We are loyal to some brands to some extent; however, we are basically bored and seem to have a constant need for new foods.  So, what do specialty food marketers do? We introduce yet another mustard, thought his one has sesame seeds and chocolate in it (sort of). This gives our products the renewed attention they need and it gives us something to talk about when we make sales calls.

Yet, even when impartial, thoroughly knowledgeable people judge our new chocolate sesame mustard as “the product of the year,” it is often likely to fail over the longer term. For example,

§        City Bites - 1994 Outstanding Hors d'oeuvres Component (Broccoli Cheddar Coquilles) - Review: 'They're so original, yet I can think of lots of uses for them.'

§        Clark’s Gourmet Coffee - 1993 Outstanding Beverage (Coffee from Costa Rica)

§        Flinko, Inc. - 1991 Outstanding Beverage (Pommac - a Swedish beverage comprised of the extract of 25 all natural fruits)

The point? You will need more than an Outstanding Product Award to succeed in specialty food marketing.

Here are some who appear to have “the right stuff:”

NatureStar Foods - 1993 Outstanding Snack Food Award for their Plocky's 100% natural popcorn with real fresh aged white Cheddar cheese. The challenge? The product had what some thought was too many grams of fat, a fact that was pointed out in certain media during the no-fat, low-fat, craze. Company was forced to take product off the shelves and has since developed a successful line of potato sticks, sweet potato sticks, and sweet potato nut mixes. Founder offers suggestion that a ?from market to kitchen? approach is more realistic because it focuses on the market requirements, not the product features.

B.R. Cohn - Olive Hill Oil Company - 1995 Outstanding Packaging/ Design (Red Wine Vinegar in an elegant, sand-blasted bottle). About an hour north of San Francisco there is a grove of olive trees known for more than a century as Olive Hill. There, the B.R. Cohn Winery produces some of the finest artisanal olive oils and vinegars.

Bittersweet Pastries, Inc. - 1991 Outstanding New Product (Raspberry Almond Tart)

Bittersweet Pastries was created in 1984 as a retail Pastry Shop/Tea Room by Phyllis Trier, who, with her husband, Bob, runs the company today. In 1985, the Chocolate Truffle Cake was developed and a mail-order business was begun. Over the years Bittersweet Pastries created many new products, specializing in tarts, and began selling their desserts to restaurants, hotels, country clubs, and gourmet stores. Many of these desserts have won awards and are now considered to be among the best in the country.

Cherith Valley Gardens - 1995 Outstanding Food Gift Pack (The Grand Sampler - garden fresh products, hot and spicy dill pickles, hot and spicy baby carrots, hot pepper sauce). In 1986, Alan Werner was a principal in an independent oil company, which funded, drilled and operated gas and oil wells in West Texas. The stock market plunge of October 1987 precipitated the eventual collapse of the company. Out of this trauma, the firm’s founders discovered a desire to "return to the land." They began gardening in order to produce vegetables to feed their family. Their family prepared the soil, planted, watered, weeded, harvested and canned the garden's bounty for the year's consumption. After using their canned items as gifts, they were strongly encouraged to market them as specialty products. On May 8, 1993, they officially produced the first Cherith Valley Gardens product.

I welcome your comments.

Stephen F. Hall, author, Author -“From Kitchen to Market.”