Specialty Foods Making a Comeback with Chocolate, Olive Oils, Cheese Topping the List

Small batch, upscale, fancy, natural, use whatever adjective fits your vocabulary, specialty foods are making a comeback in the USA with chocolate, olive and other specialty oils (avocado oil?), estate coffee, cheese topping the list.

I did not mean to say they altogether disappeared from the scene.

It seems that consumers in 2010 are again splurging on a few food things according to new research from the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, Inc.

A couple elements worth quoting from that study:

-Supermarkets are the biggest source for specialty foods, but farmers markets have gained as consumers increasingly support local producers.

-People between the ages of 18 and 34 are the most likely to purchase specialty foods.
70 percent of specialty food consumers buy specialty foods to treat themselves, compared to 61 percent who indulged in 2009.
Farmers markets have grown to become the fourth most significant source of specialty foods.
Specialty food consumers spend one-quarter of their retail food dollar on specialty items.
91 percent of specialty food consumers spend at least two hours online away from work but just 17 percent are active on Twitter and 11 percent on LinkedIn.

Is there also an upswing in restaurant visits or are people eating at home upgrading the ingredients used?

Small luxuries?

I guess Chilean Carica Fruit that i had the pleasure to try recently (courtesy of their distributor M5) fits in. I added them to vegetable skewers and tasted the difference.

I will soon share my first impressions on four estate coffees sent my way by Sea Island Coffee (London).