Demand remains strong for Italian food, design

Driven by what they read about in food magazines, witness on Italian-based cooking shows and experience on their own travels to Italy, consumer demand for Italian imports has grown for specialty and gourmet stores.

Of the 12,000 SKUs in his department, Garth Tallcott, grocery manager at A Southern Season in Chapel Hill, N.C., said about 1,000 are Italian specialty products. In 2004 alone, said Tallcott, he added 50 Italian SKUs.

"It's the largest growing area in my store," he said, in large part because Tallcott works closely with agents with ties to Italy who help him directly import goods.

By importing directly, said Tallcott, he can keep prices nearly 40 percent lower and have access to products other stores don't carry.

One of the agents with whom Tallcott works is Massimo Cannas, who operates Max Co. International Inc. in Lake Forest, Calif. Cannas, who established his business about 11 years ago, said he makes trips to Italy every two months to keep in touch with his suppliers.

"Every time I go I select one or two new products," he said. Currently, he said, Cannas represents about 60-plus Italian food producers, ranging from extra virgin olive oils from Umbria,Abruzzi, Sicily and Tuscany to sweets, cheese, pasta and vinegar.

Gianluca Guglielmi, executive chef at A.G. Ferrari Foods, which operates 13 Italian specialty food stores in the San Francisco Bay area, is also a frequent traveler to Italy, scouting out new products three or four times a year. Company Owner Paul Ferrari goes even more frequently, said Guglielmi, making visits up to seven times per year.

The focus, Guglielmi said, is on finding artisan producers making" handmade, high-quality products."

Guglielmi said Sicily "is at the top of the new finds for us," with a wealth of new products and interesting packaging. Among the new items from this region are Giammona syrups, which can be used to make soda, but also flavor sorbet, granita and baked goods. The syrups are available in interesting flavors, he said, such as mint, sour cherry and tamarind as well as more traditional lemon, orange, strawberry and almond.

He said he is also working on bringing in new cheeses from Sicily, including a cave-aged ricotta and semi-soft, three-to four-months aged sheep's milk cheese flavored with saffron and peppercorns.

At the two Pastaworks stores in Portland, Ore.,Buyer Liz Wehrli offers a host of Italian imports. "That's pretty much our focus," she said of the category, which encompasses 80 percent of Pastaworks' wines, 50 percent of its cheeses and nearly 70 percent of its groceries.

Wehrli said she concentrates on "true Italian products, not something invented," such as white balsamic vinegar. "Things that have been hot for us," she said, include traditional balsamic vinegar, truffle oils, olive oils, artisanal pasta, cheeses such as raw milk Taleggio, mixed milk Robioladi Mondovi and Bra Tenero, and fresh foods such as Mortadella.

A Southern Season's Tallcott listed balsamic vinegars among his best sellers. The store carries 10 to 15 varieties, he said, and all of them are open for tasting.

Despite the popularity of low-carb diets, all those interviewed by Gourmet News said pasta has made a comeback, especially traditional, bronze-die versions or hand-stamped ones. Guglielmi said sales in the pasta category at A.G. Ferrari Foods is up 70 percent to 80 percent without any promotions.

Tallcott said Caroxetti pasta, which looks like a communion. wafer, 'is a hand-cut, stamped artisanal pasta featuring different Roman symbols. After being featured in a well-known food magazine, the demand for the pasta increased, he said.

Olives in easy-to-transport tray packs, rather than bottles, have gained popularity, said Tallcott, as have olive spreads.

Cannas said sweets are always in demand, whether it's Gentilini butter cookies from Rome, which have been made by the same producer for 170 years, or a newer line of butter biscotti flavored with chili peppers, herbs, raisins, almonds or orange peel.

Fish products have a following as well. Guglielmi said there is a high demand for anchovies in various forms-salted, in olive oil or with a spicy tuna sauce; while Tallcott finds customers asking for Italian tuna and mackerel, either in jars or cans.

Cannas said Italian caviar, also known as botarga, "is one of our best-selling specialty products." The dried and salted fish began with the idea of importing organic products from many countries, the wealth of Italian organic products has caused them to focus on that category alone.

"Right now," he said, "the demand for organic is so high, we have no problem finding a market for our products. Our problem is having enough supply."

Purely Organic showcases its products at the Natural Products Expos and at the Fancy Food Show in New York, said Jorgensen. Plans are to add the San Francisco Fancy Food Show to their roster in 2006.

Customers can also find their products at Purely Organics web site, he said, although "we make sure not to undersell our retailers."

Copyright United Publications, Inc. Feb 2005
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