Specialty Food Association Launches First Consumer Ad Campaign

"Consumers want the very best from the food they buy. They want distinctive products they trust made by people who care," says Ann Daw, president of the Specialty Food Association. "Now is the moment for specialty food."

The brand "Specialty Food. Craft. Care. Joy.," first launched by the Association two years ago with an industry-only marketing campaign, serves to define specialty food as a category and the myriad products within it, from chocolate, cheese and olive oil to savory snacks.

The consumer effort has two key elements: a retail test in New York and New Jersey, and a multi-faceted ad campaign in New York featuring four specialty food makers who share the stories behind their products.

The test coincides with the Association's 2015 Summer Fancy Food Show in New York. The show is the largest marketplace devoted exclusively to specialty food in North America. It runs June 28 – 30 at Javits Center.

The retail test, starting this week and next, is with three retailers whose business is built on specialty food: Kings Food Markets, Morton Williams and the online retailer FreshDirect. Each test is unique to the retailer, and each features different foods and beverages from members of the Specialty Food Association.

Some of the 100 products featured include pickles from Brooklyn Brine Co., goat cheese from Cypress Grove Chevre, chocolate chip cookies from Tate's Bake Shop, toasted coconut chips from Dang Foods, crackers from Partners Crackers, vanilla from Nielsen-Massey Vanillas and frozen entrées from Saffron Road Foods.

The stores will have focused displays of specialty foods, extensive signage, in-store sampling, promotional discounts, and inclusion in weekly circulars and online messaging. Each test will run for several weeks. Based on sales results and shopper interviews, the Specialty Food Association hopes to expand the test to different U.S. markets in 2016.

The advertising campaign puts the spotlight on four specialty food companies and the people behind them who bring "craft, care and joy" to their work producing specialty food. They are:

Maya Kaimal Fine Indian Foods – Maya Kaimal
Phin & Phebes Ice Cream - Jess Eddy and Crista Freeman
Sir Kensington's – Mark Ramadan and Scott Norton
Superseedz – Kathie and Joe Pelliccio
The campaign will be hard to miss in New York. The food makers will be featured on billboards going up June 22 in Times Square, near Javits Center, home to the Summer Fancy Food Show, and near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel to New Jersey. The ads will be in 260 subway stations in Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn.

The campaign will also be featured on the popular food sites Grub Street, Eater and Bon Appétit.

"Our vision is for retailers across the country and with different formats to embrace the category of specialty food and the passion our member companies bring to their work creating distinctive products," Daw says. "It is our industry that is helping to change the way people eat."

To learn more about "Celebrate Specialty Food" and meet the makers featured in the campaign, go to craftcarejoy.com.

The advertising campaign was created by Madwell, a Brooklyn-based creative agency that has worked with several members of the Specialty Food Association. Edgewood Consulting Group, Parsippany, N.J., is working with the Association to manage the in-store tests at Kings and Morton Williams.

About Specialty Food Association
The Specialty Food Association is a thriving community of food artisans, importers and entrepreneurs who bring craft, care and joy to the distinctive foods they produce.  Established in 1952 in New York, the not-for-profit trade association provides its 3,000 members in the U.S. and abroad the tools, knowledge and connections to champion and nurture their companies in an always-evolving marketplace. The Association (formerly the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, Inc.) owns and produces the Winter and Summer Fancy Food Show, and presents the sofi Awards honoring excellence in specialty food. Learn more at specialtyfood.com.

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