The European tastebud evolves

Is the collective European tastebud becoming more refined? According to a new report from market research company Datamonitor, this is indeed the case. Speciality foods are flourishing across Europe as consumers become increasingly uninspired by mass-produced food.

Datamonitor found that although affluent, urban, media-types are the key fansof these foods, this will change in the future as supermarkets bring the speciality sector to a wider audience. The supermarket chains stand to gain from the projected 4.4 per cent increase in sales of these foods overthe next five years, but must be careful, warns the report, not to undermine the business ofsmaller speciality retailers, which in fact forms the breeding ground for innovativeand high quality new products.

The report highlights the fact that there is a growing perception that mass-market food and drinks are bland. An increasingly affluent consumer base is, claims Datamonitor, becoming more educated about the quality and variety of consumer goods available, making them more criticalof the quality of goods on retailers' shelves.

"Consumers are becoming more disillusioned and bored with certain aspects offood and drinks. Many people have become concerned that the quality andtaste of what they are eating is being compromised by manufacturers focus onmass production.​

For the more discerning 'foodie', the speciality retaileris the perfect answer. But our research has found that in the future itwill not just be affluent media types that buy these foods - as the supermarketsjump on the deli bandwagon they are helping to raise the profile ofspeciality foods and bring it to a wider audience,"​ said DominikNosalik, Datamonitor​ consumer markets analyst and author of the report.

Speciality food and drinks are defined as high quality, gourmet or delicacy foods and/ordrinks that have individual, fine foodcharacteristics. They are not mass-produced and will typically have regionalattributes.

Collectively, speciality food and drinks accounted for 4.6 per cent of European foodand drinks sales, or €33.8 billion, in 2001.

The survey further reveals that taste, variety, freshness and authenticity ranked as the top four reasons why core speciality shoppers were prepared to take the time and effort to buy speciality goods. The report adds that the growth of grass-roots movements such as The Slow Food campaign, that promote moreleisurely enjoyment of regional food and heritage as well as a betterquality of life, have sprung up precisely as a backlash to the advancementof fast food and convenience in the food and drinks industry. The movementnow has 60,000 members in 45 countries.

Recent proposals by the European Commission to amend the Common Agricultural Policy and encourage alternative farming methods to intensive farming are a further indication of this shift in the collective European consciousness away from mass produced foods towards low-yield, speciality examples.