Remember all of the gourmet food gifts ideas and basics we discussed a few months ago? Now is the time to take those gourmet food ideas and implement a way to increase your sales.

While gourmet food encompasses a wide variety of niche markets, you can hone in on which ones will work best for you. To do this, you must take stock of your current customer base. With this knowledge, you will be able to determine which gourmet food niches will convert to an increase in sales.

Determining Your Market:

It is all about matching the gourmet food with the right customer niche. Categorize your customers. Are they young professionals or college students (Generation Y)? Are they established professionals, empty-nesters or retirees (Generation X or Baby Boomers)? Are they active singles, busy families or environmental activists?

Defining the lifestyles and interests of your customers will help determine which gourmet niche should be your focus. Categorization of your customers is the foundation for your gourmet food strategy.

Strategies For Gourmet Food Niches

Below are examples of categorized customers and the products each prefers.  Your customer base may include one or more of these customer types.  How do you determine what gourmet food items you need to sell to satisfy their buying needs?

By using the following guide, you should be able to determine what niche gourmet items will satisfy their buying needs.  Then you can formulate a strategy from the ideas and suggestions.

Young Professionals (Generation Y): This group tends to be into trendy, healthy and organic items. They buy these items for themselves as well as friends family and business acquaintances. Formulate a plan that incorporateshealthy snacking items (popcorn, jams, jellies, and organic-labeled gourmet foods).

Empty-Nesters/Retirees (Baby Bommers): This group often enjoys family and friend-centric activities like barbequing and cooking. They buy gourmet items with a more traditional nature for family, friends and as gifts for service providers (hairdressers, lawnboys, etc.).  Spices, cheese, meats, barbeque sauces and pre-made gourmet gift baskets are the delights of this demographic.

Established Professionals (Generation X): These are the customers who are in between the young professional and empty-nesters.  They tend to share buying habits of both groups.

They are the ultimate customers who will try trendy products and rely on traditional ones. Although eclectic in their purchases, gourmet chocolates and coffees are their gifts of choice when in a pinch.

These are just a few customer types and a few basic ideas to use when formulating your gourmet food strategy.  Focusing on a specific niche market is the key to successful gourmet foods sales. An active approach to selling gourmet foods, coupled with a knowledge of your customer base is the best formula for successful gourmet food sales.

Blending  Gourmet Foods Niches

Just as with cooking, gourmet food requires a little blending.  Start with a basic gourmet food niche that appeals to the majority of your customers, and then blend in a few products outside of that category.  Think complimentary, not contrasting.

For example, adding snack foods to your line of gourmet chocolates creates a complimentary gourmet food mix.  Selling salsa? Add in a line of other items that you can cook with, like jams, spices, specialty condiments and barbeque items. The principle idea is to add items that appeal to your main customers, but will bring in new customers.

Ordering And Working with Vendors

Once you’ve gotten a firm grasp on your market, your next strategy is to find the product and develop a working relationship with vendors. Look for vendors who can provide you with timely shipments, good pricing and great selections.  Don’t be afraid to ask them for help in how to display or market their product.  Vendors understand that you’re a partner and will work with you to get the right products into your store, so you both can make money.

Now that you have the strategies, ideas and the nitty gritty of gourmet foods, success is just a taste away.

By utilizing the great wholesale gourmet food vendors at FGmarket, you will be able to find the right products to help you create the ultimate gourmet food mix. To jump start your search, check out the FGmarket  wholesale gourmet food vendors highlighted below.

You haven’t tried pancakes and waffles until you’ve tried them made with Golden Malted pancake and waffle flour. For over 60 years, the finest hotels and businesses have offered waffles made with Golden Malted flours as part of their continental breakfasts. Now, Carbon’s Golden Malted pancake flours and waffle flours are available for home use as well. Making sure your consumers are having a tasty breakfast each morning is as simple as offering Golden Malted pancake and waffle flours.

“Why do consumers want Golden Malted pancake and waffle flours?” There are several reasons to this basic question. First and foremost, using the pancake and waffle flours is simple. Most require water or buttermilk and eggs and voila! Fresh waffles in two minutes.

Another reason that so many are choosing Golden Malted pancake and waffle flours is for the variety of flavors available. Golden Malted has earned a place among the best in gourmet foods thanks to their gingerbread, blueberry, and buttermilk waffle and pancake flour.

There are also several different grain varieties to choose from for a more health-conscious person. Try 97% fat free pancake and waffle flour mix. You can also purchase the same great pancake and waffle mixes in bran, buckwheat, and multi-grain. That’s a great flavor for everyone.

Consumers are choosing Golden Malted pancake mixes for other reasons as well. Golden Malted is going green which means their products and company appeal to eco-friendly buyers. Plus, there are many health benefits of using malt in pancake and waffle mixes. Consumers who would shy away from pancakes and waffles can now enjoy them with ease.

Eco friendly. Fast. Easy. Delicious. …click here to read Have You Tried The Unbeatable Pancake & Waffle Flour Mixes?…

Oh how the taste buds sing when they taste the sweet, juicy morsels of fresh fruit. How they run, skip and jump with excitement when fresh produce is given a taste. If you want your customers to salivate over gourmet foods in your store, order fresh produce from Melissa’s.

One word. One name. There’s no need to say more because one taste of the delicious produce from Melissa’s is enough to guarantee her fruits and vegetables a permanent position in the hearts of all who eat them. Whether an eco-friendly consumer or just a fruit lover, fresh produce from Melissa’s satiates them all.

Melissa’s carries a variety of dried and fresh fruits and vegetables so satisfying a wide range of consumers is easy! Melissa’s offers everyone’s favorite fresh fruits apples, bananas, grapes, oranges, peaches, pears and tomatoes. They also offer many great tasting berries such as blackberries, blueberries, strawberries.

Want a more citrus taste? Try  coconuts, kiwi, lemons, papayas, limes, mango, mangosteens, melons, tangerines and pineapples. That’s not even a complete list of the fresh fruits. For a better taste of what Melissa’s has to offer, contact them today about fresh fruits, dried fruits, and vegetables.

Want an easy way to present gourmet fruit baskets to your consumers? Browse the great gift baskets from Melissa’s. There is a basket for everyone to love with favorites from Melissa’s selection of over 800 items at any given time. That makes finding YOUR perfect gift easier than ever.

Melissa’s fresh produce has been touted in many national magazines for their quality and selection. Readers of Gourmet, Bon Appetit, …click here to read Want Fresh Fruits & Fruit Gift Baskets?…

Have you ever tried jalapeño jelly or jalapeño relish? If you haven’t, get a taste of Viola’s Gourmet Goodies. They specialize in jalapeño jelly and relish as well as unique sauces with jalapeño flair. To most people, that would mean that they spend a lot of time creating it. To Viola’s Gourmet Goodies it means that they could not more expertly create mouthwatering jalapeño jelly and jalapeño relish if they had invented the spicy gourmet foods.

Viola’s Gourmet Goodies lets the lucky person who opens the jar enjoy an authentic flavor not easily matched and never bettered. Jalapeño jelly and jalapeño relish are gourmet foods that only the most daring will try but everyone who does will love. It’s not too spicy but not too bland. It’s not to bold and imposing but whoops grocery store jalapeño products to nothing.

If you wanted someone to love caviar, you wouldn’t start them off with cheap roe. You’d find high quality and made sure they knew the difference. The difference for Viola’s Gourmet Goodies is simple. They are The Best jalapeño jelly and jalapeño relish providers. Period. If you’re looking for quality and the right place to start, look to Viola’s Gourmet Goodies.

There’s more to Viola’s Gourmet Goodies than just jelly and relish. Let your consumers liven up their dinner table with gourmet sauces like Hollywood Zinger and Pacific Rim Shot. These gourmet sauces blend unique flavors with the much-beloved kick of jalapeño peppers. With flavors as distinct as jalapeño itself, taste buds won’t know what hit them.

Get ready for “ooh”, “aah” and “oh mama” when your consumers get a taste of Viola’s Gourmet Goodies. Return trips to follow.

You will not believe how many flavors of baked corn are found at Dazzles. Everything that your consumers love about popcorn is there but made better…and healthier. Many people cannot enjoy popcorn because of expensive dental work, a sensitivity to MSGs, digestive issues and similar reasons. Baked corn in the same great flavors is Dazzles solution to this snack food predicament.

Wholesale snack foods help retailers in unquestionable ways. Snack foods like gourmet popcorn are leaders in snack sales.

For those who love popcorn but simply cannot have it, turn them toward Dazzles baked corn. This lets them know that you are looking out for their best interests and want them to enjoy the same great gourmet foods that your other customers like.

The flavors of baked corn at Dazzles are numerous. Snackers can enjoy favorites like butter flavored baked corn, caramel baked corn, and moose tracks. They can also relish in the flavors of ranch, barbecue, cinnamon, coconut almond, s’mores, garlic parmesan, jalapeno cheddar, irish cream, nutty amaretto, nacho cheddar, white cheddar, toffee baked corn and more flavors.

More? It hardly seems possible but Dazzles does the impossible (and uncommonly delicious) with their baked corn …click here to read The Tasty Popcorn Alternative Is Baked Corn from Dazzles!…

You can practically taste the rich southern history in the wholesale southern foods from Secrets of the South. There is no trying this southern food. There is only enjoying and savoring it. With a love for gourmet cooking practically radiating from the pores of the owners, Secrets of the South are definitely secrets worth sharing.

Only the best southern foods get the gourmet touch of Secrets of the South. There’s an incredible line of southern gourmet foods with “ya’ll will love this” practically written all over it. Open a package and watch your taste buds take off.

Your consumers will thank you because southern foods are a rare treat for people in other parts of the country. Secrets of the South brings their delicacies to you. If you want to offer something unique, try the southern gourmet foods from Secrets of the South.

What wholesale southern foods can you count on? The list is extensive but some favorites range from sauces to rubs, marinades to dips, and jams to soups. Dip mix favorites include bacon and cheese dip, cheddar and brocoli dip, cajun dip, lobster dip, and mexican dip mix. Soup favorites include creamy potato soup, cheese enchilada soup, tortilla soup, and creamy cheddar broccoli soup.

To list the delicious southern foods available in any sort of short list is impossible. If you want the full barometer of gourmet flavor straight from the south, …click here to read Know The Secrets Of The South?…

There isn’t a cheese straw on the planet that compares to these savory treats.  J & M Foods has mastered the art of making cheese straws. They’re not selfish about their wonderful cheese straws though. They’ve witness consumer reactions and can’t keep the excitement to themselves. That’s why now your place to go for wholesale cheese straws is J & M Foods.

Cheese straws are a very southern treat but are no longer limited to the confines of the Dixie states. J & M Foods offers their gourmet cheese straws across the country.

The special thing about these cheese straws is that they are created from a variety of cheeses. J & M Foods offers original cheese straws, bleu cheese straws, asiago cheese straws, jalapeno cheese straws and swiss cheese straws.

With many fine cheeses like these, how can the cheese straws NOT taste fantastic? Trick question. They do. They really, really do.

Party goers in the south are used to seeing cheese straws as hor d’oeuvres. They are delightful treats that do not hamper the appetite. If anything, the great taste stimulates it. Know someone throwing a party? Point them in the direction of your cheese straws from J & M Foods. You’ll save them a lot of prep time and they’ll remember the favor.

It’s easy to offer gourmet cheese straws for everyone. J & M Foods provides their cheese straws in several different package sizes including …click here to read You Haven’t Lived Until You’ve Had These Cheese Straws…

Smoked foods inside a gourmet gift basket make the mouth water. Fingers eagerly grip the basket and tear into the packaging with a hungered ferocity. Well, perhaps not quite so enthusiastically but smoked foods are definitely a crowd-pleasing item. It’s almost unfair to offer smoked foods from Garfield’s Smokehouse because their sensational flavor makes them irresistible. Gift-hungry consumers don’t stand a chance of walking away without them.

Gourmet gift baskets look amazing when stocked with wholesale smoked foods from your store. When creating gourmet gift baskets, consider Garfield’s Smokehouse for the smoked foods flair.

Garfield’s Smokehouse offers smoked cheeses (always a winner), smoked ham, smoked bacon, maple syrup and smoked cheddar cheese. Any of these will delight. All are crowd favorites.

Don’t have time to make the gourmet gift baskets yourself? Don’t worry! Garfield’s Smokehouse will make them for you! They have several options from which to choose including a deluxe, standard and mini gift basket package. This makes it easy for your consumers to have the smoked foods that they want in a size that’s right for them.

Whether needing something simple or extravagant, they can find it in your store and you can find it at Garfield’s Smokehouse. Mini gift baskets include …click here to read Taste The Garfield’s Smokehouse Goodness…

Golden Harvest Pantry is known far and wide for being a leading provider of delicious gourmet sauces. Barbecue sauces, honey, molasses, mustards, salad dressings, jams, jellies, vinegars & oils — it’s all there.

One of the unique offerings from Golden Harvest Pantry is their selection of Amish jams, jellies and fruit batters. These are very popular because of their natural, homemade taste and consistency.

The Dutch Kettle normally sells their traditional Amish jams, jellies and fruit butters in country market stores throughout the Carolinas, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. If you’re not in those places, don’t feel left out. These delicious treats are available from Golden Harvest Pantry!

Another specialty food that foodies will do back flips for is chow chow. This is basically relish kicked into overdrive. Cabbage, onion and bell pepper radish combine to form the perfect topping for hot dogs, tuna, casserole dishes and other foods. Golden Harvest Pantry made sure that everyone can have a taste without risking their taste buds. There is a hot option, a sweet option, and a combo option featuring both tasty flavors.

Gourmet specialty sauces are easy to find. Finding one person who carries all of the favorite types of sauces used to be difficult. That was before Golden Harvest Pantry sauntered into the gourmet foods market. Now it’s easy for retailers to find a vendor for their wholesale sauces. Forget a minimum order because it’s impossible to find less than a handful of products that you want. A big handful at that.

If your consumers need sauces and you need a place to find them, begin and end your search at Golden Harvest Pantry.

Even if your answer is “yes”, you’ll be delightfully surprised by the wholesale gourmet chile foods from The Truck Farm LLC. Not only do they have the hot and spicy chiles and sauces that people crave, they also have specialty foods that are unique enough to turn heads–often.

Curiosity killed the cat but it keeps consumers coming back to the same products over and over. This is a boon to the stores that sell very unique products; a favorite being specialty gourmet foods. Thanks to the distinctive flavors of their sweet hot chiles, The Truck Farm LLC keeps your store a leader in the head-turning, crowd pleasing gifts category.

Chile foods from The Truck Farm LLC are more than just attention-worthy specialty gourmet foods. They are also magnets for people who love a good salsa or a unique gift item. Every party needs a good, solid salsa with lots of flavor and va-va-voom. No Mexican dinner is complete without a few spicy treats and some specialty sauces that make everyone want to do the Mexican hat dance. If there’s an occasion that calls for a kick and a wild dose of flavor, there’s a need for chile foods from The Truck Farm LLC.

There’s a variety of chile foods for everyone at The Truck Farm LLC. There are green chile salsas and …click here to read Have You Tasted The Best Chile Foods This Side Of The Equator?…