Previous notions of specialty foods as either healthy but tasteless or interesting but expensive have been evolving in recent years. More and more Americans are foregoing the traditional formula of meat and potatoes in favor of a diet incorporating a wider and healthier range of specialty products that reflect an expanding palate and broadening perspective on what we eat. In 2020 the US market for specialty foods topped $158 billion according to the Specialty Food Association, led by the social values and cultural literacy of millennials and expanded grocery access. Organic produce alone accounts for $55 billion in sales annually.
Consumers are now more educated about what they put into their bodies and the health benefits of a variety of dietary and food lifestyle options. We call this industry segment “specialty foods,” but it is a fast-growing category filled with a wide range of products each with its own consumer expectations, industry standards, and often government regulations. For food makers involved in CPG and pilot production, staying current on specialty food trends and the latest in production options is necessary to fully take advantage of this growing market.
A Brief History of Specialty Food Production: Organic, Allergen-Free, Plant-Based, & More
While tailor-made diets have existed for centuries, differing broadly across cultures, specialty foods has emerged as the most important development in the food industry in many years and one that most experts expect will continue to explode in the coming years. Specialty food production is a bit of a misnomer; there is no single, unified definition for the broad array of food that fits under this banner. Specialty food serves as a blanket term for everything from healthy and nutritious foods, ethnic and regional cuisines, artisanal and hand-made products as well as those products classified by health and allergen standards, diet requirements, and other standards. Subclassifications within the specialty food industry include some of the following:
- Certified Organic
- Allergen-free
- National and Regional/Ethnic Foods
- Low Calorie, High Fiber and other Healthy Foods
- Plant-Based, vegan and vegetarian diets
- Keto and other specialized diets
- Sustainable and environmentally friendly products
- Non-GMO
- Kosher
- Gluten-free food
Specialty food products are often considered higher in quality and/or prepared using specific, sustainable, and/or healthy preparation methods with an emphasis on handmade and more limited processing. Specialty products also may require rigorous handling to avoid a variety of issues with cross-contamination.
Industry Growth Trends
According to Food Business News, a staggering 84% of millennials enjoy specialty foods. As the single biggest demographic in the country, we can expect this huge and ever-expanding market to thrive. Specialty food and drink products currently comprise 20% of the United States’ commercial food industry. Plant-based products, some of which can also claim non-GMO and organic certification, are leading the growth. While they currently account for nearly $6 billion in annual revenue, industry experts expect a 20% increase in plant-based products in the coming year.
While COVID-19 may have pumped the brakes on worldwide growth in 2020 due to a focus by consumers on staples, according to Market Watch, specialty food production is expected to surge to over $209 billion by 2023 with an annual growth rate of nearly 13%. Now is the perfect time to scale-up your production to accommodate a range of specialty offerings if you are already taking advantage of this rising market opportunity.
Production Space Requirements
Finding production space for specialty food can be a challenge. Each type of specialty food product, from gourmet to plant-based to allergen/gluten-free or kosher food production, comes with its own specific production requirements based on the rules and regulations that apply to that product. These requirements often require an heightened level of attention to production processes to make sure you are compliant.
For CPG, commissary, or pilot production of certified organic products, food makers must adhere to relevant organic certification requirements (USDA, CCOF, and others). These requirements often include private production space (sharing makes segregation difficult if not impossible) and rigorous record-keeping to prevent commingling of organic with non-organic ingredients or products.
As with organic products, gluten-free production requires strict monitoring to avoid cross-contamination or comingling with ingredients or other gluten-containing products. For example, the FDA standard for gluten-free certification specifies gluten-free products are those which contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten. Among other things, gluten-free kitchens require strict separation of ingredients, utensils, cooking tools, and storage as well as proper HVAC and other services to avoid cross-contamination.
In relation to allergen-free food production, the FDA along with state regulators and private certifying organizations have rules to assure that products remain safe for consumption. In order to meet allergen-free certification requirements, these regulators and private industry organizations oversee various elements of labeling accuracy and mandate segregated (and usually exclusive) production areas and cleaning protocols that avoid cross-contamination.
While kosher food production is not subject to governmental regulation in the U.S., it remains an important standard for many specialty and other food makers. For a product to be considered kosher, the ingredients, facility, and prep tools must be approved by a certifying organization with an emphasis on avoiding cross-contamination in order prior to labeling.
Specialty Food Prep With Amped Kitchens
Setting up your kitchen or production space to meet the requirements of specialty food products can be expensive and difficult with mandates around the strict separation of ingredients and production lines. Logistical and regulatory requirements both inside the kitchen as well as other areas of your production environment make it an especially challenging proposition. The specialty market is booming and now is a great time to upscale your operations. Amped Kitchens’ production space rentals can help you bring your new specialty products to market quickly, dramatically reducing the cost and lead time normally associated with securing your own stand-alone production environment.
Amped Kitchens offers long-term kitchen rentals where each space is leased exclusively to a single tenant for a term of one year (or longer). The Amped Kitchens spaces allow you to configure your production and far more easily satisfy the requirements of specialty production. Our units are designed to fit a range of needs and purposes and are especially well suited for specialty food makers with rentals in a variety of sizes and configurations, from 150 square feet to sprawling 2,000-plus square-foot spaces. Our spaces were created with CPG, commercial kitchen, and R&D and pilot production purposes in mind. Each space provides the infrastructure you need to achieve control of your production environment and to scale your specialty business. The unique features of our exclusive production spaces make it easier to satisfy specialty food standards including an HVAC system that delivers fresh air to every kitchen to help minimize the risk of cross-contamination with the facility.
Amped Kitchens knows that running a successful specialty food production business depends as much on logistics outside the kitchen as it does our top-quality production space. We offer a full suite of logistics and other amenities including flexible storage, multiple packing rooms, and full-time dock/warehousing staff that can help you assure product and ingredient integrity and separation.
Amped Kitchens Premium Food Production Spaces
Our commercial kitchen rentals facilitate your ability to meet important certification standards for your specialty food products, including kosher, gluten-free, allergen-free, and many others through our rigorous quality control protocols. With production rental kitchens in both Los Angeles and Chicago, Amped Kitchens has the tools you need to help you expand your capacity to meet growing specialty food production opporutnities.
