The specialty food market reached total sales of USD170.4bn in 2020, a 13% increase since 2018, according to the Specialty Food Association’s (SFA) annual State of the Specialty Food Industry Report.
All food sales, both specialty and non, grew much faster between 2018 and 2020, a reflection of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on buying, at-home meal preparation, and consumption. Specialty food sales, specifically, grew 24 percent at retail from 2018-2020, and 19.4 percent in 2020 alone. Categories related to cooking or baking at home soared, benefitting products like baking mixes, pasta and sauces, frozen entrees, and meat, poultry, seafood (frozen, refrigerated), the report shows.
“The ripple across all channels of the specialty food industry has been tremendous,” Bill Lynch, president of the SFA said. “We’ve seen businesses flex their creativity in ways they never could have imagined, from restaurants becoming pop-up specialty food grocers to makers increasing production to meet consumer demand. Despite these historic challenges, the industry has continued to innovate and grow, as outlined in our annual research.”