Now that we’re toward the end of 2012, I dusted off the 2012 “What’s Hot Chef Survey” put out by the National Restaurant Association. Some 223 items are ranked by chefs as to what is hot and what is not. I see that artisan has legs and will probably carry over well into 2013. Among the “hot” items, artisan and its cousin local are hugely popular. These are in the top 25:
- Locally produced wine and beer
- Farm/estate-branded ingredients
- Micro-distilled/artisan spirits
- Artisan/house-made ice cream
- Artisan/specialty bacon
- Artisan cheese
If I was an R&D person trying to come up with the next sensational product, I’d see what I could do with artisan. This week I interviewed Jasper Mirabile Jr., co-owner of Jasper’s Restaurant Group, Kansas City, Mo., for an article I’m writing about chefs launching products for retail, and he pointed out key words to put on new-product labels:
- Artisan Style made in Small Batches
- All Natural Ingredients
- No Preservatives
- Slow Simmered
- Made in The USA
He should know. He’s launching three new Jasper’s products at retail this month: a pizza sauce, vodka sauce and Sicilian eggplant sauce for pasta. That’s in addition to his three salad dressings, a marinara sauce, tomato sauce, Italian sausage and a mozzarella kit.
Anything produced and sold locally could almost automatically boast of artisan on the label.
By the way, Jasper’s mozzarella kit is quite ingenious. It was only natural for him to develop the kit, because he makes mozzarella cheese tableside at his Jasper’s Restaurant. It’s one of the appetizers I order every time I go. It perfectly delightful.
Artisan cheese is a delicious topic all by itself. Learn more about that in my newly posted November/December “The Art of Cheese” article published in the National Culinary Review. You’ll find it in the list of articles to the right. Then, tell me what you think.
Jody
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