3 gourmet grocery items you love/hard to find

[mollybloom1109]

Greetings all,

This is my 2nd post and I hope this is in the right place. I am asking your help as I am now in charge of the retail section at my work. We have a bakery cafe with a fairly decent cheese case. We sell sandwiches, soup and salad and a huge variety of our own artisan bread and gorgeous french pastries.

We have a very small retail area and would like to sell a items. What are some things you love that are sort of complimentary to this type of operation? Fabulous brands of jams/jellies? Outstanding rare olive oils? Amazing chocolate bars? Any advice would be great. The theme is fairly Euro/French (so Asian really wouldn't work). I have plenty of my own ideas but I would like some other feedback to see if a few items garner more than one mention. Thanks in advance! ~~Mol

[rooftop1000]

Molly

This was my worl for 10 years....here are a few of my favorite things

http://www.restaurantlulu.com/products.html

http://www.ooliveoil.com/pages/products_home.html

http://www.terrachips.com/products/index.php

terra stix are awsome and great to use right in the kitchen for garnish

http://www.saucestore.com/3010g.html

If I can fire up the old computer I should have pics from my old job that I took to be part of my resume but left the industry

now I have to order some tomato sauce

tracey

[srhcb]

My local bakery carries all the items mentioned, and then some.

It seems to be worth their while, although they always have big baskets full of 25-75% off products that didn't sell. On top of that, I've found no reasonable offer is ever refused on these clearance items.

SB (currently eying up some half-priced jams)

[highchef]

My first thought is things to go with your cheese. pepper jellies, quince paste, sweet jalapano rings.

My second is a top notch coffee selection.

third is dessert wines...with cards that describe the cheeses/fruits that go best with them (or cheesecakes).

then, really cool cheese trays, knives.

know what I have trouble finding? domes. cheese domes, cake domes that fit 4 layers of cake and are 9 inches in diameter, square domes for square cakes...forget that, not gonna happen!

[ruthcooks]

Here are some items I've found difficult to locate over the years:

Ladybug Cookies, raspberry please. Best commercial cookie I've ever eaten.

Fine chocolate sampler assortments.

Candied chestnuts, and chestnuts in syrup.

Honey Jelly. Orange Jelly.

Marie Sharp's hot sauces.

[petite tête de chou]

Difficult to find but stunningly delicious. Preserved frais de bois.

Edited March 22, 2007 by petite tête de chou (log)

[rooftop1000]

Difficult to find but stunningly delicious.  Preserved frais de bois.

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Actually that is a damn fine line of jams...its the one we carried most often.

apricot jam on roasted salmon with dijon

and cant forget the Maille mustards

tracey

I think pics may be (gasp) hard copies somewhere

tracey

[DTBarton]

I have a hard time finding these three things without going to the big city.

1. Good, interesting olive oils (including some that are reasonably priced)

2. Good quality dried pasta

3. Good anchovies

I get all of theses readily when I go to Philadelphia, but kind of skinny locally.

[snowangel]

In addition to what's been mentioned, interesting varieties of honey.

[NulloModo]

Not sure if it fits firmly into your business plan, but a selection of some of the harder to find hot-sauces it something that always drags me into a place. First off, if it is carried by Safeway/Acme/Genaurdi's/Publix/Win-Dixie/et-al, don't bother.

However, there are hundreds and hundreds of great sauces on the market, and usually only availible by mail order. I know I personally hate ordering anything that has to be shipped by mail, and will pay more if I can get that instant satisfaction of having it right away when I pay for it. If you have the equipment, even try making your own sauce, bottling it, and selling it. The Datil pepper (which is cultivated in the St. Augustine region of Florida) is a great base for a sauce, yet outside of that area, it is hard to find sauces based on it.

[Chris Amirault]

It seems to be worth their while, although they always have big baskets full of 25-75% off products that didn't sell.  On top of that, I've found no reasonable offer is ever refused on these clearance items.

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Steve's post corresponds to my experience: lots of stuff that costs to stock and doesn't move.

Why bother?