Despite tepid growth for most of the food industry, sales of specialty foods in the US topped $100 billion for the first time in 2014, with retail and foodservice sales reaching a record $109 billion, according to a new report from the Specialty Foods Association.
Retail sales of specialty food products skyrocketed nearly 22 percent from 2012 to 2014, with 51 out of 58 specialty food segments showing growth, and many achieving double digit growth. Putting this into perspective, the rest of the food industry grew just 2 percent over the same period.