Page 36 - Deli Business June/July 2020

FEATURE
While vegetable-based dips, antipasti and other dishes benefit from the desire to reduce cholesterol and fat, authentic Mediterranean meats and cheeses also continue to increase in popularity and supermarket deli sales.
Dried Italian meats including prosciutto, Genoa salami made from pork, hard salami made from smoked beef, pepperoni and sopressata continue to drive the deli pre- pack meat category, according to the Madison, WI-based International Dairy Deli Bakery Association’s (IDDBA) What’s In Store 2020, as they increased in sales more than $50 million in the year ending March 24, 2019.
New meat products are also gaining traction as, according to the Associazone Industriale delle Carne e dei Salumi, export sales of mortadella to the U.S. increased nearly 15 percent over the last three years.
“Ethnic Mediterranean foods continue to be on the rise,” says Warren Stoll, mar- keting director at Kontos Foods, Paterson, NJ. “We are a global society; people who have travelled younger and farther have been exposed to many cultures.”
Kontos is a premier baker of hand- stretched flatbreads, making 60 varieties of flatbreads in numerous sizes and shapes, with and without grill marks. They also offer loaves or slices of gyro meats, Souvlaki on skewers, and prepared and packaged foodservice trays of Pastichio, a Greek pasta dish with ground meat and béchamel sauce, and Moussaka, an egg- plant- or potato-based dish that includes ground meat.
“Mexican food is very popular in the U.S. today, but if you go back 35 years, it was not generally available in fast food; Mediterranean is travelling the same path, but we are a little behind,” says Stoll. “You now see fast food chains like McDonald’s and Subway offering flatbreads, and that’s a trend I think will continue. You see flatbreads in many forms, and I’ve also seen all kinds of innovative ways people are using Feta.”
The list of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern foods that have become staples in mainstream delis continues to grow.
“About 90 percent of our customers are in the mainstream markets like Meijer and Kroger,” says Pierre Chammas, president of Steve’s Mediterranean Chef, Madison Heights, MI. “My preference is that the hummus be displayed with the other dips and salsas. It’s a more common item; it’s not just ethnic.”
36 DELI BUSINESS JUN/JUL 2020