“How am I a solution to my guest?” Dwight Richmond asks himself this every day when arriving at work. The Director of Center Store for Town & Country Markets has found his niche in the specialty food industry, and leverages a decades-long career to bring his own flare to grocery merchandising.
“The best thing to do is to walk the stores and see the merchandising, whether on shelves or in display spaces, the way a guest sees it. I want to find ways to surprise or delight a guest with treasure hunt items or values they would not expect,” Dwight begins telling me. “We then will go back and look at internal data and external data and determine through the 80/20 rule what areas of the store we need to refresh and/or reset that will best serve our guests.”
When I ask Dwight how specialty brands can stand out on the shelf, his answer is simple: They need to find their authentic selves. He adds that shortcuts in quality or ingredients should be avoided in this space.
"Focus on your chain strategy—don’t try to be all things in all outlets to all consumers all at once,” he says directly to the supply-side. “Finally, have a 3- and 5-year vision for your brand; this goes back to being your authentic selves. Brands should have a plan both in product and development for the next five years, even if they just have one product. Focus on the presence in social networking. How will you create buzz and demand for your brand with the core consumer you are targeting?”
With these strategies in play, Dwight has helped many specialty brands step into the spotlight. As we know, the market is constantly changing, bringing new innovations forward as consumer demands take shape.
“The merger of natural and specialty foods is becoming a more everyday way of going to business. Brands see and perceive that their customers expect specialty products to be the finest and often the most simple ingredients and that, by default, can make a brand natural or organic,” Dwight goes on. “Trend cycles also move much quicker and last much shorter than in prior years. We have seen this due to social media and an influx of ready-to-invest capital. If a trend—say, chili crisp—has a breakout brand that goes mainstream, it is not uncommon to see three or four more ‘me too’ brands come to market in less than a year, causing the category to become over-saturated instantly and a correction likely within a year or two.”
Dwight continues, stating, “There is also a movement toward acceptance of globalized food trends being more accessible, authentic, and in demand. It is great to see the specialty food industry able to offer consumers a dichotomy of culinary options from all around the world to appeal to those looking to explore and expand their understanding of authentically ethnic foods.”
On a final note, Dwight points out that the specialty food market has been relatively calm regarding big innovations for the last few years. He believes we will see a breakout year for new innovations in 2025.
“We will continue to see Asian-based foods expand into new categories that we might not have expected. The better-for-you functional beverage space will continue to evolve and grow—the efficacious nature of the beverages will be key to their long-term success with consumers. I expect adult non-alcoholic beverages will have a year of maturity with the best offerings we have seen yet, as the consumer demand for this category will continue to refine its offerings to be authentic to its alcoholic counterparts. There will continue to be a focus on great specialty foods made locally that stay locally,” Dwight concludes. “The strength of specialty foods is the stories of the makers who create the new foods and trends people love, and consumers love those local discoveries.”
I think everyone along the supply chain can take a page or two out of Dwight’s playbook. I can only imagine what the specialty pundit will discover next.
