Giada De Laurentiis, chef, TV personality, author of ten cookbooks, and founder of Giadzy, spoke about emerging trends that are shaping the specialty food industry, and facilitating the success of her brand, during her keynote presentation at the Summer Fancy Food Show, Monday
Giadzy, De Laurentiis’ ecommerce brand, features Italian pantry products and lifestyle content including recipes and travel guides.
The pandemic led to many of the trends that she shared in the session, citing the mass change in consumer sentiments that allowed her brand to fill a gap in the market.
“We realized that people couldn’t go to their local, Italian market, or they couldn’t go to their local restaurant, or they couldn’t travel,” she said. “Covid really disrupted the market and had a lot more people looking for [products] online in a way they hadn’t before. It accelerated something that I think was happening anyway.” This shift to consumers becoming more comfortable with online shopping helped her business take off.
She highlighted the following practices paramount to the industry, which she leveraged in her business:
1. Demand for at-home culinary experiences,
2. Product sourcing and storytelling,
3. Clean ingredients and authenticity,
4. The total package—its aesthetics and experience.
The at-home culinary experiences sought to replace the diverse food landscape that consumers were accustomed to before the pandemic. This led De Laurentiis to work with local producers that were family friends in Italy, and craft kits around a theme to share traditional Italian flavors at a time when it was difficult for people to experience it otherwise.
She recommends the use of themes in promoting products, or groups of products.
“It’s easier for people to harness what you are trying to do if there is a theme around it,” she said.
Along with bundling products into kits, she shares information about product sourcing, sometimes including video profiles from producers to help communicate the authenticity of the ingredients.
“Because viewers can’t smell or taste, most of the interest has to come to aesthetics and the story you tell about the food,” she explained. By giving insight into these practices, she helps build trust with the consumer, which in turn gives the consumer the confidence that the product is authentic and worthy of purchase.
For the success of a product on today’s shelf, or in an ecommerce marketplace, De Laurentiis advised that the aesthetics and packaging methods are crucial. People today are interested in sustainability and reusability in packaging, and the packaging must be eye-catching and share information about the company. For Giadzy, the brand seeks to highlight the Italian style, culture, and lifestyle. She shared that when she thinks about the creation of a package, she strives to create things that people can keep on their counters and something that is nice enough for people to feel they want to keep, either for storage or regifting purposes.
“People eat with their eyes first. It has to look a certain way in order to bring people in,” shared De Laurentiis.
De Laurentiis also announced the debut of Giadzy’s private-label pasta. With this brand, she sought to make hard-to-find pasta shapes more accessible, she said.
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