PPB February 2019

Tr ea t s & Ed i b l es by Brittany Glenn 36 | FEBRUARY 2019 | GROW Tasty Promos From savory to sweet, edible gifts add a flavorful flair to any marketing effort. T he food-giftingmarket is on an upswing, says themarket research firmPackaged Facts. According to the firm’s report, Food Gifting in the U.S.: Consumer and Corporate, 6th Edition, U.S. consumer and corporate food-gifting sales approached $20 billion in 2018, up four percent from2017. The growth in this category offers distributors and suppliers a fresh opportunity to expand sales and reach new customers. A major growth driver for this market, according to the report, is the fact that more people are finding reasons to give the gift of food to themselves or to someone else. “The outlook for this product category is strong,” says Tom Riordan, president of Mosinee, Wisconsin-based supplier Maple Ridge Farms, adding that Americans consume more than 2.8 billion pounds of chocolate each year. “The sheer size of the opportunity was an invitation for Gemline to expand into the gourmet food business,” says Jonathan Isaacson, president of Lawrence, Massachusetts-based supplier Gemline. Last year, the supplier launched a new gourmet food-gifting division, Gourmet Expressions by Gemline. “It offers customers one-stop shopping convenience with everything they need for year-round gifting,” Isaacson says. “Gourmet food gifts