Specialty Gourmet Foods at Hometown Pharmacy

Across the nation, and across generations, folks are turning to specialty foods. Gen Z, Gen X, Millennials, and Baby Boomers alike want convenient access to great tasting food that is affordable and made on a smaller scale. They want foods without many additives and fewer ingredients, clean labels and better-for-you snacks.

For the past decade, the movement has grown to a billion dollar business. Specialty foods are 20% of the food & beverage industry.

What are specialty foods anyway? Specialty foods are unique foods usually of a higher value both in ingredients and cost. They are usually made in small batches and consumers believe they have certain benefits over regular food.

18-23 year olds want food from small companies, some to experience ethnic flavors. They want foods that are free from most allergens, high in protein, seasonal, and functional.

Millennials want clean ingredients, superior quality, and to treat themselves.

Gen Xers want interesting flavors, tastes, and experiences. They are interested in nutrition and integral information about the specialty food.

Boomers are interested in new tastes and experiences and want everyday meal solutions.

Also, this year, this tumultuous and unusual year, folks are using specialty foods and convenience foods more than ever. They are great to have on hand when you are spending more time at home. More and more people are cooking at home and they want their meals to taste good…..maybe even a little gourmet at home.

Hometown has many options to choose from when it comes to specialty foods. We offer the popular brands Stonewall Kitchen, Wind and Willow, and Davis and Davis. They make dips, soups, sauces, aiolis, salsas, baking mixes….the list goes on. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all covered!

Stonewall Kitchen got its start at a farmers market in New Hampshire selling jams but has grown to quite the business since. They are now located in York, Maine, with a variety of products, including those jams they so humbly started with. Stonewall Kitchen has so many items and too many to mention here, but I will touch on favorites of some of our customers and employees!

Breakfast Favorites from Stonewall Kitchen:
• Farmhouse Pancake Mix - one employee said this was the best pancakes she ever had!
• Crepe & Donut Mixes
• Maine Blueberry Syrup

This is a good time to mention their jams - their signature product...they have so many jams and are adding new flavors every year. A customer favorite is Maine Blueberry Jam which is so versatile. A savory jam, Maple Bacon Onion Jam, is a favorite of our customers and employees. For one of our Holiday Open Houses, an employee made meatball appetizers with this jam in a crock pot and it was a huge hit. Delicious!!

Lunch Favorites from Stonewall Kitchen: Take your favorite sandwich or burger and add one of Stonewall’s Aiolis (gourmet mayonnaise)...with favorite flavors being basil pesto, mango habanero, and horseradish. A Cuban sandwich with the Mango Habanero - SO YUMMY!! Their mustards, too would make a burger, brat or hotdog taste great. Favorite mustards are Maine Craft Ale, Honey mustard. Check out Lindsay Navama from Third Coast Kitchen using the Stonewall products for her take on Tuna Salad.

Dinner Favorites from Stonewall Kitchen: Do you like to grill out?? Stonewall offers many grill sauces, with a customer favorite Boozy Bacon BBQ sauce, pasta sauces like cacciatore, meal starters like Mom’s Meatloaf Starter and a chili starter.

Dessert Favorites from Stonewall Kitchen: They offers many mixes and sauces. Can you say Dark Chocolate Brownie mix with Coffee Caramel sauce?? Yum!!!

Other Stonewall Kitchen favorites include Farmhouse Green Relish (a sweet relish with no artificial coloring), Red Pepper Jelly, which tastes great over cream cheese...as maybe an appetizer, and drink mixes including Bloody Mary, Margarita, Chocolate Martini and many more.

Wind and Willow has a small and definitive amount of items to choose from. Hot dips (both sweet and savory), cold dips, cheeseball mixes (both sweet & savory), soups, and other mixes.

So convenient and scrumptious...and they even have recipes you can use with the dips.

Their soups are so popular with our customers that we can’t keep them in stock! Especially the "Soup For One" pouches….which by the way, they have in bundles for the backpacker or camper.

Home of the Wacky Cracker and the Wacky Twist, Davis and Davis, as seen on Good Morning America and The View, is your headquarters for bringing ordinary pretzels and crackers to new heights. It’s sort of like making Chex mix but a whole lot easier & faster. They have unique flavors to liven up your taste buds. You could even combine flavors to make your own unique treat.

If YOU enjoy Specialty Foods - Hometown Pharmacy is here to help make cooking easy and delicious on those days or nights when you want convenience and healthy. We have safety practices in place for you to shop in-store or order for curbside pickup. Specialty foods also make great gifts for those who may need a little gourmet in their lives. Create a festive basket for those gourmet food lovers and include some delicious recipes offered from Stonewall Kitchen: Here and Wind and Willow: Here.

Stop in and check out our options to help you hunker down and make your mealtime special.

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