March 20, 2007
Take the Boy and Taylor Ham Out of N.J.
In speaking to a retailer share group a number of years back, I made the point that many in Sun Belt states were missing out on an incremental sales opportunity.
Research clearly showed and the merchants concurred that large numbers of consumers were relocating from the Northeast and the Rust Belt to markets served by these businesses. These states all had regional foods that got left behind but were no less desired. Imagine, I suggested, bringing in a product with an established consumer base and then building the business on an exclusive basis. That would be a true point of difference and would likely bring even more sales as locals tested out the new “delicacy.”
Speaking as a New Jersey native, I asked those present if they had heard of Taylor Ham. The response was a combination of blank stares and heads shaking no.
Taylor Ham, for those not familiar, is a popular, and mildly spicy pork breakfast meat (AKA pork roll) manufactured in Trenton and sold throughout the state. In fact, it is the number one breakfast meat sold in many delis, diners, and other foodservice establishments in the state. It does a pretty solid business at retail, as well.
(Separately, I once asked a group manager of a foodservice chain that did most of its business during breakfast hours, why it did not serve Taylor Ham in its New Jersey stores? After all, the deli down the street that was doing as big or bigger business than this operator and a large portion of that was in sandwiches containing Taylor Ham. The individual, who said he was on the job for six months in the state, did not know what Taylor Ham was. That, however, is another story.)
To this day, consumers are moving from one part of the country to another in search of jobs, a place to retire, etc. They often leave behind, as an Associated Press report points out, favorite foods that are confined to their original home.
Much has been made of products being imported from Mexico and other locations looking to serve consumers from those markets and yet, there has been little consideration given to doing the same for large numbers of consumers moving from one part of the U.S. to another.
While traditional retail stores and foodservice operators have decided for a variety of reasons not to bring in regional favorites, the internet has provided a means for ex-pats to get the foods they loved but left behind.
Former residents of New Jersey can now order Taylor Ham through the wonder of the internet. Donna Beers and Pattie Weaver created Pork Roll Xpress seven years ago to fill the consumer need for the product. Today, the company gets 75 or more orders a day.
“What the common denominator is here is what your mother taught you to like, and that helps quirky regional foods,” said Harry Balzer, a vice president at NPD Group. “The Internet has allowed for instant distribution to any home, so it’s not unbelievable that specialty items would find success.”
Discussion Questions: Have you personally moved from a place where you left behind a favorite regional food? Are retailers missing the opportunity to drive incremental sales by “importing” regional specialties such as Taylor Ham, American Coney Island hot dogs and Fry Sauce into their stores and/or offering them as special order products?
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I semi-retired to the Southeast from New Jersey and New York and Taylor Ham is one of the foods I can no longer find. The bigger problem however is in the authenticity of the foods that we miss. There is very little good Italian food here and virtually no New York style Pizza (despite the claims by the chains who don’t even use natural cheese on their pies!). Please don’t get me started on Chinese food–can’t find any of that style that is any good.
On the other hand, you can keep the traffic, the taxes and the snow!
Isn’t it wonderful to dream? So many of those memories are familiar to me–my NYC childhood was full of hot dogs and knishes, bagels and bialies, Chinese food that is different in NY to anywhere else I have ever been (except for one rooftop restaurant in San Francisco), clams on the half shell and so much more. But but but…these are all fantasies that are replete with circumstances. Whenever food from one region is replicated in another region, something gets lots in translation and those wonderful memories somehow start to disintegrate. It really is much better, I think, to try and go back to the mountain than bring the mountain to wherever you happen to have moved.
It’s a nice idea, but it rarely works. Like someone mentioned, try to find an authentic Chicago hot dog outside of Chicago. You can’t. Same for pizza. Ditto for croissants and baguettes. You won’t find a decent one outside of France. My experience is that unless an item is canned or otherwise packaged (like Nutella), it usually isn’t recreated exactly the same in a different location, leaving the consumer disappointed and still wanting. And as the author noted, with the Internet a consumer can get just anything from “home” nowadays.
Charming stories all–though I expect no less from our panelists! And my family can relate to the sense-of-loss that sourdough deprivation can cause, but the (sad) reality is that unless a region has a large number of emigrees from another region–think Florida Gold Coast/NYC-NJ–I don’t think there’s much opportunity here; sure, some local delicacy makes it to the big time every now and then (think Buffalo wings), but for the most part lovers of Primo beer, Flame Room coffee…or whatever, will wait for a reunion in vain.
First there’s my Lower East Side New York tastebuds:
Wise Potato Chips
Drakes Cakes
MyT Fine Pudding
“Sandbag” knishes
Bialys
Pickles out of a barrel
A Slice of Pizza with the right crust and the right amount of oil and wax paper
Sabretts hot dogs out of truck with red onions
“Piraguas” (shaved ice with syrup)
Egg Creams
…and so on
Oh yeah and Chinese Food from New York’s Chinatown. It’s a whole different experience.
Then there are my Latino influenced taste buds calling out for better Cuban, Puerto Rican and Dominican food then you can find in Los Angeles…plus Cafe Bustelo and other local bodega brands….
Now I’m hungry.
Yuengling beer–a true value, with taste on par with microbrews but at a Budweiser price–this beer is available up and down the East Coast, but not in Ohio. This despite the fact that it’s brewed in PA, an adjacent state.
First, let’s thank goodness there are still some regional dishes left in in this country! I could extend the list: Buffalo’s “Beef on Weck” sandwiches; chocolate “blackout” cake from Brooklyn; “Mexico City-style” dishes served in the better restaurants here in Tucson; Dungeoness crab cocktails on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf; Philly cheesesteaks; sour pickles from New York’s Lower East Side.
And I’ll add my voice to the choir that admires Carolina barbeque (which differs in so many ways from Texas-style brisket) and New England lobster rolls. Not to mention the ethnic specialties like Cuban sandwiches in Miami; Taiwanese hot pot in Flushing, N.Y.; Korean barbeque in Orange County, Cal.; The garlicky braised octopus served in Chicago’s Greektown. Makes me glad I travel in my work.
There’s an emotional connection behind all this that can’t (shouldn’t!) be captured by national brands. Here’s a little anecdote: A few years back I planned a meeting with an executive in Tulsa, Okla. His superb assistant was a transplanted New Yorker. I asked her what she missed most, and she told me. On the way to LaGuardia Airport, I had the cab stop at a Queens bakery that was just opening its doors at 6:00 AM and had them slice and double-wrap a large, still-warm rye (with seeds). When I presented it to the assistant a few hours later, she was thrilled. Needless to say, for years afterward, my calls to her boss always went through. Best $2.99 I ever spent.
I’ve got to get on Ben Ball’s bandwagon here. I left South Carolina 40 years ago, but will still drive 150 miles out of my way to eat at Brown’s barbeque in Kingstree, SC. It would seem barbeque in the rest of the world is some kind of meat with a thick mustard or ketchup sauce ladled on it. This might work in Texas, Florida and even up country South and North Carolina, but the real stuff is only to be found in low country South Carolina.
Carolina style BBQ!!! A pig in a pit overnight (carefully watched by accomplices who sip their favorite libation–some of which is usually contained in the sauce!) followed by the preparation in the morning. All in anticipation of a crowd of friends/relatives/former feuding buddies who will crowd around tables loaded with “pulled pork,” vinegar/mustard BBQ sauce, BBQ slaw, potato salad and fresh rolls. But not to be found in Chicago I’m afraid….
Whenever I walk through a Wegmans store, I’m always impressed with the international section with foods (and some non-food items) divvied up by country. Having lived in the UK during part of my first career as a journalist, it certainly brings back good memories (They might have been even better if I had been based in France. Never could stomach that blood pudding). I could certainly see a successful offering of regional US products along side the international section. There are already plenty of regional hot sauces, for instance. Sourcing shouldn’t be a problem–the Fancy Foods Show and even the FMI Show typically have a decent selection of vendors offering regional delicacies. This is just a great way to create a point of differentiation in the store and to attract new customers, but it has to be promoted, even showcased to be impactful.
George makes a great observation here. We all have those products that we pine away for. Mine are the hot carrots that you get in most of the authentic Mexican restaurants in California. When I lived there, it was the southern grits I grew up on.
Wouldn’t most of us drive across town if we got wind of one of our dearly missed products hitting a local shelf? And if the product is “that good,” isn’t it an opportunity to create that same addiction in the local market via taste tests and store promotions?
Case in point, Atlanta finally got a Trader Joe’s and I’ve already made (5) 45-minute trips there to get my fill of some of their wonderful private label items that I grew addicted to while on the West Coast. I can’t tell you how many others are making the trek to try out the Two-Buck Chuck that everyone is chatting about.
Sometimes it’s the little things that make us happy…why not tap into it?
I think that the new fresh, fun food formats are recognizing this trend. Isaly’s chipped ham is a big favorite in Western Pennsylvania and Western Ohio. Dietz and Watson deli meats were so highly regarded by customers at Super Fresh stores that management immediately returned them to the deli cases.
We all yearn for comfort food, be it Faygo RedPop or North Pole ice cream. And retailers are catching on. It just makes good business sense.
I agree with Jen upthread–the more places you live, the more foods you have to be homesick for. San Francisco extra sourdough bread, New Mexico stacked enchiladas with a fried egg on top and sopapillas on the side, Dungeness crab for Christmas in Seattle…and so many New England foods of my childhood, including New Haven pizza, real clam chowder, Fenway Franks and good fresh cannolis filled while you wait, not the ones that have been sitting around getting soggy in the display case. Lobster rolls on split-top buns. Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and crullers. Man, I’m hungry now.
HOWEVER, the person who successfully brings steamed cheeseburgers out of my native central Connecticut will win my undying gratitude. There are only a handful of places left that do steamed cheese and the beloved O’Rourke’s Diner in Middletown burned down last summer. I wrote a column last year in the Denver Post about O’Rourke’s and the expatriate Yankees, Wesleyan grads and steamed cheese fans came out of the woodwork. It just reinforced the importance of food as touchstone, memory and connection to home.
Having left Oregon in 1984 and only making a few trips back there, nothing compares to Mo’s Clam Chowder in Newport, Oregon. Local legend has it that Paul Newman ate there the entire time he was filming “Sometimes a Great Notion” and that was filmed around 1972.
I think it is sometimes better to be thankful for the things that stay regionalized. I’m thinking of lutfisk in Minneapolis, MN and fried bologna sandwiches on white bread, in North Carolina. Having lived in NJ for 8 years, I still don’t really crave Taylor Ham but who knows?
Moving from the Northeast was quite a culture shock. I am enjoying the tranquility and slower pace, but I do miss some of the foods I was so accustomed to in NJ. Others have mentioned Taylor Ham, but even the produce is different. I just love broccoli rabe but it is nowhere to be found here. When I go up ‘North’ for a visit, we bring coolers with us to import all of the items we cannot find here. Another brand that you cannot purchase here is Drakes…No Devil Dogs, etc. Probably a good thing, but the folks down here don’t know what they are missing. And my biggest void is lack of bakeries…there are none! I also import crumb buns for my neighbors who just love them! A co-worker said I should open up a business that carries all of the foods that are not available here; not sure if I could make a living doing that, but I would make a lot of folks happy!
Regional specialty foods (Dr. Brown’s soda, Hebrew National meats) are certainly missed by those who love and remember them. One sustainable way to keep them distributed in “foreign” territory is to invest heavily in tastings and free sample distribution. To build a habit takes time, money, and persistence. Very few regional processed food brands have the margins or capital for missionary work. Unless the locals get converted, it’s unlikely that the brand can be sustained by transplants. One alternative: heavy investment in entertainment media (TV, movies) visibility. The most extreme example: Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurants, 20 locations all based on the movie Forrest Gump.
I have been fortunate to live in many places in my career…each location is known for a ‘favorite’ food…and in my travels, I often make a point of getting the local favorite. The Taylor Ham story is amusing, as I’ve lived in NJ and the thought of a Taylor Ham/Egg/Cheese on a roll (not bread) makes me smile. In Detroit, it was Middle Eastern Food-Chicken Schwarma to be exact. In Chicago, it is Chicago style Hot Dogs. In Maine, it is Clam Chowder. In Seattle, it is sushi…. Local owned convenience stores and deli’s cater to these local palettes. Chains in the convenience world often purchase items nationally and miss the local tastes of their customers. A little local market focus could improve their business. In terms of ‘exporting’ foods, I have given gifts from Maine and Detroit to capitalize on the flavors of the area. I think the lesson is truly listening to your customers…if you have a lot of requests for Taylor Ham, why not explore carrying it? You might start a new trend in another area!
There’s a German food place in Columbus, OH called Schmidt’s that goes around to different street fairs and festivals when they’re not serving their local customers. Every April, they come to the Main St. Arts Festival in Fort Worth with their brats and cream puffs (now **I’m** hungry!!!), and without fail, someone (if not more) comes up to me and asks where I got my food–I tell them to look for the green/white-striped awning. I can get Johnsonvilles here in stores in DFW, but mmmmmmm, that local flavor can’t be beat! Can’t wait for next month!
(No, I’m not from Columbus, but would love to visit Schmidt’s sometime….)
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I semi-retired to the Southeast from New Jersey and New York and Taylor Ham is one of the foods I can no longer find. The bigger problem however is in the authenticity of the foods that we miss. There is very little good Italian food here and virtually no New York style Pizza (despite the claims by the chains who don’t even use natural cheese on their pies!). Please don’t get me started on Chinese food–can’t find any of that style that is any good.
On the other hand, you can keep the traffic, the taxes and the snow!
Isn’t it wonderful to dream? So many of those memories are familiar to me–my NYC childhood was full of hot dogs and knishes, bagels and bialies, Chinese food that is different in NY to anywhere else I have ever been (except for one rooftop restaurant in San Francisco), clams on the half shell and so much more. But but but…these are all fantasies that are replete with circumstances. Whenever food from one region is replicated in another region, something gets lots in translation and those wonderful memories somehow start to disintegrate. It really is much better, I think, to try and go back to the mountain than bring the mountain to wherever you happen to have moved.
It’s a nice idea, but it rarely works. Like someone mentioned, try to find an authentic Chicago hot dog outside of Chicago. You can’t. Same for pizza. Ditto for croissants and baguettes. You won’t find a decent one outside of France. My experience is that unless an item is canned or otherwise packaged (like Nutella), it usually isn’t recreated exactly the same in a different location, leaving the consumer disappointed and still wanting. And as the author noted, with the Internet a consumer can get just anything from “home” nowadays.
Charming stories all–though I expect no less from our panelists! And my family can relate to the sense-of-loss that sourdough deprivation can cause, but the (sad) reality is that unless a region has a large number of emigrees from another region–think Florida Gold Coast/NYC-NJ–I don’t think there’s much opportunity here; sure, some local delicacy makes it to the big time every now and then (think Buffalo wings), but for the most part lovers of Primo beer, Flame Room coffee…or whatever, will wait for a reunion in vain.
First there’s my Lower East Side New York tastebuds:
Wise Potato Chips
Drakes Cakes
MyT Fine Pudding
“Sandbag” knishes
Bialys
Pickles out of a barrel
A Slice of Pizza with the right crust and the right amount of oil and wax paper
Sabretts hot dogs out of truck with red onions
“Piraguas” (shaved ice with syrup)
Egg Creams
…and so on
Oh yeah and Chinese Food from New York’s Chinatown. It’s a whole different experience.
Then there are my Latino influenced taste buds calling out for better Cuban, Puerto Rican and Dominican food then you can find in Los Angeles…plus Cafe Bustelo and other local bodega brands….
Now I’m hungry.
Yuengling beer–a true value, with taste on par with microbrews but at a Budweiser price–this beer is available up and down the East Coast, but not in Ohio. This despite the fact that it’s brewed in PA, an adjacent state.
First, let’s thank goodness there are still some regional dishes left in in this country! I could extend the list: Buffalo’s “Beef on Weck” sandwiches; chocolate “blackout” cake from Brooklyn; “Mexico City-style” dishes served in the better restaurants here in Tucson; Dungeoness crab cocktails on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf; Philly cheesesteaks; sour pickles from New York’s Lower East Side.
And I’ll add my voice to the choir that admires Carolina barbeque (which differs in so many ways from Texas-style brisket) and New England lobster rolls. Not to mention the ethnic specialties like Cuban sandwiches in Miami; Taiwanese hot pot in Flushing, N.Y.; Korean barbeque in Orange County, Cal.; The garlicky braised octopus served in Chicago’s Greektown. Makes me glad I travel in my work.
There’s an emotional connection behind all this that can’t (shouldn’t!) be captured by national brands. Here’s a little anecdote: A few years back I planned a meeting with an executive in Tulsa, Okla. His superb assistant was a transplanted New Yorker. I asked her what she missed most, and she told me. On the way to LaGuardia Airport, I had the cab stop at a Queens bakery that was just opening its doors at 6:00 AM and had them slice and double-wrap a large, still-warm rye (with seeds). When I presented it to the assistant a few hours later, she was thrilled. Needless to say, for years afterward, my calls to her boss always went through. Best $2.99 I ever spent.
I’ve got to get on Ben Ball’s bandwagon here. I left South Carolina 40 years ago, but will still drive 150 miles out of my way to eat at Brown’s barbeque in Kingstree, SC. It would seem barbeque in the rest of the world is some kind of meat with a thick mustard or ketchup sauce ladled on it. This might work in Texas, Florida and even up country South and North Carolina, but the real stuff is only to be found in low country South Carolina.
Carolina style BBQ!!! A pig in a pit overnight (carefully watched by accomplices who sip their favorite libation–some of which is usually contained in the sauce!) followed by the preparation in the morning. All in anticipation of a crowd of friends/relatives/former feuding buddies who will crowd around tables loaded with “pulled pork,” vinegar/mustard BBQ sauce, BBQ slaw, potato salad and fresh rolls. But not to be found in Chicago I’m afraid….
Whenever I walk through a Wegmans store, I’m always impressed with the international section with foods (and some non-food items) divvied up by country. Having lived in the UK during part of my first career as a journalist, it certainly brings back good memories (They might have been even better if I had been based in France. Never could stomach that blood pudding). I could certainly see a successful offering of regional US products along side the international section. There are already plenty of regional hot sauces, for instance. Sourcing shouldn’t be a problem–the Fancy Foods Show and even the FMI Show typically have a decent selection of vendors offering regional delicacies. This is just a great way to create a point of differentiation in the store and to attract new customers, but it has to be promoted, even showcased to be impactful.
George makes a great observation here. We all have those products that we pine away for. Mine are the hot carrots that you get in most of the authentic Mexican restaurants in California. When I lived there, it was the southern grits I grew up on.
Wouldn’t most of us drive across town if we got wind of one of our dearly missed products hitting a local shelf? And if the product is “that good,” isn’t it an opportunity to create that same addiction in the local market via taste tests and store promotions?
Case in point, Atlanta finally got a Trader Joe’s and I’ve already made (5) 45-minute trips there to get my fill of some of their wonderful private label items that I grew addicted to while on the West Coast. I can’t tell you how many others are making the trek to try out the Two-Buck Chuck that everyone is chatting about.
Sometimes it’s the little things that make us happy…why not tap into it?
I think that the new fresh, fun food formats are recognizing this trend. Isaly’s chipped ham is a big favorite in Western Pennsylvania and Western Ohio. Dietz and Watson deli meats were so highly regarded by customers at Super Fresh stores that management immediately returned them to the deli cases.
We all yearn for comfort food, be it Faygo RedPop or North Pole ice cream. And retailers are catching on. It just makes good business sense.
I agree with Jen upthread–the more places you live, the more foods you have to be homesick for. San Francisco extra sourdough bread, New Mexico stacked enchiladas with a fried egg on top and sopapillas on the side, Dungeness crab for Christmas in Seattle…and so many New England foods of my childhood, including New Haven pizza, real clam chowder, Fenway Franks and good fresh cannolis filled while you wait, not the ones that have been sitting around getting soggy in the display case. Lobster rolls on split-top buns. Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and crullers. Man, I’m hungry now.
HOWEVER, the person who successfully brings steamed cheeseburgers out of my native central Connecticut will win my undying gratitude. There are only a handful of places left that do steamed cheese and the beloved O’Rourke’s Diner in Middletown burned down last summer. I wrote a column last year in the Denver Post about O’Rourke’s and the expatriate Yankees, Wesleyan grads and steamed cheese fans came out of the woodwork. It just reinforced the importance of food as touchstone, memory and connection to home.
Having left Oregon in 1984 and only making a few trips back there, nothing compares to Mo’s Clam Chowder in Newport, Oregon. Local legend has it that Paul Newman ate there the entire time he was filming “Sometimes a Great Notion” and that was filmed around 1972.
I think it is sometimes better to be thankful for the things that stay regionalized. I’m thinking of lutfisk in Minneapolis, MN and fried bologna sandwiches on white bread, in North Carolina. Having lived in NJ for 8 years, I still don’t really crave Taylor Ham but who knows?
Moving from the Northeast was quite a culture shock. I am enjoying the tranquility and slower pace, but I do miss some of the foods I was so accustomed to in NJ. Others have mentioned Taylor Ham, but even the produce is different. I just love broccoli rabe but it is nowhere to be found here. When I go up ‘North’ for a visit, we bring coolers with us to import all of the items we cannot find here. Another brand that you cannot purchase here is Drakes…No Devil Dogs, etc. Probably a good thing, but the folks down here don’t know what they are missing. And my biggest void is lack of bakeries…there are none! I also import crumb buns for my neighbors who just love them! A co-worker said I should open up a business that carries all of the foods that are not available here; not sure if I could make a living doing that, but I would make a lot of folks happy!
Regional specialty foods (Dr. Brown’s soda, Hebrew National meats) are certainly missed by those who love and remember them. One sustainable way to keep them distributed in “foreign” territory is to invest heavily in tastings and free sample distribution. To build a habit takes time, money, and persistence. Very few regional processed food brands have the margins or capital for missionary work. Unless the locals get converted, it’s unlikely that the brand can be sustained by transplants. One alternative: heavy investment in entertainment media (TV, movies) visibility. The most extreme example: Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurants, 20 locations all based on the movie Forrest Gump.
I have been fortunate to live in many places in my career…each location is known for a ‘favorite’ food…and in my travels, I often make a point of getting the local favorite. The Taylor Ham story is amusing, as I’ve lived in NJ and the thought of a Taylor Ham/Egg/Cheese on a roll (not bread) makes me smile. In Detroit, it was Middle Eastern Food-Chicken Schwarma to be exact. In Chicago, it is Chicago style Hot Dogs. In Maine, it is Clam Chowder. In Seattle, it is sushi…. Local owned convenience stores and deli’s cater to these local palettes. Chains in the convenience world often purchase items nationally and miss the local tastes of their customers. A little local market focus could improve their business. In terms of ‘exporting’ foods, I have given gifts from Maine and Detroit to capitalize on the flavors of the area. I think the lesson is truly listening to your customers…if you have a lot of requests for Taylor Ham, why not explore carrying it? You might start a new trend in another area!
There’s a German food place in Columbus, OH called Schmidt’s that goes around to different street fairs and festivals when they’re not serving their local customers. Every April, they come to the Main St. Arts Festival in Fort Worth with their brats and cream puffs (now **I’m** hungry!!!), and without fail, someone (if not more) comes up to me and asks where I got my food–I tell them to look for the green/white-striped awning. I can get Johnsonvilles here in stores in DFW, but mmmmmmm, that local flavor can’t be beat! Can’t wait for next month!
(No, I’m not from Columbus, but would love to visit Schmidt’s sometime….)