ABSTRACT

Despite the continuous increase in the production of specialty food products, very few documents and literature are available in respect to the guidelines in product development, procedures, and programs for ensuring product quality and food safety, product labeling and testing, etc. Based on a recent survey of 462 U.S. northwest regional specialty food processors,1 about 60% of specialty food processors have less than $500,000 annual sales, and about 71% of them hire less than 50 employees; i.e., the majority of the specialty food processors fall in the small business category. Hence, many of them have limited resources and are seeking information and materials that can help them to be more competitive in the business. In addition, there is a trend of more small entrepreneurs getting into the specialty food business.