The times when supermarkets only offered run-of-the-mill groceries are long over. These days, supply is increasingly complemented with a wide range of specialty goods. Swiss retailer Coop for instance, supplements stocks with novelty items from across the globe.
Apart from a recent addition of 35 delicacies from Turkey, Coop (in about a 100 stores in Switzerland) offers customers a choice of over a hundred specialty products from several south-eastern European countries. Quality items from Greece, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary and Albania are in high demand.
Five years ago Coop also started retailing its first Slow Food products. Slow Food, an international movement founded by Carlo Petrini in the late eighties, bills itself as an alternative to fast food. It endeavours to preserve traditional cuisine and encourages farming of plants, seeds and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem. Slow Food products are exclusive to Coop.
German supermarket chain Rewe updated its assortment with products for people who suffer from Coeliac disease, among other things. An increasing amount of people suffer from celiac sprue, also known as gluten intolerance, a fact not lost on retailers seeking to expand their clientele. In April of this year, Rewe introduced the ‘Rewe frei von-‘ (‘Rewe free of-‘) brand. Products under this brand are free of gluten and lactose. They are available in most of Rewe’s 3,300 stores.