Tips for Deli Owners Stocking Wholesale Confectionery

The business of selling wholesale confectionery stocks is dependent on a host of factors and various market trends. Depending on your retail outlet, there are different methods of displaying, marketing and selling sweets.

One often-overlooked niche in the market is the business of selling fine confectionery in delis. For deli owners considering ordering wholesale confectionery products, the following points may serve their unique business model.

Quality Above All Else

You don’t treat artisanal cheeses, handcrafted by masters and fermented to perfection in painstakingly controlled environments, the same way you treat a piece of mass-produced cheese. You ensure that consumers are encouraged enough by the quality of the product to pay a significant amount more to experience the flavour.

The same is true if you plan to start ordering wholesale confectionery to sell in your deli: you need to raise the customer’s expectations and then meet them. For example, if you're going to stock the best quality cooking chocolate, you'll need to emphasise its quality through the smooth texture and rich aroma it imparts to baked goods that cheap versions sacrifice to keep costs down. The trick is to get your customers ‘hooked’ on the superior quality of the premium products you sell – so they're prepared to pay the extra.

Encourage Experimentation

Many people who shop at delis are willing to try something different to what they will get in their local grocers. Offer something unusual, like a savoury kind of chocolate – delightful balls of chocolate-coated biscuit balls filled with Roquefort cheese or bacon and tomato. Now that’s not something you see in your average grocer, which can pique your customers' interest enough to make them willing to pay a higher price.

Sophisticated Aesthetics

The visual appeal of the wholesale confectionery you purchase from top quality suppliers is a major element that you shouldn't ignore. Gourmet products are top-of-the-line, and producers often spare no expense in the packaging. That doesn’t mean they are loud or pretentious - many high-quality goods are supplied in very elegant packaging. Work with the aesthetic of these products and give them enough space to stand out. Chocolates flavoured with lavender? Add a few stalks of real lavender to set them off. Chocolates with Earl Grey tea? Put a bag or two of Earl Grey to lure consumers in through smell. It is these touches that help highlight the sophisticated aesthetic of these products.

Fine Confections are a Journey

Delis are not your average grocery or corner store where customers rush in, look for offers and rush out. Many consumers enter a deli expecting a journey of culinary delight. They want an experience, not just a bland and impersonal transaction. Give them that experience through displays and a willingness to share the unique history and properties of the products on display. Offer samples, add displays that are in line with the country or culture most associated with the treat, and give consumers an experience that they’ll want to replicate at home.

Angelina Moufftard works for HF Chocolates, suppliers of high quality wholesale confectionery to the retail trade and others who wish to purchase wholesale quantities of chocolate and confectionery. Renowned since 1957, we've sourced the best suppliers from France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Belgium, the USA and UK. Our great tasting and beautifully packaged products also represent excellent value for money.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.