Dean and DeLuca, arguably the United States’ finest retailer of gourmet and specialty foods, began in 1973 as a small corner grocer in New York’s Soho district. Giorgio DeLuca gave up his job as a history teacher and pursued a childhood ambition to open a specialty food store with high quality, lovingly produced fare.

He was joined in 1977 by Joel Dean, a former publishing executive with Simon and Schuster, and Dean and DeLuca was born. Another founding partner, artist Jack Ceglic, joined the team and designed the company’s distinctive ‘turn of the 20th century’ shop interiors, with high ceiling fans spinning over a large range of products against white walls; exposed columns, marble floors and stainless steel shelving and display cases.

Messers Dean and DeLuca travelled the globe bringing back to the US only the finest quality goods from around the world and the store quickly became a culinary institution. It was the first store in the US to retail balsamic vinegar, sundried tomatoes and dried mushrooms. Dean and DeLuca now boasts 14 retail stores and cafés throughout the US, in New York, California, Kansas, North Carolina and the District of Columbia. In addition, the company has recently opened an outlet in Japan.

Dean and DeLuca is a one-of-a-kind store in the US. It has no real competitors and its clientele is chefs, well-travelled professionals and educated people who are looking for high quality produce. The company avoids production-line manufactured goods and focuses on high-end ingredients

Leah Rosenthal is a corporate buyer with Dean and DeLuca. She handles 3,500 non-perishable food products, including standard grocery items such as olive oils, vinegars, jams, coffees, nuts and dried fruits. Ms Rosenthal travels the world seeking only the finest quality products and she was recently in Australia at Melbourne’s Fine Food exhibition, her first visit downunder.

“The first and foremost thing I look for is quality and taste,” says Ms Rosenthal. “Really clean ingredients and an outstanding product. We generally look at smaller production companies, more or less artisan-produced. Behind that we look at how a product is presented and packaged, but we’re not a gift store. The product should speak for itself.”

Many gourmet companies put outstanding effort into packaging. But it’s clear that for a store like Dean and DeLuca it’s not the main game. Ms Rosenthal says packaging should demonstrate clearly the product inside, be clean but not draw attention away from the product. At a trade show, Ms Rosenthal is attracted by the opportunity to visit a supplier first-hand and learn about the product, more than by flashy or intricate packaging.

Ms Rosenthal says that unlike a store such as Wholefoods, that has stringent product ingredient and other requirements, Dean and DeLuca follows a less rigid pattern when it comes to product acceptance.

“Anyone who wants to present a product and introduce it to Dean and DeLuca would present it to myself and essentially if we like a product we negotiate and look at the logistics of getting it into stores and then we work with the stores about where to position it on the shelves and how to sell it.”

Ms Rosenthal added that it's important for Dean and DeLuca customers to feel "in touch" with the producers and the products they manufacture.

“I resist buying anything that I myself would not eat (this not being a matter of personal taste, but about what we put in our bodies). It's about enjoyment, simplicity, selection (cherry-picking), exclusivity, and variety. To quote a line from Dean and DeLuca we reject ‘the sterile, pre-wrapped environment that has characterised the sale of food in America’.”

Dean and DeLuca stocks a significant amount of US products, sourcing them often from regions close to the stores. France, Italy and Spain are also big contributors to the Dean and DeLuca range – and the company even takes salts from Bali. Australia and New Zealand produce also find its way onto the Dean and DeLuca shelves.

“We carry Bird in Hand extra virgin olive oil and olives, Maggie Beer verjus, curry paste from Charmaine Solomon/Spice Pantry Ltd, Forage organic fruit glazes, Dandaragan Estate Chef’s Blend extra virgin olive oil and Fruit Wise fruit rolls. Primarily we take oils, extra virgin olive oils, anything where the terroir of the product speaks. You know, honey from Australia: the fauna here would produce something different than anywhere else, and the same with oil.”

Ms Rosenthal said that in regard to the Fine Food exhibition she had made contact in the past with most of the suppliers present with whom she wanted to do business. She said that made her feel confident she was on the right track when it came to sourcing Australian products.

“Anything that I would like to procure from Australia would be unique and indigenous to Australia,” she says. “So it doesn’t make sense for me to buy raspberry jam from Australia when I can get it somewhere else. The things I would be looking for would be things that are extremely unique to this part of the world.”

Specifically, Ms Rosenthal says she’s hoping to in future carry figs, honey, muesli and macadamia nuts and oils from Australia.

DEAN AND DELUCA DESIRES

• indigenous products
• taste before packaging
• direct supplier contact