When it comes to food it is safe to say that supermarkets are always your second best option. The food is cheap for a reason – ingredients are cheap, storage methods are cheap and production is cheap. Although many of us are happy to purchase these kinds of foods for day to day items, it can be a fantastic treat for yourself and your family to visit a specialist food shop from time to time. Specialist food shops tend to exist in two forms; by region and by food.

By a regional specialist food shops we mean shops that stock foods enjoyed especially within a country. Examples include those that stock; Italian, Spanish, Polish, African and so on. Italian shops for example will stock a wonderful range of pizzas, pastas and coffees – where as a specialist French shop will have items such as cheeses, breads, olives and smoked meats. When you walk into these shops, you instantly see the food on the shelves have been specially selected for their quality and taste. The owners tend to be of the same region as the shop and as such can suggest to you what kind of foods you may like or even if you have a dish in mind – which ingredients would work well. For immigrants living in this country it is a fantastic way for them to experience their favourite foods away from home.

When it comes to specialist food shops that specialist is a certain ‘food’ we can experience the very best quality and varieties of our favourites. Popular specialists include; green grocers, cheese shops, butchers, wine stores, even sweet shops! These kinds of shops tend to stock a huge range of flavours and types and of one particular food. Butchers for example will stock chicken, beef, pork, turkey and much more – they beat supermarkets because of the pure variety in terms of the cuts, sizes, flavours and ability to ask for what you want.

Obviously visiting a specialist food shop can be a bit more expensive, but again we would say to you; ‘think about why’. If something is costing you next to nothing to buy – it means it cost next to nothing to make. Not just in food, but in general – when something costs next to nothing to make how good can the end product’s quality be? You will find that prices offered by independent shops are fair and once you taste the difference you will be glad you paid that little bit extra.

Below are some of our regular advertisers who have all benefited from the Yorkshire Gazette marketing their business and their products to the numerous food lovers who pick up our publication.