Archive for November, 2009

Innovation is making its way into the old-world of European artisan food production. Today gourmetKAZOO officially launches, giving traditional food producers across Europe a new way to share their stories and sell their products directly to international customers. By connecting traditional food-makers to the online world, gourmetKAZOO gives customers a way to order the freshest & most authentic European gourmet products available anywhere in the world.

On the surface, www.gourmetKAZOO.com is set up as an online marketplace, allowing customers to purchase products such as truffles, olive oils, cheeses & salamis from traditional producers located across Italy, France, Spain, the UK & Ireland. Behind the scenes, a complex order management, accounting & shipping system automates international paperwork for the producers who are left to simply package their products which are collected and sent directly to the customer’s door thanks to the gourmetKAZOO partnership with UPS.

Different from other websites, gourmetKAZOO focuses on the social element of food; giving producers & customers an interesting way to interact; similar to what has happened in village marketplaces for generations. Today more than ever, consumers want to know the history behind the foods they eat. At the same time, European producers are proud of their traditions and enjoy sharing their stories. To facilitate this personal interaction on a global scale, gourmetKAZOO gives producers a simple way to tell their stories online with text, pictures and video while encouraging interactive dialogue with customers through blogging and commenting sections.

Customers interested in French cheese will be able to purchase AOP Cantal, Salers & Bleu directly from the farm GRANGE DE LA HAUTE VALLEE, where the milk of 40 cows takes on the natural flavors of the wild flowers growing in the fields of the Auvergne region.

Or, customers looking for this season’s olive oil will be able to meet a French producer, a Spanish producer, and an Italian producer all currently involved with the olive harvest. In a matter of weeks, their new vintage will be pressed, bottled, and ready for purchase; sure to be the freshest olive oil found anywhere in the world!

With 30 producers participating in the initial launch, the specialty food world can discover an exciting range of products, from tea to truffles. In the coming months, gourmetKAZOO plans to add hundreds of high quality producers to the expanding social marketplace. There are thousands of specialty food products made by traditional producers all across Europe; gourmetKAZOO’s goal is to help consumers find them all.