Uncommon Foods That Sell - And Pay

For 40 years, Israel Yunger has been traveling the world in search of great food and unique flavors.

He's visited dairies on several continents, walked factory floors, and met farmers, chefs, craftsmen and producers. He's tasted his way through more markets, kitchens and trade shows than he can count.

Everywhere he goes, he asks the same question: "Why isn't everyone in America eating this?" How can we bring this delicious product to American kitchens?

Here at home, most of us grew up on supermarket staples… Flavorless American cheese. Generic butter, or worse yet, margarine! Shrimp that tastes like… well, not much of anything. Those foods were fine, and familiar, but they're a lousy representation of what great food can be.

Throughout the world, there's an endless variety of creatively crafted, artisan foods…

Butter from Argentina's dairy heartland. Sweet, wild red shrimp from the frigid South Atlantic. Dark Amarena cherries from the hills of Vignola. Balsamic vinegar from a three-Michelin-star chef.

Items like those can transform an ordinary menu into destination dining. That’s the soul of our operation at Ambassador… Our mission is to spread those good flavors, far and wide and there's no better place to do that than in restaurants and large-scale food service operations.

When a diner discovers an extraordinary ingredient in a dish they love, they don't just remember it, they take pictures of their plates. They post stories, tell their friends and return to order it again and again.

Commodity ingredients fill a recipe. Specialty ingredients fill seats.

Too many food service operators still buy their core ingredients the same way they buy napkins… by the case, at the lowest price possible. That's a missed opportunity.

Because great, imported ingredients do three jobs at once…

First, they deliver flavors you can't fake. Generations of tradition, regional craftsmanship and patient processing techniques produce a depth of flavor that no generic substitute can match.

Second, they give your menu a story. "Shrimp scampi" is a dish. "Wild Argentine red shrimp scampi" is a reason to order. Servers can talk about it. Guests remember it.

And third, imported products from Ambassador perform well, time after time. They cook evenly, portion reliably and perform the same way from one shipment to the next. For a busy kitchen, that consistency matters just as much as the flavor.

Tonadita butter is a good example… Ask an Argentine about butter, and chances are they'll mention Tonadita.

It's made in the heart of Córdoba's dairy country, and it's been a fixture on Argentine tables for generations: spread on warm bread at breakfast, melted into family recipes, and served with afternoon merienda, which is Argentina’s version of afternoon tea.

In Latin markets across the U.S., Tonadita is one of those products customers ask for by name, because it's the butter they grew up with.

The secret is richness. Tonadita's salted butter is 82% butterfat. That extra fat means more flavor, flakier pastries, silkier sauces and a creamier spread on the bread plate.

When Ambassador Foods brought Tonadita to the cruise lines in Miami, it was a huge win. Here's why it works at sea: Cruise ships serve thousands of guests from dozens of countries, every single day. Every dining room table, buffet line, café counter and room service tray needs butter.

Tonadita's 10-gram portion packs deliver premium butter in a format that's fast to serve and easy to store. That's the kind of detail guests notice, even if they can't put their finger on why the bread basket tastes so good.

Argentina’s also known for some really good seafood. Chatka's red shrimp are wild-caught in the cold waters of the South Atlantic. They're a gorgeous coral red even before they hit the heat, and their flavor is famously sweet and rich, often compared to lobster. Cold water means slow growth, firm texture and clean, briny sweetness that farmed shrimp just can't match.

The real beauty for food service is the range of that shrimp… Big 9/13 head-on shrimp make a showstopping grilled entrée or a seafood tower centerpiece. Peeled and deveined 16/20s and 21/25s are made for scampi, cocktails and skewers. And broken pieces deliver the same sweet flavor at a smart price for pastas, curries, tacos and shrimp salads. That's one product line covering everything from fine dining to the lunch buffet.

Here's where specialty foods make business sense…

A named, imported ingredient signals quality, and diners are willing to pay for quality they can taste.

If a premium ingredient adds a few cents to the cost of a dish, but lets you name it on the menu, feature it on social media and charge a couple of dollars more, the math works in your favor every time that dish is ordered.

A Toschi cherry in a cocktail. Wild Argentine shrimp in a pasta. A pat of Argentine butter on the bread plate.

The performance side adds up too. Consistent sizing means reliable portions. Portion packs mean less waste on the buffet. And many imported products have a long shelf life, which means less spoilage in the walk-in and the dry store.

Hundreds of choices. One Channel Ambassador.

Ambassador Foods works with hundreds of imported specialty products, from seafood and cured meats to canned goods, dry goods and baking ingredients, sourced from some of the world's finest producers.

That's a lot of choice. So we do the homework. We taste. We cook. We test. We bring samples into your kitchen and talk through the dish you're trying to build. And if you need something we don't carry yet, we'll find it.

A Channel Ambassador helps you find the ingredient that turns a good dish into a signature one.

Ready to put something on your menu that people remember? Get in touch with Ambassador Foods and let a Channel Ambassador help you find the perfect fit for your food service operation, whatever that may be.