Britain heads down the deli

Britons have a growing appetite for speciality foods such as wild smoked salmon, sun-dried tomatoes and flavoured risotto rices, a new report shows today.

A record number of shoppers say they find massproduced meals bland and are instead demanding taste, variety, freshness and authenticity.

With foreign travel now a regular part of the average lifestyle, there is keen interest in experimenting with more exotic foods.

The report from independent market analyst Datamonitor shows that the market in speciality foods - including cheeses, Italian breads and oils, organic biscuits, flavoured vinegars and sugar-free chutneys and fruit spreads - is flourishing all across Europe.

The boom has been led so far by affluent city-dwellers shopping at speciality or delicatessen stores, but is becoming more mainstream as the supermarket giants bring more varied, regional foods to a wider audience.

The European market for such products added up to more than £22 billion last year but is expected to top £27billion by 2006.

Datamonitor consumer markets analyst Dominik Nosalik said: "Many people have become concerned that the quality and taste of what they are eating and drinking is being compromised by manufacturers' focus on mass production."