Suggestions for things to sell in a deli?

[Singasongaday]

What would you like to find for sale in a deli? Looking for ideas and suggestions please.

Bagels. Vegetarian fillings.

Honestly? Not stuff that I could access myself easily. I like jams and curdS, interesting snacks, nice hummus, maybe fancy bread (though that's a risk if you don't sell it). I always think deli plus cafe is safer option. People come for coffee and maybe take away a jar of pasta sauce etc.
I'm up north though and in a very non "chichi " place

Yes! Ideal

Deep filled flans by the slice
Greek salad
Olives
Olive oil
Range of breads and cakes

Good luck with your new venture - just a little word in your shell like.........

my pet hate is delis with a range of open baskets filled with food on top of the counter. I would never buy anything that has been breathed / sneezed over by Joe Public.

This is what I buy from our local deli
Posh sausage rolls
Pies, cold and hot
Good olives
Cheese
Samosas
Coffee
Tea
Macarons

Cheese
Fancy chutneys
Homemade bread
Brownies and traybakes or cookies
Bottles of nice non alcoholic drinks

Salamis and cured meats. Smoked duck is amazing!

Quiche. Can't resist it.

Only YOU have access to your local market demographic and your local commercial competition.

Those are the only sane bases to decide what you sell.

Totally agree.

Cheeses,
deli meat like salami, pastrami etc
Different salts
Olives
There's a fantastic one in sandwich that sells lovely pottery too.

Omg this is for me! I LOVE Delis! My ideal…

• Sun dried and part sun dried tomatoes
• olives
• anchovies
• artichokes
• stuffed vine leaves
• stuffed peppers
• meats - Spanish/ Italian
• cheeses
• Pates
• pork pies/ sausage rolls
• some salad stuff like coleslaw, orzo, feta Greek salad, coronation
• unusual and high quality crisps (pipers, slabs, mini batons)
• Crackers
• breadsticks

So hungry now!!! Will come back if I think of anything else haha

Gosh you are so so right on the open containers - yuck I hate that!

Interesting salads/sandwich fillings
Specialist cured meats and cheeses
Fresh bread and pastries
Condiments and nibbles (like olives, flavoured oils etc)

Pick a style of food or use locally sourced produce

Depending on what you are going for, but to open your market up a bit, are you going to sell some of the items as a lunch? So you can take away a piece of quiche plus a nice salad in a box?

Celeriac remoulade, its very difficult to find already made up and personally Im not strong enough to cut one up to make it myself

If you are making coleslaw then reduce the amount of mayo in it, dont make things too wet

Make sure things are locally sourced where possible

When making quiche and flans, make sure they are deep, not mean little thin slices.

Salt cod mousse or pate.

All the dips! Behind a counter that someone serves you from

we went to Greece last year and they had just this, with an enormous vat of freshly made tzatziki that we got daily was DIVINE

they also had a massive block of feta they cut chunks off

and homemade stuff for BBQ eg kebabs on skewers, burgers etc

I’m a sucker for sun blush tomatoes, cooked mushrooms in olive oil, hummus, taramasalata

plus all the freshly made salads eg tabbouleh etc (think Whole Foods type thing)

plus sourdough, cheeses, small taster pots of different pickles, freshly pickled red onion

freshly made flatbreads

GOD I’d love an indie deli near me!

Amazing suggestions, thank you. We sell a small selection of meats, cheese, olives and bread but I would really like to drive the business forwards and make it a fantastic shopping experience for our customers.

Do you offer preordered party platters or office lunches?

Pomegranate molasses.
Nice oils and vinegars.
Herbs and spices to which I can add oil or cheese or mayo to make interesting dips.

Sell actively. I grew up with pomegranate molasses, I know that if you drizzle it over fried haloumi, for example, it’s the foods of the gods. But not many people do. So fry some, and serve it to customers, they’ll buy both the molasses and the haloumi.
Another firm favourite is pistachio and feta dip. Make a bowl and serve it as sample, then sell them the feta and the pistachios. And would they like some Melba toast with that?

Sell grapes. Saves me going to the supermarket after your deli.
Make me a sandwich, with whatever I want and encourage me to try your fantastic sun dried tomatoes. Sprinkle some zataar. Talk to me. Sell it to me for 2-3 quid and then I’ll come back again. And I’ll ask you what did you put in it, I want to replicate it at home, makes for a far more interesting lunch at work. And then your merchandise will sell.
Flatbread, Iranian flatbread is easy to make. Make a few, sell them as open sandwiches, I don’t want too much bread. Then tell me how easy they are to make at home, so I want to try? You use this flour, and these herbs etc.

HTH

Cakes/flapjacks/ that type of thing - that's it really. Don't buy anything else from delis

Decent coffee
Wanky sauces
Olives etc

Top end charcuterie, ciabatta, pasteurised and unpasteurised cheeses In particular Baron Bigod, it is an English style camembert.

DH says figs in syrup and also have them in a jar.

Agree with halloumi, and also have lime and caper vinaigrette to go with it, provide some fresh coriander for chopping at home.

God I could be here all day.

Oooh biltong.... Every time we go to our local farm shop and deli we buy Ds some fresh biltong a fiver we weren't planning on spending, IYKWIM