An artisanal blog entry
Ar-ti-san:
1. noun: A worker who practices a trade or handicraft. One that produces something (as cheese or wine) in limited quantities often using traditional methods
2. adjective: pertaining to or noting high-quality, distinctive products made in small quantities. Example: artisan beer.
Notice that this definition of the word “artisan” does not include any references to mass-produced chips or chain restaurant pizza. However, bags of mass-produced chips and chain restaurant pizza are being marketed as “artisan,” as are many other products.
USA Today noted this word’s rise in popularity in a recent article, which was picked up by the news/gossip blog Gawker. A word of warning: If foul language offends you, you may want to read the USA Today story and skip the Gawker story. However, if foul language amuses you, you’ll probably enjoy Gawker’s take on this.
As the USA Today story points out, everyone from Domino’s to Tostitos to Starbucks is jumping on the artisenal bandwagon. Is it accurate for them to use that word to describe the products? Is it fair?
This calls to mind another food marketing buzz word: organic. However, unlike artisan, special rules must be followed in order to earn the right to use the word organic. We could debate whether it means much to jump through those hoops, but what interests me more is how the word artisan could be regulated. Do they send inspectors into a plant to see whether an old Mexican grandmother is making the chips or someone’s nonna is tossing the pizza dough?
Perhaps it makes more sense for consumers to be savvy enough to understand that many of the words in food commercials and on food packaging should be taken with a grain of salt. Perhaps one could argue that since Domino’s makes its pizzas one at a time and if Tostitos makes its artisan chips in small batches, they can use that word.
I don’t know. It all makes me think of the series “Mad Men,” where a bunch of clever marketing folks sit in a room and brainstorm ways to get the average Joe to buy the product. Some of those scenes are rather disturbing.
Any thoughts?
October 26, 2011 - 6:09 AM
RSS feed 
It’s funny how everyone has “trigger” words that override their innate common sense. Words like “fresh,” “natural,” “organic” (and yes, “artisanal”) immediately trigger my BS response. But the word “creamery” gets me every time. I could see two brands of butter on the store shelf that I know came from the same gigantic dairy processing entity, and if one of them had the word “creamery” on it, I’d buy that one even if it meant paying a bit more. I still lament the disappearance of Quinlan’s pretzels (made with creamery butter!) even though, truth be told, they didn’t really taste any better than any other brand.
It has to do, I think, with the psychology of food. Often, things taste like what we expect them to taste like, and are as good as we expect them to be. And it’s not always the food itself that makes the difference. Buy a taco from one of the ubiquitous taco trucks in Los Angeles, and it will be the best taco you’ve ever had. Buy the same taco from the same truck, except park the truck on Salem Avenue, and it’s probably not going to be as good.
By the same token, take a mediocre, overcooked ribeye from a piece of fine China in a white tablecloth restaurant and put it on a Chinet plate at a cookout and it goes from being a complete disappointment to “Hey! Steak!”
Ultimately, if these acts of rational self-deception enhance your enjoyment of something, then so be it. In the end, the marketing folks aren’t really pulling the wool over our eyes. They’re just giving us the wool and letting us do it ourselves if we so choose.
I think consumers just have to be aware that they are trying to sell a product and will use whatever “buzzword” gets people to buy things. I’ve taken a lot of marketing classes, and that’s just the way it is.
It’s no different from the way they write menus – and I enjoy reading those. I think it makes the food taste better when they describe it in a delicious way. Who wouldn’t rather have a “balsamic-glazed salad topped with grilled chicken, fresh tangerines, toasted almonds, organic iceberg lettuce and sprinkled with artisan parmesan cheese” than a “salad with grilled chicken”?
(By the way, I just made myself hungry imagining that delicious salad)
When the large companies hi-jack words like ‘artisan’, it cheapens the true artisan’s products in the minds of many consumers. I am a chocolatier (Baylee’s Best in Roanoke), an artisan. The kitchen is in my shop; people can watch us handcraft confections. They are amazed that we do.
I am not alone: Chocolate Spike in Blacksburg, Stacy’s Sweet Spot in Moneta and even Nancy’s in Max Meadows, larger but still producing some products by hand. There is a difference.
I’m not offended by the theft of the word ‘artisan’ because common sense tells one to look at the source. It’s Domino’s for goodness’ sake! Any and everyone should know what to expect, regardless of nomenclature. The same can be said for all of their competition – Pizza Hut, Pizza Inn, Papa John’s, and all the others. Expecting an actual artisanal offering from one of these national chains is like expecting the Marie Callander’s frozen entree in the grocery store to actually be ‘gourmet’.