Specialty food makers are putting a tasty spin on Election Day, offering partisan pastas, hot sauce and cupcakes, as well as donkeys and elephants made from chocolate ganache.
Some are staging their own contests, while others are using sales of election-themed treats to predict who will end up in the White House, according to the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade Inc. (NASFT).
Election Day offerings from NASFT members include Dave’s Gourmet’s Barack Obama and Mitt Romney Hot Sauces; The Pasta Shoppe’s Democrat and Republican Pasta; Main Street Cupcakes’ Election Themed Cupcakes; Byrd Cookie Company’s Democrat Snacks and GOP Cookies; Moonstruck Chocolate’s Election Collection; Queen City Cookies’ Barack Obama Shortbread for Luncheon for Women Small Business Owners in Cincinnati with Mitt Romney cookies in the works.
Early sales results are showing a very tight race, retailers report. “So far, we’ve been in a dead heat for which candidate is leading according to our Election Day sales,” said Sarah Forrer, co-owner of Main Street Cupcakes in Hudson, Ohio. The company is selling election-themed treats in its stores and online.
Sales are brisk for Byrd Cookie Company, whose election-themed cookies have already sold out online. Most orders have been for bipartisan cases, said Geoff Repella, Byrd Cookie Co. president. “We’re looking at a very close race,” he said.
Dave’s Gourmet is tracking results for its Barack Obama and Mitt Romney Hot Sauces with sales of Gov. Romney’s sauce inching a bit head of President Obama as of Oct. 23.
