Too Much Gourmet? We Need a New Word for Quality

One of many 'gourmet' shops in the Atlanta airport.

It has been quite awhile since my last post. And for that I apologize.

My employer occasionally sends me on business trips. I get to travel to parts of the country that I have never visited before ... but I also find myself so swamped that I don't have enough time to blog. Tradeoffs are so much fun!

During one of my trips I was walking (more like sprinting) through the airport in Atlanta. As I was passing by the numerous stands and cafe offerings, I noticed something.

Food vendors sure seem to rely heavily on the word gourmet. Gourmet coffee. Gourmet salads.

Gourmet sandwiches. Gourmet everything. I could not believe it. You would think that, eventually, some enterprising restaurateur would go to Thesaurus.com and rustle up a synonym for that word. I don't know why this got on my nerves so much, and then it hit me.

Yes, it is important to position your offerings as high-quality fare. But when you use the same verbiage as your competition, you run the risk of having your message get lost in the clatter. That's how I felt. I never really noticed what type of salad was for sale, or the name of the vendor selling coffee. All I saw was gourmet, gourmet, gourmet, until it was all one big foodie blur.

Vendors in the Atlanta airport ... be daring and differentiate. If so, I might by a sandwich from you the next time I speed through between flights.