What Does Artisanal Really Mean?

What does artisanal really mean?

- Sim Ee Waun

‘Artisanal’ has become easily the most overused, or shall I say, abused word in the food world. There are artisanal varieties of almost every kind of food these days, from chips to breakfast cereal to bottled drinks. But when you hear of artisanal chips and granola bars, it just says that things have gotten quite out of hand.

The real meaning and spirit of artisanal creation seems to have gotten lost in the sea of marketing and rampant public relations. It seems like every producer who fancies pitching their product at the upper end of the market just has to come up with something of decent quality and slap on the magic word to demand an equally artisanal price tag. Perhaps it’s time to step back, pull out our trusty dictionary and remind ourselves what artisanal really means.

The Oxford Dictionary defines an artisan as “a worker in a skilled trade, especially one that involves