Forget Confit. How About a Duck Dog?

Over the past 30 years, Ariane Daguin has built her company, D’Artagnan, into a thriving business selling foie gras, wagyu beef, and milk-fed pork to some of America’s top restaurants, from Mario Batali’s Babbo in New York to Restaurant August, a favorite of New Orleans gastronomes. The popularity of D’Artagnan’s pricey, high-quality fare among noted chefs and restaurateurs (think Daniel Boulud and Danny Meyer) has helped fuel its sales beyond the toque-wearing crowd. About 30 percent of the company’s almost $100 million in annual revenue comes from sales to specialty stores and supermarkets plus a growing online business. Now Daguin is pursuing a bigger target: Middle American diners.

To woo average consumers who eat at home, she’s added premium-priced burgers, bacon, and hot dogs to D’Artagnan’s lineup. She’s also launched a breezy website designed to appeal to Americans who crave quality food, and she’s pushing further into mainstream grocery stores. While the presentation or distribution might be different, the French-born entrepreneur is sticking with expensive ingredients—and the resulting high prices. While duck confit at $14 a leg may be a stretch for Safeway shoppers, D’Artagnan is betting they might try a $10 package of six uncured duck hot dogs and trade up later. Daguin knows that could be a tough proposition. “It could be that one day the customer at Walmart will understand the difference in quality,” she says. “Today that isn’t so.”