PL Buyer: Food Options for the Under-30 Hispanic
By John N. Frank
Through a special arrangement, what follows is a summary of
a current article from Private Label Buyer, presented here for discussion.
Reaching
under-30 Hispanic-Americans shares one caveat with selling private label goods
to Hispanics over 30 — lump them all into one demographic
melting pot at your own risk. The good news for food retailers targeting their
private label offerings to that young Hispanic market is that, at least when
it comes to second generation, U.S.-born Hispanics, there’s less brand
loyalty and more openness to try new alternatives, experts agree.
When it comes
to second generation, U.S.-born younger Hispanics, "most
categories are pretty open," said Felipe Korzenny, founder and director
with the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communications at Florida State University.
The younger generation will have taste memories of the ethnic foods they ate
as children but often they won’t want to do the amount of kitchen work
their mothers did to prepare such dishes. So, they’re open to
convenience-oriented ethnic products such as refried beans in cans, something
a recent immigrant Hispanic woman would not consider, Mr. Korzenny said.
Refrigerated
and frozen products, another category their immigrant mothers likely seldom,
if ever, shopped in, also present opportunities for ethnic private label offerings
that can appeal to the under-30 crowd with authentic tastes.
"If it tastes like the real thing, it does well with the second generation,"
said David Morse, president and CEO with New American Dimensions, LLC, a multicultural
marketing research firm. Simply positioning ethnic private label as lower-cost
alternatives to name brands is not enough to attract younger Hispanics, he
argues.
Rather, it’s about el Sabor, the taste. "Taste trumps price.
Taste is a pillar of Latin culture. Food and flavor are how they identify themselves."
Unlike
earlier immigrant groups whose second generations tended to turn their backs
on their ethnic cultures, even changing names to become more Americanized,
younger Hispanics want to remain tied to their roots and so continue to eat
ethnic foods while at the same time eating more traditional American fare.
As
they have children of their own, they teach them about the culture. Third generation
Hispanics will stay connected by learning Spanish and learning as much as possible
about their cultural heritage, a process known as retro acculturalization,
said Mark Ferro, senior account planner with The Integer Group, a brand marketing
firm.
For example, Spanish-language marketing is important to the second generation
for a different reason.
"It’s more than a language issue, it’s a cultural issue.
They feel that Spanish is important to them," said Mr. Ferro. Spanish
can be used selectively on packaging for products aimed at second generation
Hispanics. Ingredient lists and other informational communications can be in
English, but words that invoke family, motherhood and other emotional touchstones
should be done in Spanish. "For the second generation, if you put some
Spanish on your package, it says you care about them," says Mr. Morse.
Discussion Questions: What are the challenges for food retailers and brands
in reaching the under-30 Hispanic-American demographic? What first-generation
Hispanic food traditions will likely stay with the second generation and even
future generations?
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4 Comments on "PL Buyer: Food Options for the Under-30 Hispanic"
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As we are seeing in the convenience store industry, the buying power and demand from Hispanic consumers is enormous. So much so that companies like Susser Petroleum (Stripes convenience stores in Texas) has rolled out its Laredo Taco concept to hundreds of stores that features an authentic Mexican food menu that’s been tested and tweaked to appeal to Hispanic consumers. The brand has been extremely successful for the company, especially since it operates so many stores near the Mexican border.
Further inland, c-store chains like 7-Eleven are also embracing Hispanic buying power by adding popular snack items and beverages that have their own displays and POS materials in Spanish. This strategy also is proving to be successful largely because the ethnic items are a hook to sell a growing demographic more things, like phone cards, cigarettes, fuel, etc.
Retailers should be embracing this strategy on a site-by-site basis, rather than taking a cookie cutter approach. It won’t work in some suburban areas with a low Hispanic population, but could prove extremely profitable in others.
Perhaps the most important point and biggest challenge in Mr. Frank’s commentary is his caveat, that Hispanic is not one demographic group, but many. With that comes a wide variety of ethnic cuisine and tastes.
The second challenge is not to necessarily think of the cuisine as being uniquely purchased by Hispanics. Certain elements of these cuisines will be adapted by the general population as Italian and Chinese have been. Elements of Middle Eastern cuisine are experiencing significant growth as is the use of Indian spices in a variety of dishes.