{"id":46914,"date":"2019-08-18T21:00:01","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T01:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.portada-online.com\/?p=46914"},"modified":"2024-04-01T15:36:25","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T19:36:25","slug":"including-hispanic-grocery-shoppers-at-the-supermarket-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portada-online.com\/analysis\/including-hispanic-grocery-shoppers-at-the-supermarket-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"No Man Is an Aisle: Hispanic Grocery Shopping Insights and Why We Should Stop Separating Ethnic Foods at Supermarkets"},"content":{"rendered":"

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What:<\/strong> For years, large chains have targeted Hispanics by adding a special aisle with select items from their home countries. These days, this approach can be a bit outdated. Here are some Hispanic grocery shopping insights, as diversity and globalization demand a more integrated approach.
\nWhy it matters:<\/strong> Marketers are well aware that Hispanics are a huge consuming force that will only grow in time. It’s important to come up with ways to really cater to the community’s needs.<\/p>\n

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The Hispanic Cooking Rites<\/h2>\n

Us Latinos love our food<\/strong>. We love preparing it, we love planning it, we love buying fresh ingredients. Cooking and sharing is the ultimate family-bonding experience. Homemade meals are the first thing we miss when we\u2019re away. We make them anywhere\u00a0to feel at home<\/strong>. All these cultural traits not only make us great cooks, but also great produce and grocery shoppers<\/strong>. According to The <\/em>State of the Plate<\/em>, a 2015 Study on America\u2019s Consumption of Fruits & Vegetables published by the Produce for Better Health Foundation<\/a>, Hispanic grocery shoppers rank highest in produce consumption amongst 3 other ethnic groups<\/strong> (White\/Non-Hispanics, Asians, and Black\/Non-Hispanics).<\/p>\n

There’s something all food marketers in the U.S. need to understand in order to cater to their Hispanic customers: From the moment the menu for a Hispanic table is conceived, every step of its preparation matters<\/strong>. Supermarkets appealing to the target can assert everything they must do to satisfy an ever-growing consumer base\u00a0by being aware of the particularly ritualistic nature of Hispanic kitchens<\/strong>. Latinos love hand picking their food, buying enough ingredients to last for several meals, and trying out new ingredients on a permanent effort to enrich and expand their gastronomic experiences. But there’s one problem. Even though\u00a0marketers are well aware that Hispanics are a consuming force<\/strong>, some have chosen to label and separate Hispanic (and generally ethnic) foods and products. This segregation rings counterintuitive and obsolete.<\/p>\n

Finding the Balance Between Diversity and Globalization<\/h2>\n

Hispanics are widely diverse as a group<\/strong>. Every single Hispanic country has different ancestral dishes that require specific ingredients for their preparation. In addition,\u00a0Millennials have been exposed to the culinary options of a globalized economy.<\/strong> This surely has an affect on traditional menus, even if Latino families have a specific and deep-rooted meal preparation routine.<\/p>\n

Nearly six in ten Hispanics are Millennials or younger<\/strong>, according to Pew Research Center\u2019s 2014 report, The Nation<\/em>\u2019<\/em>s Latino Population is Defined by its Youth<\/em>. 40% of American Millennials are multicultural<\/a>, and more than half of this group are Latinos. As a global society would have it, we want to be able to make corn flour tortillas, but we want them filled with swiss cheese. According to T<\/em>he Why? Behind the Buy,<\/em> a study conducted by Acosta Marketing<\/strong> and Univision<\/strong> in 2015, 57% of Hispanic Millennial Shoppers ages 25-34 say they often try new flavors\/products<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

[comillas]\u00a0For years, the larger chains have catered to the Hispanic consumer (primarily) by adding an \u2018Hispanic\u2019 or \u2018International\u2019 aisle<\/strong> and placing select merchandise from Latin America. [\u2026] It is unclear if this format is successful. [\/comillas]<\/p>\n

\"\"Nothing more American than… Pizza?<\/h2>\n

As we have said before in other articles<\/a>, foods that used to be foreign at some point, like pizza, sushi, and tacos, are such a big part of a global food culture that no one hardly ever questions their place in American households. These days, being able to find a wide variety of products from around the world is expected. In some cases it’s a given, because we live in a connected world in which boundaries are more blurry<\/strong> each day. As Rishad Tobaccowala, Chief Growth Officer at Publicis Groupe,<\/strong>\u00a0said to Portada in a recent interview<\/a>, “An idea that is not aligned with the unstoppable trends of diversity and globalization is doomed from the start.”<\/p>\n

How to Include a Niche<\/h2>\n

\"\"For a minority seeking inclusion, all manifestations of inclusion are welcome. Supermarkets could start by dropping the label \u201cHispanic groceries\u201d to call them just groceries. Yet, many supermarkets have tried to cater to the Hispanic audience by adding \u201cexclusive\u201d sections with the products Latino audiences may find at home. \u201cFor years, the larger chains have catered to the Hispanic consumer (primarily) by adding an \u2018Hispanic\u2019 or \u2018International\u2019 aisle<\/strong> and placing select merchandise from Latin America [\u2026] Some of the largest, such as HEB in Texas, developed their Mi Tienda (My Store) format which is located in a high dense Hispanic neighborhood. A larger store than a neighborhood store. It is unclear if this format is successful<\/strong>\u201d says Randy Stockdale<\/strong>, director of Solex Marketing Solutions.<\/p>\n

Problem is, inclusive as this effort may appear at first glance, Latinos already comprise\u00a017% of the total American population.<\/strong>\u00a0Inserting a Hispanic section surrounded by aisles of \u00a0\u201cnon-Hispanic\u201d products might end up falling short for this ever-growing segment.\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t subscribe to a Hispanic aisle\u201d, says Stockdale. \u201cI would rather see the stores, particularly the larger chains, place like-items together and provide a greater convenience<\/strong>. Have you ever found Goya Olives in the general Olives section? Likely not.”\u00a0Think of it this way: limiting their space is also limiting their consumption to one tiny section of an entire store.<\/p>\n

Frozen Hispanic<\/h2>\n

In July 2017, a tweet got viral because one man saw the mockery potential of a supermarket freezer labeled \u201cFrozen Hispanic.\u201d He decided to pose as just that\u2026 a frozen Hispanic. The tweet got 152,278 retweets of people that didn’t see the need to separate frozen tamales from frozen chicken wings.\u00a0Supermarkets would greatly profit from including Hispanic products without differentiation.<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s been proven that Hispanic consumers are generally willing to try new, different things<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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My mom just sent me this of my dad pic.twitter.com\/fMuVFTkpBQ<\/a><\/p>\n

— Lido (@paigealban23) July 3, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n