An influx of immigrants to the U.S. over the past two decades is having a powerful impact on meat and deli merchandising.

The U.S. Census Bureau notes that by 2015, the Hispanic population will be double the size it was in 1990. The Asian sector will have doubled in size between 1990 and 2010.

While such growth bolsters the potential meat and deli customer base, it also necessitates the revamping of stores’ product mixes and merchandising if operators are to maximize revenues.

“Retailers need to know the demographics of shoppers and determine to what degree they will offer unique services and marketing, if not products,” says Saul Gitlin, executive vice president, strategic services, for Kang & Lee Advertising, a New York-based ad agency that specializes in the Asian sector. “It is crucial to know what the critical mass of shoppers are buying, and why they are not purchasing specific items.”

He notes that such data can be garnered through in-store observations and querying customers at the point of sale.

Gitlin and other analysts also stress that it is vital that the heritages of shoppers are considered when developing sales strategies.

It is a mistake, for instance, to lump persons from China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam into a general “Asian” category because of differences in the cuisines of each country and shoppers’ specific uses of unique spices, sauces and vegetables.

Such disparities also exist among consumers from different Latin American and Central American countries, as well as divergent parts of Mexico, says Joe Hynes, an Atlanta-based food industry consultant.

“Regional differences among Mexicans also are very important,” he states. “Persons from the Pacific coast or the Gulf of Mexico/Yucatan area have cooking styles and ingredient preferences that differ from people who live in Mexico City or interior regions.”

The use of point of sale signage in the shopper’s native language and bilingual employees also are key elements in attracting and retaining ethnic customers.

“It about recognizing the consumers and demonstrating that they are not invisible to you,” Gitlin states.

Such recognition also can include advertising meat and deli products on foreign language radio and television stations, and in ethnic newspapers.

Jay Rossi, principal with DDR Global, a Montclair, N.J.-based multicultural communications agency, cautions, however, that even with such initiatives, most conventional supermarkets still are at a disadvantage when competing with smaller ethnic-owned stores.

“Many consumers would rather shop at the culturally familiar mom and pop deli and that limits the merchandising options for mainstream outlets, he states.

Indeed, because conventional chains typically seek to appeal to a wide range of shopper segments, operators often limit their ethnic-oriented selections.

Still, Rossi says reduced offerings can be a magnet—provided the products are properly marketed.

“A small Korean section that is staffed by Koreans fares much better than just having a few Korean items on shelves,” he says. “Adequate personnel, a sufficient supply of products and the right merchandising are small investments that can result in big returns.”

Indeed, Hynes notes that customers “want and expect to be marketed to in a manner that makes them feel that the retailer understands their needs.”

The deli and meat departments—where there is frequent dialogue between employees and shoppers—are ripe venues for uncovering consumer attributes, attitudes and desires.

In addition, merchandisers can pinpoint preferred foods by studying the ethnic fare that is most popular at local restaurants and in competing supermarkets.

Adds Hynes: “Reading cultural and cook books to learn about ethnic festivals, celebrations and holidays also will greatly help retailers in their marketing.”

The importance of effective Latino merchandising strategies is revealed in El Mercado, a 2005 report on U.S. Hispanic shopping behavior developed by the Washington, D.C.-based Food Marketing Institute; New American Dimensions LLC, a Los Angeles-based multicultural marketing and research firm; and ADVO Inc., a direct mail marketing company that has since been purchased by Valassis Communications Inc.

El Mercado reveals that the average Hispanic family spends $129 per week on groceries, compared to $91 for the general U.S. market.

The report also notes that 91 percent of Hispanics indicate it is “somewhat” or “very important” for their stores to sell Hispanic products.

Also rated as “somewhat” or “very important” was having bilingual employees (stated by 88 percent of respondents); bilingual store signs (84 percent); the store active in the local community (84 percent); bilingual packaging (82 percent); and the store carrying imported products from Latin America (81 percent).

The study also found that direct mail or circulars generate the highest recall among Hispanic grocery shoppers (a 26 percent recall awareness), followed by television (20 percent) and flyers/circulars in the newspaper (15 percent). All other advertising mediums have less than 10-percent recall.

El Mercado garnered its data from 1,650 telephone interviews with Hispanic grocery shoppers living in the top-10 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs).

Before implementing ethnic marketing programs, however, it is important that retailers know the acculturation levels of customers, says Sharmila Fowler, New Dimensions senior vice president of sales and marketing.

El Mercado notes, for instance, that persons who have been in the U.S. less than 10 years typically prefer traditional dishes. Such shoppers also usually cook from scratch daily; seldom eat out; have large mental cookbooks; and view shopping as a social event.

In addition, shoppers who have lived in the U.S. less than five years often search for products from their native countries, says Octavio Orozco, vice president and general manager of Vertice Communications Corp., a Los Angeles-based Hispanic ad agency.

“The second- and third-generation consumers who were born and raised in the U.S. know the U.S. brands and are more interested in mainstream products,” he states.

Faye Greenberg, director of neighborhood marketing—affluent, for Jacksonville, Fla.-based Winn-Dixie Stores Inc., agrees that many less-acculturated Hispanics prefer familiar proteins.

“They are looking for foods they grew up on,” she states.

Greenberg, the former vice president of deli and bakery merchandising for Carnival Food Stores Inc., which at the time operated two-dozen Latin-themed supermarkets in Texas, adds that Hispanic shoppers typically are brand loyal, seek low prices and often visit the deli two to three times a week for fresh foods.

That strong interest in perishables also is common among many Asian shoppers, notes Vicky Wong, president and chief executive officer of Dae Advertising Inc., a San Francisco agency that aims at Asian-Americans.

Wong recommends that conventional retailers also carry a variety of Asian-oriented foods in special sections to “make a statement to Asian consumers that you are sincere about doing business with them.”

Such offerings should include pork and other popular proteins, analysts note.

Indeed, Wade Guang, managing director of Intertrend Communications Inc., a Long Beach, Calif.-based ad agency that targets Asian-Americans, notes that Asians prepare pork dishes more frequently than the general population.

Many also seek meat value-packs to economically feed their large, multi-generational households, he states.

And because many Asians cherish family gatherings, merchandisers should promote meats in conjunction with special occasions, such as the Lunar New Year and Moon Festival, he notes.

Marketers, meanwhile, should use red in their materials because it is a lucky color for most Asian segments, notes Loretta Poggio, a consultant with Ethnic Technologies LLC, a South Hackensack, N.J.-based developer of software that identifies the ethnic groups that are prominent in specific geographic areas.

Retailers can learn additional details about their shoppers’ backgrounds and preferences by studying loyalty card data and interviewing customers, she states.

“Asians and Hispanics prefer ‘authentic’ shopping experiences,” Poggio notes. “Just putting out national flags, or a piñata to attract Hispanics, is not authentic.”

Adriana Waterston, vice president of marketing and business development for Horowitz Associates Inc., a Larchmont, N.Y.-based market research firm, adds that studies on consumer shopping patterns and preferences should be ongoing.

She also notes that it is important to garner the meaning behind the behavior and understand the shopping nuances.

“Ethnic communities are ever changing,” she states. “Many Chinese areas that once primarily had Cantonese-speaking residents now have more Mandarin-speaking persons. Culturally relevant marketing has to be part of a merchandising strategy.”

 

 

Suppliers Provide Familiar Proteins To Their Ethnic Audiences

The growing base of ethnic shoppers is spurring the development—and enhanced marketing—of specialty proteins.

Cargill Meat Solutions Inc., Wichita, Kan., for instance, in June rolled out a line of pork under its Rumba brand. It followed 2007’s launch of Rumba-branded beef.

The 17 beef and 11 pork items are case-ready and primarily aimed at Hispanic, Asian and African-American shoppers.

Beef selections include tongue, oxtail, liver and tripe. Among the pork choices are ears, neckbones, feet and kidneys.

“The cuts are regularly consumed by the ethnic groups and are as common as pot roast or steak is to the Caucasian consumer,” says Meredith McGowan, Rumba brand manager.

She says effective in-store merchandising elements include recipe distributions, product videos and having “ambassadors” to answer shoppers’ questions.

“But the main goal should be having the right products in the right stores,” McGowan notes. “That means understanding the customer base.”

Also targeting the U.S. Hispanic sector is Grupo Bafar, a Chihuahua, Mexico-based protein supplier.

Jose Garza, chief executive officer of Grupo Barfar’s international division—which is merchandising such items as ham, turkey ham and bologna ham to the U.S. market—says he expects the Mexican products to appeal to Hispanic shoppers who are “nostalgic” for foods from their homelands.

Garza says he is planning for a national distribution of the meats and expects to be price competitive with U.S.-based producers. The proteins currently are being sold in Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico.