DAIRY-DELI-BAKE 2002

ROSEANNE HARPER

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Retailers are still missing opportunities to sell dairy, deli and bakery products to the Hispanic market, largely because they don't understand how to earn the loyalty of this segment, a consultant said, addressing a group at the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association's annual convention here.

While they are avid shoppers of the dairy case and other fresh departments, Hispanic shoppers are not being reached at the emotional level that effective marketing programs could target, said Felipe Korzenny, principal and co-founder of Cheskin, a Redwood Shores, Calif.-based consulting firm.

"Some chains like H-E-B and Fiesta Mart have done a good job of catering to the Hispanic community, but most supermarkets haven't done nearly what they could," he said. "There is ample opportunity there and once you've captured the Hispanic shopper's loyalty, you have a stronger relationship than with most other groups."

Korzenny, who has worked in Hispanic marketing for 20 years, noted retailers most likely don't understand the extent of the passion that Hispanics feel about their language, family and meal preparation.

"Even shopping for food is a fun, family occasion for them," he said. "If any retailer showed they cared enough to communicate with them in their own language, it would definitely create a positive reaction."

Korzenny said dual-language signage, labels, ads and surveys could go a long way toward attracting these consumers and sealing their loyalty. In surveys he conducted, nearly 60% of Hispanics said, given the choice, they would prefer to communicate in Spanish rather than English. They listen to as many hours of Spanish-language television and radio as they do of English.

Interestingly, Korzenny's data shows young adults, ages 21 to 35, want to communicate in Spanish.

"Most [Anglos] that I work with think that young Hispanics are more apt to speak English, but that's not true," he said. "The teenagers, yes, but not those in their 20s and 30s. It's an emotional thing. They want to maintain their own culture even while they're adding a second one."

He said that it could be because the young adults are "in the process of family formation," and therefore are more interested [than teenagers] in keeping a piece of their heritage intact. He quoted a 34-year-old Hispanic man living in America, who dramatically described what the Spanish language means to him.

"Spanish is my mother tongue, and it is the tongue of my mother. It calls out from my childhood. It speaks of my personality and sense of self. When I speak in Spanish, I feel I speak from my soul."

Mexican by birth, Korzenny said he feels much the same way. Most Hispanics living in the U.S. are of Mexican origin, he said, estimating 65% of Hispanics in this country are Mexican. The U.S. census shows a figure of 58.5%, but Korzenny said many are undocumented and therefore unaccounted for, so the true figure is higher than official figures indicate.

One subsegment of that population appears to have been all but ignored in retail advertising and marketing efforts, Korzenny said.

"I have not seen anyone targeting the young, single men that come here to work, but they are extremely important," he said. "They're at the age that people tend to immigrate, so there are a lot of them here. Initially, they come alone, but they send for their families later, after they've established themselves. When they do, they teach their wives and other females in their families [what they've learned about living here]."

Surveys also show most Hispanics don't have a favorite brand when they come here, and that's because in their home countries they haven't been exposed to the myriad products that are available in the United States. So there's a lot of teaching about products going on, Korzenny explained.

And while it isn't news that Hispanics cook dinner at home nearly six nights a week, statistics have shown that cooking in an Hispanic household is done with delight.

"Hispanic women take great pride in the meals they prepare for their families," Korzenny said.

Previous IDDBA research has shown Hispanic consumers shop for food more often than the general population, that they celebrate holidays and cultural events and that they have social gatherings almost every week. These events all revolve around food.

Given this data, plus census projections that show by the year 2050 a full quarter of the U.S. population will be Hispanic, food retailers should take heed because the opportunities are huge, Korzenny said.