Latin Libations

LYNNE MILLER

Beverage companies looking to wet the whistle of Hispanic consumers are also making a splash in the mass market with a host of drinks with crossover appeal.

Americans, in turn, are developing a taste for Latin flavors fused with conventional favorites.

In the past year, major beer companies have fed the trend by introducing new, innovative brews that feature a Latin twist.

Chandler, Ariz.-based Bashas' merchandises Miller Chill — a chelada-style light beer that features the taste of salt and lime — in six-packs and 12-packs at Bashas' locations and in its Hispanic-format Food City stores. Budweiser & Clamato Chelada and Bud Light & Clamato Chelada are sold in single 24-ounce cans in Food City stores.

“Miller Chill is doing very well,” said Robert Ortiz, senior vice president of sales and merchandising for Bashas', adding that the beer has a following with mainstream consumers as well as with Hispanics.

Many shoppers, particularly those who enjoy Corona, are accustomed to adding a wedge of lime to their beer, so they appreciate the convenience of Miller Chill, Ortiz said.

Anheuser-Busch and Cadbury Schweppes' Budweiser & Clamato Chelada “is not setting the world on fire, but it's doing OK,” he said of the beverage, which arrived five months ago. “It's very innovative, and when people find it they'll try it and like it. We might try it in Bashas' stores.”

Since the drink combines beer and tomato juice cocktail, it's much less familiar to mainstream shoppers, he noted.

Many Mexican American consumers are used to mixing “red” beer themselves and are not quite ready to buy it already mixed, Ortiz said.

Still, sales in test markets in Western states and Texas have been strong enough to justify a national rollout.

The beer appeals to Mexican Americans, as well as mainstream shoppers who like red beers and Bloody Marys, said Ana Vitrano, A-B's product manager.

“We've been finding success with those groups,” she said. “The consumer response was just fabulous.”

Getting consumers to give Chelada a chance required extensive in-store sampling events nationwide, acknowledged Vitrano.

Consumers are also quickly warming up to Miller Chill.

The light brew is appealing to people who previously had enjoyed wine and spirits but not beer, said Julian Green, spokesman for the Miller Brewing Co.

More than 40% of Chill drinkers “came from outside the category,” he said. Two months after launching a test in San Diego, Florida, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, the brewer decided to roll it out nationwide.

Officials had expected to produce and sell 400,000 barrels in the first year. “We exceeded that,” Green said.

To encourage shoppers to try the beer, Miller conducted in-store sampling events.

“It's done well in both the general and Hispanic markets,” he said. “We feel we hit our target.”

Beverage marketers are wise to court Hispanics, since their purchasing power is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2010, according to industry estimates.

Paul Fischesser, beverage buyer for Jungle Jim's International Market, sees the latinization trend playing out in his store's aisles.

Non-Latinos and Latinos alike, including Brazilian Americans, are buying the Antarctica brand of guarana, a Brazilian soda. Fischesser described the soft drink as tasting like “champagne cola.”

What's most surprising to Fischesser is the popularity of Mexican Coca-Cola. Made with sugarcane, rather than corn syrup, it's sweeter than conventional Coke.

“What blows my mind is that American people love Mexican Coke in glass bottles,” he said. “That's our biggest seller.”

Over the past six years, the Fairfield, Ohio, retailer has at least doubled the number of carbonated soft drinks it carries, as well as the shelf space it reserves for juices and nectars. Most of the new drinks come in traditional Latin flavors, he said.

One of the most popular flavors of nectar at Jungle Jim's is passion fruit, which is native to Brazil.

“I think a lot of American people who buy different nectars are making mixed drinks,” he said. “They offer something different from the usual, everyday drinks.”

Beverage companies are also starting to reach a wider audience with conveniently packaged coconut water. Marketers claim that the electrolyte-rich drink aids in digestion and alleviates hangovers.

COCONUT WATER CRAZE

Whole Foods Market stores recently began carrying O.N.E. (One Natural Experience), a premium coconut water line from Brazil, at its stores around the country, said Maria Reyes, who handles Latin products for specialty food distributor Tree of Life.

The beverage is packaged in 11-ounce aseptic cartons that can be recycled.

“Coconut water is the hottest trend,” she said.

Consumers have never had more brands to choose from.

The appearance of Coco Loto's coconut water makes it stand out in a sea of coconut water, according to Scott Hilligoss, director of merchandising, Banner Wholesale Grocers, Chicago. Pieces of coconut float in its slender glass bottle, which bears a colorful label.

“The coconut doesn't settle,” said Hilligoss. “It's very eye-catching.”

H.E. Butt Grocery Co. started carrying the shelf-stable beverage about two years ago, Hilligoss noted.

“H-E-B saw the item and wanted it right away,” he said. “They've done very well with it.”

Shoppers can find the Coco Loto brand at just about all of the independent supermarkets in Chicago, among other markets, Hilligoss added.

Bottles of Coco Loto outsell cans at Pete's Fresh Markets, said Nick Kametas, buyer for the Chicago-based chain. At its six stores, Pete's caters mostly to Hispanics.

“We've always done well with anything that contains coconut,” he said.

Mango, guava and peach nectars, including some from the Del Valle brand, are Pete's top sellers, Kametas related.

During the holidays, 46-ounce cans of pineapple juice fly off Pete's shelves, since shoppers buy the juice to use as a mixer with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

While mainstream consumers have warmed up to traditional Latin drinks, Hispanics in turn have embraced all-American favorites.

When he was asked to identify the No. 1-selling beverage among Hispanics, James Chung, manager of a Food Bazaar store in Brooklyn, N.Y., laughed. “Regular Coke or Pepsi,” he said.

Traditional Hispanic beverages have a following, too, at Chung's 40,000-square-foot store, which serves a mix of Hispanics, Asians and Caribbean natives. Coconut water drinks in single 11- and 18-ounce cans are popular. Horchata, a sweet-tasting, milky-looking beverage made with rice and flavored with lime and cinnamon, is also a staple. The Food Bazaar sells it in ready-to-drink and powder form, in the international aisle, and in the dairy section chilled, Chung said.

“We don't go through pallets and pallets of them, but sales are steady,” he noted. Food Bazaar is operated by the Bogopa Service Corp., based in Brooklyn.

BEVERAGE WATCH

The average shopper now purchases milk 23.6 times during a 52-week period, followed by carbonated beverages (18.5) and refrigerated juices and drinks (9.2).