NEXT STOP FOR BRISTOL FARMS: SPAIN

LUCIA MOSES

CARSON, Calif. - Extra-virgin olive oil, wine, Manchego cheese, paprika, saffron - those are some of the 50 or so specialty foods from Spain that are on display this month at 13-store Bristol Farms, based here.

Bristol Farms has been staging country-themed events as a way to set its stores apart and appeal to its customers' well-traveled palates. It started with one a few years ago; now it conducts four per year.

The chain has promoted foods from Italy, Germany, England, Ireland and Spain. The events last a month and take place throughout the company.

The last one, in January, featured Australian foods. The event, called "G'Day L.A.," was sponsored by an Australian trade commission and involved other classes of trade in addition to food retail.

"The items we're promoting will definitely spike in sales," specialty food buyer Mike McMahon said. "And it creates excitement. It makes our stores more unique."

McMahon knows it takes more than just authentic foods and elaborate displays to whet shoppers' appetites, though. That's why he's occasionally flown to the country of origin to source them personally.

"When you're dealing with people that far away, it can become a whole different item than what you expected," McMahon said. "It's good to meet the people, it's good to meet the manufacturers. The biggest importance I see is understanding the dynamics and agriculture and why [the products] cost what they do. The advantage of going there and seeing [them] is, it's something I can relate to the customer."

McMahon has been staging the promotions with the help of trade commissions, which he said have become increasingly interested in pushing their native foods. The trade commissions provide product recommendations and sourcing contacts, point of sale and purchase signage, information booklets and product demonstrations.

Trade commissions run promotional activities to increase their countries' exports, said Ron Tanner, a vice president of the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade. "They see specialty foods are growing in the United States, so they can see the potential," he said.

The German Agricultural Marketing Board, for example, has expanded its promotional activities beyond the Midwest - traditionally thought of as the German cultural center in the United States - to states like Texas, Florida and California, said Arnim von Friedeburg, managing director for the CMA, the German abbreviation for the board. In fact, with 2 million people of German descent just in the Los Angeles area, where Bristol Farms is, the West Coast sells more German food products than any other part of the U.S., he said.

The international promotions offer a way for Bristol Farms to identify specialty products to carry on a permanent basis.

Olive oil from Spain has particularly benefited from the retailer's Spanish food promotions. In the past four years, its olive oil sales have jumped about 80% and the number of SKUs has risen 30%-40%, McMahon estimated. "Olive oil has been just huge with us," he said.

Sometimes items fail to sell because the import cost makes them too expensive. That was the case with an $8.99 box of chocolates from Australia.

"Not everything that works there works here," McMahon said. "It just sometimes prices itself out of the market."

McMahon said there's enough interest from trade commissions to put on a different event each month.

The promotions take time, though. Even with the commissions supplying display materials, labor and expertise, he has to source the product and figure out how to get it in the store in time for the event, as international foods coming from exporters unfamiliar to U.S. customs can face delays in transit. Bristol Farms also has to allow time for its own chefs to create recipes that its American shoppers will be comfortable using.

"If I can find a country willing to participate and put [up] the balloons and flags, I think it's of interest to our customers, whether they're from that country or not," McMahon said. "We have a well-traveled customer base."