Debunking the myth of the "typical" Hispanic food shopper is key to market growth for U.S. retailers
While Hispanic food shoppers offer a rich opportunity for food marketers and retailers, they also present a potentially bewildering set of challenges. As highlighted in the report Hispanic Food Shoppers in the U.S. by market research publisher Packaged Facts (packagedfacts.com), the in-store behavior of Hispanic food shoppers is the product of a complex interplay among a wide range of factors. These include their national heritage, the extent of their affiliation with their original culture and the language they speak at home. In short, the most important lesson for marketers and retailers looking to learn about how individual Hispanic food shoppers fill their shopping carts is that there may be no such thing as a typical "Hispanic" food shopper.
This is an important realization U.S. food retailers must accept in order to reach this fiscally potent and increasingly influential consumer segment. Spending on food at grocery and other food stores by Latino consumers has risen more than 80% over the past ten years, a growth rate more than double that of U.S. consumers on average. Indeed Hispanic food shoppers now represent a rapidly growing segment of the customer base of grocers throughout the country, with growth coming largely from the continuing dispersal of Latinos into areas not traditionally known for having substantial Hispanic populations, Packaged Facts research director David Sprinkle.