From “Tony el Tigre” on Frosted Flakes boxes to a Latin-dance exercise video, Kellogg Co. is one of many companies in hot pursuit of Latino grocery shoppers.
With young families and growing numbers, Latinos are among the food industry’s most coveted customers. Kellogg, the nation’s dominant cereal maker, says it’s boosting marketing to Latinos by 60 percent.
“Obviously, we care about kids – lots of our products are focused on children and the whole family,” said Sandra Uridge, senior director for multicultural business. “Hispanics actually do what we call ‘event’ shopping. They go as a family to the store.”
Kellogg took the unusual step of focusing solely on Latino marketing at this week’s Food Marketing Institute Show, the annual trade show for supermarkets in Chicago.
And the company is just one example.
Unilever PLC, maker of Hellmann’s, Lipton and Skippy, among other brands, released results at the show of a study on how Latinos shop for food.
In Colorado, marketers do promotions through Latino grocery stores such as Avanza and the Rancho Liborio store that will soon open in Commerce City, said Elizabeth Suarez, a founder of Xcelente Marketing and Advertising in Greenwood Village.
“What they’re all going after is the loyalty in the Hispanic community and the repeat business,” said Suarez, whose business focuses on Hispanic marketing.
Denver’s Pure Brand Communications last summer wooed Hispanic teenagers by putting Water World coupons on Pepsi products sold in the metro area’s three Avanza stores, said Steve Sander, a principal of the Denver agency.
“It’s something all marketers are aware of and are paying attention to,” Sander said.
Unilever had about 800 Latino households keep diaries and receipts from 3,621 trips to the store. The survey found that Latino shoppers tend to plan their shopping ahead, more so than shoppers generally, with an eye toward discounts and specials.
“Many retailers today don’t have a large percentage of Hispanics in the marketplace, and yet everybody will as time goes on,” said Mike Twitty, a senior group-research manager for Unilever.
Latinos are the youngest, fastest- growing segment of the U.S. population, according to the Census Bureau.
They were 14 percent of the population in 2004 but made up nearly half the nation’s growth from 2000 to 2004. Their median age, just under 27 years, is younger than the general population.
The median age is just over 31 years for blacks and just over 40 years for non-Hispanic whites.
Latinos are driving what little growth there is in supermarket shopping, said Libbey Paul, a senior vice president of marketing at ACNielsen, the marketing information company.
“They tend to be larger households, have more kids and a higher growth rate,” Paul said. “You can understand why Kellogg’s would care, why Coke would care.”
ACNielsen has begun measuring sales to Latinos by looking at demographics and sales at individual stores.
Tony the Tiger, who says, “They’re g-r-r-reat!” in Kellogg’s ads, says, “G-r-r-riquisimos!” in Spanish-language promotions.
However, marketing by stores and food companies goes far beyond Spanish-language packages and ads.
Supermarkets are looking at the categories that Latinos seem to buy more of – things that large, young families need, such as toothpaste, and products that younger adults want to buy, such as beer, Paul said.
And food companies are looking at the tastes and flavors that Latinos want, such as citrus and berry flavors, according to ACNielsen. For example, Unilever created a Hellman’s mayonnaise with lemon specifically for the Latino market.
Many companies are only now realizing the impact of Latinos as a group. Paul said recent immigration rallies around the country show that the influence of Latinos has reached “a tipping point.”
“They’ve become more politically and socially visible; it’s never been this vocal,” she said.
Denver Post staff writer Beth Potter contributed to this report.
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