Packaged Facts Debunks 'Typical' Hispanic Shopper

Although the Hispanic food shopper segment continues to grow both in size as well as importance, the challenges associated with meeting the desires of these consumers are just as vast, according to new findings from Packaged Facts.

Hispanic shoppers' buying behavior is predicated on a range of factors, including national heritage, the extent of their affiliation with their original culture and the language they speak at home, the confluence of which tends to preclude the idea of a "typical" Hispanic consumer.

According to "Hispanic Food Shoppers in the U.S.," the spending power of this consumer group has risen more than 80 percent over the past 10 years, driven substantially by the "dispersal of Latinos into areas not traditionally known for having substantial Hispanic populations," says Packaged Facts Research Director David Sprinkle.

Retailers targeting the Hispanic population in Los Angeles must understand the preferences and traditions of shoppers who are mainly Mexican but also include a substantial population of Salvadorans and Guatemalans.

In Miami, supermarkets need to satisfy the expectations of Cubans, Colombians, Venezuelans, Hondurans and Nicaraguans.  And in New York, they need to cater to Puerto Ricans and Dominicans along with shoppers from a variety of other countries in Central and South America.

Spanish-language Labeling

Hispanic food shoppers of diverse national heritages react in different ways to Spanish-language labeling because of variations in language use and degree of acculturation. Puerto Ricans and South Americans are least likely to say Spanish-language labeling helps them in the store, while Cubans and Central Americans are most likely.

Food and beverage preferences also affect buying beavior. The households of Spanish-dominant Latinos and those with a high degree of attachment to their original culture are much more likely to buy Cornish game hen and veal than bilingual/English-dominant Latinos.

And those who have a high degree of identification also are more likely to drink sparkling water, still bottled water, and thirst quencher drinks, yet they drink much less coffee than their less identified counterparts.

Rockville, Md.-based Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com, publishes market intelligence on a wide range of consumer market topics, including consumer demographics and shopper insights, consumer financial products and services, consumer goods and retailing, consumer packaged goods, and pet products and services.