The market segments that are growing rapidly across the nation are the Hispanic, African American, and Asian communities. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Hispanic and Asian people in the U.S. will triple by 2050.
In a 2003 report, the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) said that over the next two decades, the Hispanic population is expected to grow by 1.2 million annually, compared with annual increases of 500,000 among non-Hispanic Whites and 400,000 each among Blacks and Asians. Hispanics are expected to increase from 12.6 percent of the population in 2000 to 18 percent in 2020, and Asians are expected to increase from four percent to five percent.
ERS pointed out that growing ethnic diversity has contributed to shifts in food preferences as well as expansion of the food repertoire for all Americans. The agency suggests that to profit from this diversity, U.S. food suppliers must be both aware of the differing preferences of ethnic groups and able to creatively tap into Americans' love of novel taste experiences.
And in promoting a recent educational seminar, the Food Marketing Institute similarly stated that ethnic consumers not only comprise an increasingly formidable consumer market, but are also re-shaping the nation's palate through the growing demand for ethnic foods.
The folks at UMass Extension caught on to this trend a number of years ago and have been helping Massachusetts growers find crops typically grown in Latin American and Asian countries that will also grow in the Bay State, despite the shorter growing season. Local growers have been growing crops like ají dulce (a small light green pepper) and calabaza (a type of squash), then marketing them through farmers' markets, farmstands and grocery stores in areas with large Hispanic communities like Holyoke, Lawrence and Lowell.
In fact, UMass Extension has created a website in collaboration with Cornell and Rutgers to help northeast growers find vegetables, fruit and herbs that are in demand by local ethnic communities. The site, www.worldcrops.org, has crop information organized by region - Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe - and by country within those regions, to help growers target specific markets. Included is production information, seed sources, nutrition information and references.
Components of a successful multicultural marketing program, according to Denyse Selesnick of International Trade Information, Inc. in a presentation to food marketers, include knowing the ethnic make-up of your area, learning their food preferences, advertising in their language(s) in publications for their community, doing special promotions around ethnic holidays, and hiring a diverse staff who can relate to these customers.
On the worldcrops.org website, Frank Mangan of the UMass Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, reminds growers to be aware that crops can have different names in different countries and languages, and to label produce appropriately. He also offers marketing tips concerning price and appearance. The best way to research preferences and other considerations, he says, is to visit markets that serve ethnic communities in the area.
According to the Produce Marketing Association, Hispanic consumers average 4.6 grocery trips per week, in contrast to 2.2 trips for non-Hispanic consumers in the United States. The primary reason for that is a strong preference for fresh, high quality fruits and vegetables. That's good news for local growers, who can offer fresh produce just in from the field.
For your customers who are not part of these specific ethnic communities but who are looking for that novel taste experience, be sure to have some recipes and background information on hand.
So, with diverse markets already close at hand and data suggesting that they will only grow in the future, not to mention plenty of informational resources and technical assistance available, Northeast growers are well positioned to ride the multicultural marketing wave.
Copyright 2005 by Diane Baedeker Petit. This article originally appeared in the June 2005 issue of Growing Magazine.
