Meat+Poultry - November 2020 - 30

ETHNIC MARKETING
Weekend
meals and special
occasions call
for high-quality
meat cuts.

Rumba offers a variety
of meat cuts that appeal
to Hispanic consumers,
such as honeycomb tripe
and beef cheek meat.

30

and cooking from home. Gerard anticipates
another spike in protein consumption with
cooler weather on the way and the beginning
of caldo (soup and stew) season, which
benefits from low-and-slow cooking methods.
Also conducting monthly surveys to
understand consumers' meat shopping
behaviors during the pandemic was Midan
Marketing. The Chicago
and Mooresville, NC-based
organization found Hispanics
citing greater consumption of
meat since the beginning of the
pandemic as compared with
other audience demographics,
according to Michael Uetz, a
principal at Midan Marketing.
Acosta, a Jacksonville, Fla.based sales and marketing service
company, learned Hispanics
were more likely to stock up on
meat and poultry products at
the beginning of the COVID-19
pandemic than all US shoppers. The company
conducted its sixth wave of Coronavirus
Hispanic Fresh Meat research in mid-May.
Reasons for stocking up included
minimizing store visits, concerns about
shortages on future shopping trips, more meals
being cooked at home and concerns about
higher food prices on future shopping trips. If a
specific meat item isn't available, Hispanics are
more likely to sub another protein or to switch
to a meat alternative or a vegetarian option,
according to the Acosta Custom Shopper
Community Survey.

PROTEIN PREFERENCES
Within the demographic, beef remains the
primary go-to protein for many traditional
recipes, and beef and chicken are the highestconsumed proteins, followed by pork. But no
matter the protein chosen, the meat must be
of the highest quality. The attribute of quality
is the most-important factor among Hispanics
when purchasing fresh meat.
"Quality is of very high importance," said Jay
Furnald, Consumer Insights Manager for Cargill
Protein. "Seventy-nine percent of Hispanic
consumers say high-quality meat is extremely
important and quality is a more important factor
than price, especially when making purchases
for weekend meals and special occasions."
Finding new ways to enhance and
differentiate protein choices for consumers
within the growing Hispanic market becomes
even more important when considering the
$2.3 trillion buying power of the demographic,
according to Nielsen. These stats will continue
to rise as the Hispanic demographic is
anticipated to reach 28.8 million by 2024.
Strength in numbers is also significant
when it comes to smartphone use among
Hispanic consumers. Latinos are some of
the heaviest mobile users with 98% reporting
owning a smartphone, a number higher than
other demographics. The Nielsen Cultural
Connectivity Transformed Report found
Hispanics spend an average of 30+ hours per
week on their smartphone.
"We've been able to capitalize on the
willingness of Hispanics to use digital channels
around food and online grocery shopping,"

MEAT+ POULTRY | 11.20 | www.meatpoultry.com

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