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So much for the days when Hispanic food amounted to dusty taco kits in the grocer’s specialty aisle. Having long ago discovered the nation’s enormous appetite for Latin cuisine, food manufacturers are infusing a growing number of American staples with Hispanic flavors.
Companies have found that Latin-inspired foods resonate not only with Hispanics — at 14 percent of the population, now the nation’s largest minority — but also with mainstream consumers ever on the prowl for new and exciting flavors.
“Latin flavors are hot, and they’re hot across all market segments,” says Bill Briwa, an instructor at the Culinary Institute of America, who notes that the rise of Hispanic flavors has been sudden and fast. A decade ago, chipotle was virtually unknown in the mainstream.
Now Sargento Foods has launched chipotle-seasoned Cheddar — three varieties of it. Kraft, whose iconic Oreo cookies already come in dulce de leche (a caramel-like flavor popular in South America), has introduced Fresa (strawberry). Wrigley’s Orbit chewing gum comes in a “mint mojito” flavor.
It’s all part of a trajectory similar to that of organic foods, says Walter Heller, a grocery industry consultant and former research director of Progressive Grocer magazine. Both have moved from the specialty aisles to being woven throughout the supermarket.
Such influence on cuisine is to be expected when a nation experiences ethnic shifts.
As Hispanic flavors enter the market, Americans across ethnic lines have adapted them to make them their own. Tortillas, for example, come in spinach and sun-dried tomato, varieties a cook from South America might not recognize.
The trend has surprised some companies. Cleveland-based Pierre’s Ice Cream didn’t expect its pineapple, coconut and margarita flavors to be as popular among mainstream shoppers as with Hispanic consumers.
So now the company is launching its “Hola Fruta” sherbets nationally in flavors such as margarita and pina colada, and expects the products to reach across ethnic lines, says company spokeswoman Laura Hindulak.
For some companies, early success is prompting new products. In late 2005, Tyson Foods Inc. introduced rebanado delgado, or thin-sliced beef intended for Hispanic dishes such as fajitas and enchiladas, as well as Asian stir-fries and Philly cheesesteaks. At the time, the company noted that demand for Latin-influenced foods in restaurants was growing more than 10 percent a year.
Tyson said rebanado delgado sales have grown steadily enough that the company now is developing new meat products with Latin flavors and ingredients, including chipotle, cumin, cilantro, and oregano.
The Hispanic influence also is apparent at bars. Miller Brewing Co. sells a lime-and-salt flavored beer modeled after a popular style of Mexican beer called chelada.
“Manufacturers always have their ears open to anything new, because America is addicted to things that are new and different,” says Heller.
Even sushi is being transformed by Latin flavors. At the Tsunami Sushi bar in Tulsa, Okla., the Texas roll —which, in addition to crab and tuna also sports chipotle cream cheese, jalapeno peppers and ancho aioli — is one of several offerings with Hispanic flavors.
The Hispanic influence also can be charted in the growing popularity of ultra-sweet, fruity flavors such as lemon-lime, mango, pineapple and cherry, says Yolanda Angulo, Kraft’s director of multicultural marketing. Those flavors were traditionally identified with South American markets, but are finding a new audience in the American mainstream.
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