Hispanic Desserts

[Market Trends] Vol. 20 No. 11 November, 2010

The Hispanic Food and Beverage Market By Cindy Hazen, Contributing Editor The expanding appetite for Latino cuisine among non- If sopapillas or flans are the only sweets that Hispanic Americans, combined with the rapid increase in the come to mind following a Mexican dinner, think United States’ Hispanic population, will be a boon for the $7 again. There’s much more to this category than billion Hispanic food and beverage market, helping to drive sales to $10 billion in 2014, according to “Hispanic Food and these fried breads or custards. However, a lot of Beverages in the U.S.: Market and Consumer Trends in authentic cookies, sweet breads and Latino Cuisine, 4th Edition,” the latest market research study confections may need tweaking to satisfy a by publisher Packaged Facts. mainstream-American palate. Along with population growth, buying power within the Andrew Hunter, president, Culinary Craft, Los Hispanic population is expected to increase significantly in Angeles, says: “I find them to be very ‘white’ in the next four to five years. Packaged Facts projects that the buying power of Latinos will reach $1.3 trillion in 2013 up terms of their flour composition, and they’re not from $984 billion in 2008, representing a cumulative growth necessarily sweet and delicious in quite the rate of 31%. In addition, Hispanic shoppers spend same way that we might think of desserts." significantly more than other groups on food consumed at Nonetheless, they can provide a basic blueprint home, due to the importance of family mealtime and larger or marketing concept to appeal to North family units. American consumers. Packaged Facts separates the Hispanic food and beverage market into three segments: Mainstream Mexican (tortillas, Cómo se dice dessert? salsa, tacos, burritos, nachos, refried beans, Tex-Mex cuisine, and other products that have become part of the The fast-casual chain Xooro is putting a American culture); Authentic Hispanic (products either gourmet twist on the Spanish fritters that are imported from Hispanic countries to the United States or more commonly called churros. Typically products made domestically that use traditional recipes); and served as street food in their native Nuevo Latino (products with south-of-the-border flair, environment, this reincarnation fills them with including traditional American foods made with Hispanic gourmet creams like tiramisu, Nutella, white ingredients, as well as unique new creations that meld a variety of Hispanic flavors and food traditions). chocolate or blueberry, and coats or drizzles them with chocolate before dipping them in nuts In particular, Authentic Hispanic and Nuevo Latino are or confections. garnering substantial sales boosts from America’s population of adventurous food enthusiasts known as “foodies.” The Hunter suggests an alternative—topping demand has caused new Hispanic food products to pour churros with coffee or almond ice cream as part forth from manufacturers seeking to increase variety to meet of a sundae. the ever restless American appetite for the new and different. Foodservice operators are likewise creating innovative and exciting dishes to keep pace with consumer demand. Or consider buñuelos, traditional homemade fritters. “They’re round. Sometimes they’re filled with other goodies, including banana or a sweetened cheese, and then often dusted with powdered or granulated sugar," says Hunter.

Another example would be the versatility and convenience the empanada offers. “The empanada, with its fried dough outer shell, offers endless options for flavored fillings that are appearing on many dessert menus, from quick-service to fine-dining," says Emil Shemer, director, food solutions, Sensient Flavors www.foodproductdesign.com Page 1

[Market Trends] Vol. 20 No. 11 November, 2010

LLC, Indianapolis. “From the caramel-apple empanada at Taco Bell to the locally sourced honey crisp apple and sweet fall raspberry empanada at Frontera Grill, empanadas meet consumers’ desire for portability, convenience, taste, variety and adventure."

Sopapillas are sweet, fried pastries that puff up like pillows when cooked. Typically dusted with cinnamon sugar and drizzled with honey, they can be upscaled by filling with chocolate and serving with a crème anglaise.

Flans also lend themselves to an epicurean touch. Hunter has created a flan with almonds, and has seen flans seasoned with coffee or cinnamon and other sweet spices.

While flans are similar to crème brûlée, the dairy source differs. “My experience says that a Hispanic flan is usually made from evaporated and condensed milk," says Hunter. “Sometimes it’s made from goat’s milk, whereas a crème brûlée, or European custard, is typically made from milk or cream, or a combination of both."

Another point of difference is caramelization. Crème brûlée has a hardened sugar topping created as the last step before serving. Flan has a liquid caramel that is added to the baking dish before the egg mixture so the custard bakes on top of it. After cooking, the dish is inverted so the caramel sits atop and oozes down the sides.

Tres developments

According to Robert Barrera, Hispanic Dining Patterns manager of flavor development, Bell Flavors & Hispanics make up 16 percent of the U.S. population and will make an estimated 9.8 Fragrances, Northbrook, IL, billion restaurant visits each year. Hispanics who speak primarily Spanish are more milk and yogurt are often used likely to visit restaurants for breakfast and evening snacks, while those who speak primarily English are more likely to dine out for lunch and dinner, according to a new as bases for Hispanic study from the NPD Group. desserts. Among Spanish-speaking Hispanics, 31 percent will visit restaurants for breakfast, “The milk used for making while 22 percent will dine out during the afternoon or evening snack daypart. For both cake is often ‘tres leches’ non-Hispanics and English-speaking Hispanics, 18 percent of visits occur at breakfast instead of just whole milk," and 15 percent occur at the afternoon or evening snack. says Barrera. “Tres leches is a Data revealed more than half of restaurant visits from Spanish-dominant Hispanics and combo of evaporated, one-third of visits from English-speaking Hispanics include parties with children, while condensed and whole milk." 29 percent of visits by non-Hispanics include parties with children. For the classic tres leches dessert, sponge cake is "According to the Pew Research Center, 40 percent of Hispanics are most comfortable soaked in this dairy mixture speaking Spanish, and our study finds that Spanish-speaking Hispanics use after baking so that it’s soft and restaurants differently than English-speaking Hispanics," said NPD analyst Bonnie Riggs. "These are important considerations when marketing to Hispanics. The mushy. messaging and communications need to be relevant to each group."

Michael Tunick, Ph.D., research chemist, USDA, Wyndmoor, PA, wrote the Hispanic Dairy Products chapter in the 2007 ACS book, “Hispanic Foods: Chemistry and Flavor." He explains that dulce de leche translates to “sweet of the milk." It’s caramelized www.foodproductdesign.com Page 2

[Market Trends] Vol. 20 No. 11 November, 2010 and is usually made from goat milk in Mexico, where it is also called cajeta. It goes by other names in other countries—manjar in Chile and arequipe in Columbia.

Tunick notes that there are two versions of dulce de leche: casero (which means “homemade"), a shiny, red-brown type, and pastelero (which means “pastry cook"), a lighter-colored bakery type that uses a starch thickener to hold it on cakes. “Both kinds are made by mixing whole milk with sucrose in a 4:1 ratio and boiling down to 70% solids," he writes. “Addition of sodium bicarbonate neutralizes the mix, preventing protein coagulation. The characteristic brown color results from the Maillard reaction. The product has a sweet, milk-caramel flavor. The typical composition is 50% sugar, 6% protein and 4.5% fat, with a pH of 6.1."

These traditional milk flavors are inspiring new American dessert products. “In the U.S. market, we Hispanics Drive U.S. Food, Beverage Sales are seeing particular interest in blurring cuisine types in the dessert segment," observes Jessica R. Hispanics have become the most important U.S. Jones-Dille, senior manager, industry trends & demographic growth driver in the food, beverage and market research, WILD Flavors, Inc., Erlanger, KY. restaurant sectors, according to new data from Latinum “The aspect of flavor and concept fusion continues Network. The U.S. Hispanic segment made up more than 50- percent of real growth in the midst of a stagnant U.S. to drive innovations for many dessert products. consumer economy between 2005 and 2008, with $52 billion With a resurgence toward all types of classic of new inflation-adjusted Hispanic spending outpacing $40 Hispanic cuisines, nuances from traditional dessert billion of new spending by non-Hispanics. profiles such as cajeta and tres leche are appearing in non-traditional dessert formats." The growth is attributed to an increase in the number of U.S. Hispanic households and an increase in consumer spending Frozen treats among U.S. Hispanics. In the food, beverage and restaurant business, this new spending offset 84-percent of the real decline in demand across the entire $1 trillion sector. The Ice cream is popular in Latin countries. Tunick divergence in demand is driven mainly by differences in notes that banana, coconut, eggnog, lime, ethnic preferences, economic and cultural integration and pineapple and rose petal are popular flavors. You demographics. can find even more exotic options, such as avocado, tamarind and mango with chiles.

Barrera sees other differences besides base flavor: “Ice creams usually have less dairy and are more fruit-water frozen novelties compared to the soft serve and ice creams here."

Danny Bruns, director, culinary, Kerry Ingredients & Flavours, Beloit, WI, recommends a modification for U.S. consumers—something he calls third-generation Latino flavor concepts. “Latino concepts, twisted with American concepts," he says, “have a better chance of selling if products reach out to both Hispanics and American markets."

Here are a few of the products he and John Namy, vice president, sweet applications, Kerry Ingredients & Flavours, envision: Cha Cha Cookie Dough, cookie-dough ice cream blended with peanut-butter- chocolate-chip cookie dough with swirls of dulce de leche; Caramel Apple Churro, brown sugar, apple and cream cheese ice cream blended with cinnamon-sugared churro pieces and swirls of cajeta caramel sauce; Cajeta Brownie Sundae, brownie-batter ice cream blended with chewy baked brownies with swirls of cajeta or dulce de leche caramel; and Fiesta Cookies and Cream, dulce de leche ice cream blended with chocolate-cookies-and-cream bark, with ribbons of caramel. www.foodproductdesign.com Page 3

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Raspados, or snow cones, are an alternative to ice cream. “They are refreshing with little or no fat," says Bruns. His company offers flavors and flavor-based systems for this application. Some examples: Raspado de Horchada, sweet rice with a hint of cinnamon, (“better with a little dairy, as well," he says); Raspado de Tamarindo, tangy, with or without a hint of chile pepper; Raspado de Limón, sweet and tart notes with lemon-lime accents; and Raspado de Mojito, lime and rum flavors with speckles of mint.

Fruity creations

Some tropical fruits, like banana and pineapple, are popular in Hispanic countries as well as in the United States. Mango and papaya are winning over American palates. Barrera predicts mamey and chimoya will become more-mainstream flavors.

It’s interesting to note that some American flavors Cinco de Mayo Spices up Food Sales are not the same in Latin countries. “Their strawberry profile is very different than in the Sales of traditional Mexican cooking ingredients show a marked United States," says Barrera. “Theirs is very increase as Americans prepare to celebrate Cinco de Mayo on sweet, with a lot of vanilla notes. One can really May 5, according to recent shopper data from MyWebGrocer. taste this difference in the yogurt and Queso dip sales increased 127 percent over the previous week confections." while jalapeño peppers sales increased 71 percent from the previous week. Avocados and limes, essential to most any Fruit desserts across Mexico vary by region. guacamole recipe, increased 58 percent and 30 percent, Carlos Madero, Ph.D., director of technical respectively. Sales of refried beans saw a 38 percent boost. support, NSA, LLC, Memphis, says: “The north of Mexico is hot and dry, with the exception of In terms of name brands, Tostitos led category sales for tortilla chips, queso dip and salsa; Old El Paso captured the refried places in the states of Coahuila and Chihuahua, bean category, and Mission was tops in the taco and tortilla which have mountains and grow cooler-weather category. fruits like apples and grapes. My family comes from Coahuila, and there are ates, a sweet, dense, fruit paste made from fruits like apple, but the best by far is made from membrillo (quince). A slice of ate de membrillo accompanied by a chunk of queso fresco (fresh cheese) is a glorious dessert, probably my all-time favorite. We inherited that idea from Spain, where they accompany membrillo with Manchego cheese. Other common ates are made with apple or with guava. Other sweets typical of the north are a variety of candied, dried fruits, including common fruits like pears and figs, and some not so common, like desert cacti. All of these are boiled in a concentrated syrup and then dried."

In the middle of Mexico, in the region known as El Bajío, strawberries, pineapples and oranges are grown. This is the main agricultural source of canned and jarred preserves, jams and jellies in the country.

“From Mexico City toward the south, the land is much more tropical, and the main sources for fruit desserts are mango, coconut, citrus and, of course, cacao, to make chocolate, which originated in Mexico," says Madero. “Vanilla is also widely grown in the tropics in Mexico, and also a source of a wide variety of desserts. These tropical fruits can be made into a variety of desserts—pies are common; guava and coconut pie come to mind. They are also typically made into sorbets and ice creams. Frozen pops have always been a popular way to feature tropical fruit flavors."

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In Mexico’s deep south, bordering with Central America, there are some fruits only grown there, which are also featured in pies, ice creams and pops. “Some that I remember are cherimoya, zapote and guanábana," says Madero.

When trying to appeal to Hispanic palates, Jones-Dille suggests that “creating a gold standard utilizing the traditional ingredients of the dessert, and then working back to a commercial product is the best way to achieve an authentic effect. In addition, it is helpful to get direct feedback from colleagues in the specific region of origin."

Sometimes simplicity is the best touch. “A lot of the world eats really delicious ripe fruit for dessert sprinkled with some sugar or a little vanilla. I see that in a lot of Latino restaurants around Los Angeles, some beautiful mango or papaya," says Hunter.

Such fruit flavors can serve as inspiration for new American products. Moreover, they can be used to infuse or top traditional Hispanic desserts like arroz con leche (rice pudding) and flans. When it comes to Hispanic-inspired postres, product designers clearly have a wide range of choices to consider—from luxurious and decadent to simple and fruity fresh.

Cindy Hazen, a 20-year veteran of the food industry, is a freelance writer based in Memphis, TN. She can be reached at [email protected].

Latinos Wield $1 Trillion in Consumer Spending Power

Market research publisher Packaged Facts released its “Latino Consumers: Demographic Patterns and Spending Trends among Hispanic Americans, 8th Edition" report thathatt reveals Latinos in the United States are a growing consumer segment with an estimated $1 trillion in spending power that will grow to $1.3 trillion by 2015.

The reportreport provides an in-depth look at the shopping habits and spending patterns of Latino consuconsumersmers today and provides a glimpse into Latino shoppers of the future. While overall spending by non-Hispanic consumers declined during the recession, Latino consumers as a whole spent more. Compared to other Americans, Latinos continue to exhibit more confconfidenceidence about the future of the American economy and show more optimism that their own personal financial situation will improve in the days ahead.

According to the report,report, food at home is one of the most prominent categories in which Latino consumers spend relatively more than other consumers. Latinos spend 9 percent of their household budgets on buying food to prepare at home, compared to the 7.5 percent spent by otherother consumer units.