Diner Demographics: Los Adolescentes

Hispanic teens—one of every five U.S. teenagers—are one of foodservice’s fast-growing and best constituencies.

By Scott Hume, Editor-in-Chief -- Restaurants & Institutions, 8/1/2007

The U.S. Hispanic population’s continuing, rapid growth—the group’s numbers swelled 58% between 1990 and 2000—is well-documented. Foodservice operators understand the need to get through to the country’s single largest minority group, and opening communication lines with the 6.3 million Hispanic teens in the United States and their $20 billion in annual spending may be most important.

The U.S. Hispanic population is young, averaging 26.9 years, compared with 36.2 years for the total population and 40.1 years for Caucasians. But it is worth noting that Mexican Americans, who accounted for 64% of the total U.S. Hispanic population in 2004, are the youngest Latino ethnic group, with an average age of 25.3. Overall, the Hispanic teen market is projected to increase 62% by 2020—growing six times faster than the non-Hispanic teen market.

• Averaging 20.6 quick-service-restaurant (QSR) visits per month, Hispanics ages 16 to 17 have a slightly above-average QSR visit rate versus all 16- to 17-year-olds, according to Barrington, Ill.-based Sandelman & Associates’ 2006 Quick-Track research.
• Quick-Track also finds that, based on most-recent-visit data, Hispanic teens ages 16 to 17 skew slightly above average in percentage of eat-in occasions, while they rank below average in percentage of drive-thru occasions—22.5% versus 28.4%—compared with all consumers their age. And Hispanic teens’ QSR meal choice is more than twice as likely to be a burger or pizza than Mexican food (see "All-American Burgers").
• Spanish-language marketing is effective but not mandatory for communicating with Hispanic teens, 37% of whom are English-dominant (55% say they speak English and Spanish equally), according to Los Angeles-based researcher New American Dimensions. Only 15% of young Hispanics say they watch primarily Spanish-language television programming, but they do look for Hispanic faces and an understanding of Hispanic culture in advertising.
• Approximately three out of four Hispanic consumers who are English-dominant or bilingual use the Internet. Northbrook, Ill.-based Teen Research Unlimited finds that while social networking site MySpace.com is frequented by teens in all demographics, more Hispanic teens list it as a favorite than do teens in other ethnic groups.