The New Hispanic Diner

Hispanics are an important and growing customer base with culturally defined dining desires that operators should understand.

By Scott Hume, Editor-in-Chief -- Restaurants & Institutions, 4/15/2008

The U.S. Hispanic community is the fastest-growing population segment, increasing to 44.3 million in 2006 from 35.3 million in 2000. It follows that Hispanic Americans represent foodservice’s fastest-growing customer base and one the industry would do well to know better.

Hispanic Americans purchase an average of 4.14 meals away from home each week, according to R&I’s 2008 New American Diner Study, while the average for all respondents is 3.72 meals. That means the Hispanic market’s importance comes not just from the potential its growing size promises; it is a vital, if sometimes undervalued, market now.

The New American Diner Study identifies several dining attitudes and behaviors that significant numbers of Hispanic consumers share that operators can factor into menu, marketing, service and unit-expansion strategies. Chief among these cultural markers is a high emphasis on time spent with family.

Hispanics’ away-from-home dining is much more likely to include family and friends rather than be a small-group affair. That has an impact on destination (family-friendly restaurants are preferred) and menu decisions (Hispanic diners appreciate family-style platters and a variety of choices that will suit all members of the group).

"The relationship between Hispanics and food is different than for other populations," says Edward Rincón, president of Rincón & Associates, a Dallas-based multicultural-research agency. "Food is not just another basic activity. We socialize a lot around food, and because of that we tend to gather with family and make food more than just a necessity."

The average American is 36.4 years old; the average Hispanic American is 27.4. Hispanic households average 1.1 children age 18 or younger, nearly double the 0.6 children for non-Hispanic households. The presence of more children means more cooking is done at home and more meals are purchased away from home.

"People don’t appreciate how significant food is in our culture—we value food," says Rincón, a third-generation Mexican American. "And we spend a lot on it; more than $100 a month more than non-Hispanics, according to our research." The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ data show that 8.6.% of the average U.S. Hispanic household’s total annual expenditures go for food at home, compared with 7.1% for all consumers.

Hispanic households’ food-away-from-home spending (5.7% of total expenditures) essentially matches the 5.6% for the general population, but Hispanics may purchase more meals away from home because they are more-frequent users of lower-price quick-service restaurants than the general population.

An Exploratory Culture

Rincón warns against an assumption that he says too many observers of the Hispanic community make: that Hispanics’ dining habits are confined to restaurants that serve Hispanic-culture foods.

"We’re not eating just Mexican food," Rincón says. "Many [Hispanics] eat it all the time at home already, and we know how to cook it better than most restaurants. Food is part of our culture, but our culture also is exploratory. We want to hang on to our culture, but we also are inquisitive and want to know about foods that are not part of our culture."

R&I’s New American Diner Study finds just such interest in new foods among Hispanics, 51.2% of whom say that when eating dinner out they always or often order food different from what they would prepare at home. That compares with 46.4% of non-Hispanics who say they always or often seek out new foods.

Nearly half (48.5%) of Hispanics strongly agree with the statement, "I like a menu to have a mixture of foods I know and foods I have never tried," compared with 42.5% of non-Hispanic consumers.

A Sense of Community

The Hispanic community has seen a rapidly growing middle class. The U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey 2006 finds that 28.7% of Hispanic households are in the middle-income ($40,000 to $74,999) category, slightly more than the 28.2% of Caucasian households with annual incomes in that range. That shift likely will result in more dual-income households and greater restaurant patronage and greater usage of casual-dining concepts over the next several years.

But for now, Hispanic households show higher price sensitivity than non-Hispanics. Four in 10 Hispanic consumers strongly agree that price is their first consideration when choosing a restaurant destination, compared with 30.3% of non-Hispanics, according to the New American Diner Study. And 64.5% of Hispanics say lower prices would be the change that would make them more likely to eat dinner away from home.

Hispanics also evidence a stronger preference for independently run restaurants over chains. Rincón says this likely is a result of Hispanics strong community and family ties: Chains still are underrepresented in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods and independents are more likely to be owned and operated by Hispanics.

Hospitality has strong cultural resonance with Hispanics, who are more sensitive to restaurant service elements than to pricing. Bilingual servers are valued and not often found at chain locations. And Hispanic diners who experience substandard service or who are not made to feel welcome do not return.

"Hispanics are less likely to confront management when service is bad. There still is a passivity about that," says Rincón. "And we aren’t going to fill out a customer-comment card and explain the problem. We just won’t come back.

"I’d advise restaurant managers to train staff and monitor staff about hospitality if they want to serve more Hispanic guests."