Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in the U.S. on May 5. It is officially known south of the border as the Battle of Puebla Day, which is observed voluntarily to celebrate Mexico’s victory over France in the city of Puebla in 1862, when the outnumbered Mexican army rallied to the cause. As a matter of fact, Cinco de Mayo is actually celebrated more in the U.S. than in Mexico, mostly as a fun way to bring the Hispanic community together.

In the U.S., Cinco de Mayo is usually celebrated with party decorations such as streamers in the colors of the Mexican flag, piñatas, sombreros, and pin-the-tail-on-the-burro games, food, music, dancing and the gathering of friends and family, reports Northernexpress.com. Some of the best known Mexican foods served include flour and corn tortillas with cheeses, chicken, beef and pork (quesadillas or burritos); tacos; refried beans; the salty bread known as bolillo or telera; and a wealth of vegetables including peppers and chilies. Mexican cooks use plenty of spices in their dishes, from chile powder to garlic, anise, cilantro, cayenne pepper, and paprika to traditional sauce, which is made with over 30 different ingredients including chocolate. And if you really want to be exotic, you might try some of Mexico’s more unusual foods, such as iguana, rattlesnake, or insects - followed up, of course, with baked goods such as Mexican sweet rolls or the crème-caramel-like Flan.

Hispanics continue to be our nation’s largest and fastest-growing minority group, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. In fact, the nation’s Hispanic population grew by 1.4 million in 2007 to reach 45.5 million people, or 15.1 percent of the total U.S. population of 301.6 million. And Hispanics skew considerably younger than other groups with a median age of 27.6, compared with the population as a whole at 36.6.

Let us all celebrate the diversity of America and the incredible accomplishments of our Hispanic population.

U.S. Census   

Through a special arrangement with e-zine, CPG matters, Retailwire prints an article investigating the results of a two-year study examining 250 million shopping baskets weekly by Catalina Marketing.

The goal was to probe the gap between what shoppers say in surveys and what they actually buy, and it’s quite revealing. Fewer than three in ten (29.6 percent) consumers remained loyal to Sprite brand beverage from year 1 to year 2. A quarter (25.9 percent) became switchers, not loyal to any brand. Another 14.8 percent became loyal to competitors, and 29.7 percent left the brand entirely.

CPGs also need to know what percentage of brand volume is actually reached by their traditional demographic media target. An analysis of three different client brands found a jarring separation between the media target and the actual target, one as high as 88 percent.

“If you don’t observe their behavior, if you don’t know their preferences and tastes, how can you customize your content or your marketing to meet that and respond to this ‘me’ generation?” said Todd Morris, Catalina’s SVP-business development, in a recent webcast called, “What If You Could ‘Search’ Your Consumers’ Shopping Basket?”

“Understanding this behavior is core to actually making [a brand] part of the ‘me’ generation and searching… to reach smaller subsets of households, provide relevant subject matter to the right audience, and ultimately improve ROI,” Morris added.

Retailwire discussion
Catalina Marketing

M&M’s candy maker Mars Inc. has teamed up with billionaire Warren Buffett, to buy Wm Wrigley Jr Co., the world’s largest chewing gum maker, for $23 billion, creating the world’s largest confectionary company, reports Reuters.

The deal, which includes Wrigley brands such as Altoids, Extra and Eclipse and Mars’ M&M’s, Snickers, Starburst and Twix, gives Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. a minority stake in Wrigley, which will become a separate Mars subsidiary. The combined companies will have a major presence in chocolate, gum and candy. Buffett has other food holdings include a stake in Kraft Foods Inc.

Financing for the deal, which could take from six months to a year to complete, comes from Berkshire, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, and at $80 a share, the deal represents a 28 percent premium over Wrigley’s closing stock price of $62.45 on Friday.

“The combined entity would have significant scale and breadth in a very attractive segment of the global food industry,” Andrew Wood, analyst at Sanford Bernstein, said in a research note ahead of the formal announcement of the deal.

Speculation is the Mars-Wrigley deal could force Hershey Co. and Cadbury into a deal or merger. The two companies are reported to have talked in the past, though the Hershey Trust, which controls about 78 percent of Hershey’s voting shares, has said Pennsylvania law requires it to maintain control of Hershey.

While publicly traded, the majority of Wrigley’s shares are controlled by the Wrigley family, a Chicago presence whose name is on the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium and a well-known Michigan Avenue landmark building.

Last week, Rep. John D. Dingell (D., Mich.), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, circulated a draft measure to overhaul the FDA as part of the response to a spate of recalls of food and tainted medicine. Under the proposal, food producers would have to pay annual registration fees of $2,000 per facility, generating $600 million for FDA food-safety activities, more than doubling the current budget. Importers would have to pay an additional $400 million in fees.

Grocery and food producers told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Thursday that a proposal to impose fees to fund more safety oversight would amount to a $1 billion new tax on the industry that would raise prices for consumers, reports Bloomberg News.

“Inevitably there would be an increase in the cost of the products that is passed on to the consumer,” said Cal Dooley, president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association. “You are further compounding the rapid increase in food prices, the likes of which we haven’t seen in recent years.”

Dingell’s response was that improving inspections would help the companies represented by the grocers’ group to restore confidence in the food supply and reduce costly lawsuits. With the legislative changes, “you would get safe food from places like China, where they sell all manner of crap,” Dingell told Dooley.

An advance release of the Teen Topix study by OTX and the Intelligence Group finds that 81 percent of teens (13-17) say they are at least somewhat happy, and over a third are very happy, reports Mediapost.com.

Teens report to be happiest with their relationships with friends, their talents, their abilities, and their school performance. And more than three quarters are happy about how they “look” Online. In recognizing the importance of their physical appearance, 61 percent of teens worry about their looks, and 48 percent compare the way they look with friends and peers.

Half say looks and physical appearance are very important when it comes to being respected by others, says the report, but appearance is considerably less important in being liked by others, getting ahead in the workplace, and making lots of money. “Teens are an important consumer group… we have to look not just at what they buy… (but) what motivates them… their aspirations… (and) what makes them tick,” says Bruce Friend, president, media and entertainment insights, OTX.

Teens cited a number of positive influences on self image. Asked “when it comes to those things that influence how you feel about yourself would you say these usually make you feel better about yourself, worse about yourself or make no difference how you feel about yourself.”  When asked to choose from a pair of related, yet conflicting statements, Jane Buckingham, President of the Intelligence Group, reviewing the responses, notes that “The answers to our questions have surprised many in the marketing community and have caused them to rethink how they need to appeal to this demographic.” 

When asked if they would rather get a college degree’ or win American Idol, 90 percent selected college degree. And three quarters of the respondents would rather have friends than lots of money. 

Center for Media Research — Teens  

There’s nothing sexy about a Slim Jim. And no one’s lining up at midnight to buy the newest box of Wheaties, reports CNN/Investor’s Business Daily.

But even in the current slowdown, Americans are still buying prepared foods, translating to modest revenue and earnings growth for food manufacturers. Food companies are considered recession-resistant, so investors flock to them in tough times. In fact, Steven Ralston, a senior analyst at Zacks Investment Research, calls food companies “moneymaking machines.”

Rising energy prices, higher ingredient prices and fierce competition translate to higher food prices. But Americans and consumers in the global market continue to eat. The food, beverage and consumer packaged goods industry brings in more than $2 trillion in sales globally each year, according to the Grocery Manufacturers Association. While established economies such as the U.S. and Europe represent the biggest markets, most new growth is coming from fast-growing economies in China, Russia, India and

The consumer price index for all food climbed 4 percent in 2007, and the government forecasts a rise anywhere from 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent for 2008. Consumers so far have accepted rising grocery prices, analysts say. And while some consumers have vowed to dine out less or buy more store brands and generics, big-name manufacturers say they’re not seeing massive defections. Meanwhile, opportunities in the developing world bode well for firms with the right products and reach.

CNN article

Searches for recipes using inexpensive ingredients increased 91 percent over the past three months at Allrecipes.com, which receives more than 35 million annual visits from users, according to its Monthly Measuring Cup report.

Consumers seek more pocketbook-friendly recipes because of an unstable economic landscape. Some of the least-expensive but most-used ingredients include ground beef, pasta, and rice.

Searches for make-at-home versions of popular ethnic restaurant dishes also increased significantly. Traffic spiked for searches involving Chinese fare (up 200 percent), while searches for Indian recipes rose 93 percent.

In March, Green Eggs and Ham rose to the top, influenced no doubt by St. Patrick’s Day and Easter. Top searches were ham, deviled eggs, egg salad, scalloped potatoes and turkey. With Super Bowl parties and Valentine’s Day now history, finger foods took a dip. Decreasing search terms were sugar cookies, appetizers, cupcakes, pot roast and scallops.

With Earth Day approaching, searches for spring vegetables surged 27 percent during March. Most popular veggie searches were asparagus, broccoli and spinach.

All Recipes

With food prices increasing at the fastest pace in 17 years and gas prices soaring, a new study “How Do Economically Challenging Times Affect In-Home Meal Strategies” from Rosemont, Ill.-based The NPD Group, finds concerned consumers looking for value, making trade-offs and counting on leftovers when planning their meals.

One-third of adults feel their financial situation is worse this year than last, and those most concerned have larger families. Among these “financially concerned” adults, more than 55 percent say they are trying to prepare meals at home, use up leftovers (56 percent), stock up when items are on sale (54 percent), more often then a year ago.

“American consumers now spend about 10 percent of their disposable income on food and have not, historically, allowed food expenses to rise faster than their disposable income,” says Harry Balzer, vice president. “Consumers will likely shift behaviors to find food solutions that meet a budget before spending more on the same foods.”

Another strategy consumers use to manage their spending on food is to change where they get meals and snacks. In past economic downturns, they counted more on supermarkets and meals at home and pulled back on going to restaurants. In fact, last year 80 percent of meals and snacks were consumed at-home vs. 20 percent at restaurants, which posted no organic growth in 2007.

“Despite rising grocery prices, in-home meals still provide a better value to consumers,” says Arnie Schwartz, who heads up The NPD Group’s food and beverage unit. “One estimate shows that an in-home meal costs about a third of a meal purchased away from home.”

Price doesn’t appear to be the only motivation for consumers to eat more meals at home, according to the study. Consumers still say that eating healthy is another reason to prepare their own meals.

“Consumers say that price, health and convenience appear to be the key drivers when it comes to food consumption,” says Schwartz. “Health and convenience are longer-term factors that aren’t dictated by the economy, and are consistently top-of-mind with people.”

Mom is staying home

“One of the pillars of change affecting the way people eat over the last five decades has been the increase of women in the workforce,” says Balzer. “We haven’t seen those increases in women working recently and that too is influencing the choice of where people eat.” And he adds, “For the food industry, it really comes down to the basics of listening to and addressing the contemporary needs of the consumers.”

Big brands, small brands, celebrity brands are scrambling to make news, reports CultureWaves, Tide Report. Established brands from fashion, entertainment, and electronics are expanding into other categories. In a downturning market, making celebrity affordable can pay off. Branching out is the key: Oprah with her own store, Google and Yahoo accessible in your car, and how about Armani opening up a spa in Japan? 

One of the more interesting brand extensions is focused toward men, who are showing more interest in kitchens—and this one should literally have them salivating. Porsche Design Group worked with Poggenpohl to design the “ultimate kitchen,” a combination of handsome aluminum, satin-finished glass, no-handle cabinets, a hi-tech audio/visual system, and artistic lighting. Look for it to be introduced later this year.

What man wouldn’t trust a Porsche extension to be sexy, superstylish, and guaranteed to deliver superior performance?

Taking the high end (everyone wants a luxurious treat, especially when watching daily expenditures) and making the price affordable can also be a very successful strategy for the food industry, even in tough times.  All you have to do is take a look at what’s going in specialty chocolate, alcoholic beverages and premium food extensions.
 

New products boasting environmentally friendly claims in 2007 was 328 — almost double the number of new items making similar claims the previous year, according to Mintel’s Global New Products Database.

“More than ever, shoppers want to purchase goods that help protect and preserve the world around them,” says Chris Haack, senior research analyst. “Manufacturers have responded with everything from recyclable packaging to products that maintain the body’s health to entire brands that support environmental causes.”

People especially have eco-friendly products in mind when shopping for household paper products (66 percent), food (57 percent) and energy-efficient appliances (48 percent), according to Mintel.

And although consumers are increasingly interested in green marketing initiatives, they are also quite cynical, is the word from the International Advertising Association’s World Congress, reports AdAge.com. That provides new opportunities for improving brand equity and engaging consumers — but also lots of risk in getting it wrong. Companies must show that any cause-related marketing really ties to their brand and be careful not to overstate claims.

“Consumers expect companies to give back as much as they take,” said David Jones, global CEO of Euro RSCG Worldwide. “Today it’s a mainstream issue.” He cautioned that companies need to have not only a strong position, but one that is clear. “Be differentiated,” he said. “This is one of more cluttered areas of the world.”

According to Jones, up to 86 percent of consumers believe that companies should stand for something beyond profitability and 80 percent believe that they should censure companies that don’t.