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Fispal -- a Hispanic Flavor Fair: Latin Food Fair Fispal Kicks Off in Miami Beach With a Wide Array of Products From Latin America, Europe and the United States

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 May 2006, 06:00 CDT

By Christina Hoag, The Miami Herald

May 10--When it comes to foods, Latin is as hot as a jalapeno. And we're not talking spicy, we're talking sales.

U.S. Hispanics go grocery shopping three times as often as non-Hispanics and spend 43 percent more per household on food than non-Hispanics, according to the Food Marketing Institute.

Add to that the fact that U.S. Hispanics are the fastest-growing population segment whose buying power will crest $1 trillion by 2010.

That's why this year's Fispal "Taste Latino" food fair is drawing not only big retail and food-brand names known to U.S. consumers, but also household brands known to Latin American consumers.

Everyone, it seems, wants a piece of the mushrooming Hispanic-population pie.

"We're seeing a lot bigger companies this year, like Target, GFS, Bacardi, and we're seeing more Latin American companies who want to sell in the United States," said Oscar Dominguez, president of Coral Gables-based Fispal USA.

The second edition of Fispal, a spinoff of the huge food trade show of the same name in Brazil, opens today at the Miami Beach Convention Center for a three-day run that's expected to draw more than 5,000 executives from food & beverage, retail and agricultural companies. It is open to the public.

Some 260 exhibitors are displaying 11,000 products from 12 countries in Latin America and Iberia, as well as the United States.

"This puts us in touch with key influencers in Hispanic markets," said Pat Neal, spokeswoman for Bacardi USA.

The spirits giant is hosting a tasting lounge, forums on the histories of scotch and rum and lending its products for a Latin chef contest.

"It's all about experiencing the product," Neal said.

Fispal is extending its reach this year to encompass agrobusiness. A session on ethanol production is slated. "It seemed logical to link that," Dominguez said.

Marketers are looking to appeal to the taste buds of U.S. Hispanic consumers and to integrate Latin foods onto the dinner tables of non-Hispanics, said Todd Hultquist, spokesman for the Food Marketing Institute in Chicago.

Latin American manufacturers, meanwhile, are looking to tap the market for nostalgic immigrants.

"This is no longer a specialty niche market, which it was just a few years ago," Hultquist said. "And it's a national market, not just limited to markets like Miami or Los Angeles."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Miami Herald

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Miami Herald

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