Marketing Foods to Hispanic Consumers in Kentucky

Siddhartha DasguptaKelly R. ProbstTess Caudill

FSMIP

Why Hispanics?

Kentucky’s Hispanic population:119,138 Census 2000

Currently estimated 100,000+ in Lexington

Food preferences:Fresh meats, fish, and vegetablesHome cooking Willing to pay premium for food quality

Hispanic Popl’n Conc.: GIS

What products did we investigate?

Live, Whole, and value-addedSeafood (Tilapia, prawns, catfish, bass)GoatsChickensHogs

Respondent Characteristics N=144

Gender: M 45%; F 47% Country of Origin: Mexico(65%); Honduras(6%);

Guatemala (4%); El Salvador (3%); Nicaragua (3%)

Age: < 30 (41%); 31-40 (31%); 41-50 (13%); 51-60 (4%); 61-65 (0.70%)

Annual HH Income: Less than $20K 52% $20K to less than $30K 28% $30K to less than $40K 10% $40K to less than $50K 2% $50K or more 4%

Food Shopping Characteristics

Trips/month: 2-3 (38%); 4 (35%); >4 (15%) Times: During week (47%); Weekend (39%)

Both during week & weekend (3%) Willingness to buy from a farm:

I would like to travel to a farm (56%) I would not like to travel to a farm (21%) I would like to travel but not able to (16%) Miles willing to travel: 0-5 (24%); 5-10 (27%);

10-20 (21%); >20 (8%)

Food Shopping Characteristics

Grocery spending per month: $0-$199 (27%) $200-$299 (29%) $300-$399 (20%) $400-$499 (13%) >$500 (9%)

Willingness to support farmers delivering food: Yes (85%); No (9%)

Main grocery store: Wal Mart (44%); Kroger (30%) Smaller chain (Save-A-Lot) (17%); Hispanic (10%)

Results: Seafood at home use

Tilapia (Mojarra) 79%Freshwater Prawns (Camarones de

aqua dulce)51%Bass (Robalo) 31%Catfish (Bagre) 24%Product form preference

Live (17%); Whole (79%); Fresh fillet (44%); Frozen fillet (16%); Don’t buy fish (0)

Results: Seafood outlet preference

Supermarket 57%; Farms 30%; Hispanic groceries 18%; Farmers markets 0

WTP for a 2 lb live tilapia

7%

28%

13%10%

22%

6% 6%

1% 2% 1% 1%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

No

Response

$4.0

0

$4.5

0

$5.0

0

$5.5

0

$6.0

0

$6.5

0

$7.0

0

$7.5

0

$8.0

0

$8.5

0

Results: Goats

Product form for home use: Live (12%),Whole Carcass (29%), Live or whole (1%), Other(15%), Do not buy goats (4%) Bought a live goat in KY: Y 13%; N 79% Like to buy live goat: Y 48%; N 52%

Live goat type: Adult (N=28); Juv (N=25) Willing to butcher goat: Y 33%; N 67% How often buy live/yr: 1 (13%), 2 (18%),

3(10%), >=4 (6%), No response (54%)

Results: Goats

Prices paid for live adult and juvenile goats

0%

18%

9% 9%

0%

27%

0%

18%

0% 0%

9% 9%9%

0%

27% 27%

9%

18%

0%

9%

0% 0% 0% 0%0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 More

Adult goats

Juvenile goats

Results: Live Goats Stated WTP

45

%

10

%

9%

5% 6% 6%

3%

12

%

1%

3%

1%

44

%

15

%

10

%

9%

4%

10

%

5%

4%

0%

0%

0%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

$0 orless

$40 $50 $60 $70 $80 $90 $100 $110 $120 $130

Live adult goat

Juvenile goat

Results: Chickens

Preferred chicken product form: Live (26%), whole (57%), breast (44%), don’t buy chicken (0.7%)

Willingness to buy live chickens Y 52%, N 42% Venue preference for live chickens: farm

(37%), Hispanic store (14%), farmers; markets (11%), no response (31%)

Popular live chickens: yellow hen (38%), Cornish cross hen (24%)

Results: ChickensStated WTP for a 5 lb live chicken

29%

4%6%

17%

9% 10% 9%

3%

11%

1% 1%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

No

re

spo

nse

$3

$4

$5

$6

$7

$8

$9

$1

0

$1

1

$1

2

Conclusions

Hispanic markets are suitable for: Live and whole meats & seafood

WTP data shows: Live tilapia ($2-$2.75/lb) Live adult goat ($100-$120/head) Live 5-lb hen ($5-$10/head)

56% will travel to a farm within 5-10 miles for seafood, goats, & chickens

85% support farmers bringing product to Hispanic communities (Hispanic CSA)

Acknowledgements

KSU-Ag Marketing Ask me about other product

markets!

FSMIP