Hispanics make up about 20% of the United States population today. This culturally diverse, fast-growing segment is a valuable shopper base for convenience stores looking to expand fresh food and snack offerings.
Data from the Hispanic Marketing Council shows U.S. Latinos, with a GDP north of $4 trillion, represent the fifth-largest economy in the world.
Recognizing the purchasing power of Hispanic consumers, retailers of all types are developing strategies for winning and retaining these shoppers, and one of those strategies focuses on food. The same strategies help bring in shoppers of all backgrounds.
“We’re seeing some of the bigger convenience players dedicating part of their menu to what would be considered traditional Mexican food,” said Jeff Keune, who worked in restaurants and convenience retail before launching 4910 Consulting, based in Boston. He cites two leading regional retailers who have “leaned into Mexican foods in multiple dayparts and platforms, and they have variety: tacos, burritos and quesadillas.”
According to Grubhub’s “2024 Delivered Report,” Mexican food was the most popular “international” cuisine among U.S. Grubhub customers last year. The top-selling Hispanic item for delivery (1.3 million orders) was birria, a slow-cooked Mexican stew traditionally made with goat, beef or lamb. DoorDash reports that its most popular delivery item is anything fried, followed by chicken quesadillas.
Just as the Spanish language has regional differences, regional heritage influences food. According to LEK Consulting, individuals who grew up eating Mexican/Central American cuisine prefer dishes with spices and chiles, and those with Caribbean and Cuban heritage prefer citrus and root vegetable flavors.
Meanwhile, non-Hispanic diners increasingly are embracing authentic Hispanic cuisine with spicy, bold flavors, along with trendier fusion formats, such as birria ramen (Mexican birria stew with ramen noodles) and taco mashups (Korean BBQ taco).
What’s on the Menu
Should you find yourself in Dallas late on a Friday or Saturday night, drop by Fuel City on the edge of downtown and get in line to order elote, or Mexican street corn. A traditional Mexican dish, it combines corn on the cob with mayonnaise or sour cream, which is then topped with chili powder, lime juice or crumbly Mexican cheese cotija. Fuel City sells 10-ounce cups for $5, 12-ounce tubs for $7 and a large 20-ounce serving for $9, which customers purchase for dinners and get-togethers.
“We’ve been selling it for 25 years,” said Christina Gomez, vice president of the seven-unit retailer. “People get out of the clubs, and they’re hungry. They want to eat tacos and the corn. We stay open till 4 a.m. to serve them.”
“Originally, we had mayo in our corn, but our patrons prefer sour cream,” she continued. “Our recipe comes with sour cream, but you can have mayo if you request it. People from everywhere come to buy street corn.”
Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven Inc. acquired the Laredo Taco Company when it purchased the Houston-based Stripes convenience stores. The 600 or so in-store eateries, located mostly in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, serve burritos, barbacoa, tacos and chorizo. The program is known for flour tortillas made fresh daily and a salsa bar featuring a selection of salsas and pico de gallo.
This past summer, multibrand c-store retailer EG America introduced the Cheesy Chicken Fajita Tornado, a new grab-and-go limited time offer (LTO) that combined charbroiled chicken strips, a blend of cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses, green and red bell peppers and onions. The company called it a “fusion of Tex-Mex flavors and crispy satisfaction.”
“Summer travel is all about convenience, value and, of course, great flavors,” said Mendy Meriwether, vice president of food, dispensed beverage and QSR for EG America. “We’re thrilled to serve up fast, flavorful and budget-friendly bites that keep our guests energized and smiling.”
Getting Started
“If you’re a brand that wants to be stronger in foodservice and you’re looking for an option to expand your menu beyond bacon, egg and cheese on a bagel or roll, I would definitely start with [Hispanic] breakfast foods,” Keune of 4910 Consulting said. “Breakfast burritos are prominent throughout the country, and they hold well in the hot hold. They’re portable food on the go that consumers like. These are flavor profiles that continue to grow, and it’s a big opportunity.”
Keune advises retailers to build innovation around the foodservice items they already offer and the ingredients they currently use.
“If you have a bake table, you can probably convert some of that space into an area for making tacos or quesadillas,” he said. “It’s a matter of having ingredients laid out in the right order, keeping the hot with the hot and the cold with the cold, and having the space to assemble the offering. You can make to order easily if you have the right equipment and process.”
If the effort seems challenging, turn to product distributors for help. “There are plug-and-play concepts, and you can modify a turnkey program, if you like,” Keune said. “Do you want to satisfy a consumer need or build something based on your brand and what your consumer vision is? Determine how you want to differentiate yourself from the competition. If your competition does this well, you better have something like it or something better.”
At McLane, “we conduct extensive research to see what’s next in c-store food and which trends are moving from the proliferation to ubiquity menu adoption phase,” said Farley Kaiser, senior director of culinary innovation. “Research confirms the momentum behind Mexican cuisine, which now appears on 78% of U.S. menus. With 85% of consumers expressing love for the category, its appeal spans all foodservice formats, from fine dining to convenience stores.”
That’s one reason McLane developed Central Eats, a line of hot and cold food offerings that includes a Fiesta Toss Salad with chicken; a chorizo, egg and cheese Square Wrap; and chicken or beef street tacos. “The salad appeals to health-conscious consumers,” said Kaiser. “Chicken and beef street tacos can be sold cold to consumers to heat in a microwave or prepped back of house in a microwave or rapid-cook oven, and then displayed in a hot case. Tacos are beloved by 65% of consumers and predicted to grow nearly 30% over the next four years.”
McLane also offers fruit cups, such as watermelon or mango with Tajin, both grab-and-go items with no prep required. Tajin is a tangy chili-lime seasoning that originated in Jalisco, Mexico, in the ’80s. “It’s a standout flavor with projected growth exceeding 200% over the next four years. It’s appearing in everything from guacamole to beverages,” Kaiser said.
Once the product and the platform for Hispanic-inspired foods are created, let the world know. “You must have the signage to draw people in,” Keune said, “and you must integrate your products into your loyalty app.”
Two consistent promoters are 7-Eleven’s Laredo Taco Company and Yesway stores. The companies execute promotions that celebrate occasions such as Cinco de Mayo, National Burrito Day and National Taco Day, with special foodservice offers and pricing designed to drive traffic and attract new shoppers.
On the Shelves
If timing is not yet right to launch Hispanic-inspired foodservice, there are still many food options that will help attract shoppers.
7-Eleven stores have offered traditional Mexican sweet bread products under the company’s 7-Select brand, including panquecitos (soft, sweet vanilla mini loaves), roles de canela (cinnamon rolls with raisins) and panqué con nuez (pound cake with pecans). In 2019, 7-Eleven and Stripes stores brought Mandarin—a flavor of Jarritos soda, which was founded in Mexico City—to the Big Gulp fountain. It was the first time the citrusy soft drink had been sold outside a bottle.
Rich Products Corp., based in Buffalo, New York, has a bakery near Mexico City that produces Tres Leches Cake Cups for the U.S. market.
“While tres leches traditionally features a simple sponge cake soaked in a rich milk blend and topped with light whipped icing, we’ve seen strong consumer interest in approachable flavor variations that still honor the original,” said Elizabeth Sommer, customer marketing manager for Rich’s. “Demand continues to grow nationally as more consumers discover and adopt global desserts and flavors.”
Rich’s also has added a Hispanic-inspired flavor to its self-serve assortment of f’real milkshakes. The 12-ounce Cinnamon Churro Milkshake has the flavors of a churro, a fried pastry that’s typically ridged and coated in cinnamon sugar. The f’real version is made with real milk and packed with sweet cinnamon spice. Consumers can prepare it in the store’s blender in about a minute.
“This product was a limited-time offering in the fall of 2024, and since it was so successful, it’s been added to the core portfolio,” Sommer said. “Fans demanded that we bring it back, and now it’s here to stay. It’s extremely popular in regions of the West and Southwest United States.”
The f’real target market is 13- to 24-year-old consumers. “But recent data shows a lift in consumption for the 55-plus crowd, too,” Sommer said.
Many Mexican manufacturers are gaining momentum internationally. Brands include Gamesa, a PepsiCo subsidiary and Mexico’s largest manufacturer of cookies, and Marinela, a producer of cookies, pies and snack cakes.
Even without a full foodservice program, c-stores can engage shoppers and boost incremental sales through thoughtful retail curation of Hispanic-inspired offerings.
“At the end of the day, if it’s good food and you’re able to market it well, it will grow,” Keune said. “Especially with today’s trends in Hispanic foods.”