¿Se Habla Español?

Release Date: Mon May 2nd, 2006

¿Se Habla Español?,

Say 'hello' to Central Florida's fastest growing market

By Richard Westlund - May 01, 2006

TO SERVE CENTRAL Florida’s fast-growing Hispanic market, Publix is converting two of its 850 stores into Hispanic “Publix Sabor” supermarkets. The stores, in Kissimmee and Hialeah, will feature an entire private-label Hispanic food line.

Along with offering Latino specialties like pan cubano (Cuban bread), tres leches (a milky dessert), black beans and mojo sauce, the Publix Sabor will be staffed with bilingual employees and have signage in both English and Spanish.

“We’re tailoring our stores to meet the needs of Hispanic customers because we want to make sure we’re serving our customers as best as we can,” says Publix spokesman Dwaine Stevens. Like other Central Florida businesses, Publix is reaching out to the Hispanic market, which now constitutes more than 500,000 people in the Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Lake County region — roughly 20 percent of the region’s total

population.

Of course, the population numbers are only part of the story. A recent study of the Hispanic communities in Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties indicates the Hispanic community’s overall purchasing power has reached $6.9 billion and is expected to climb to $8.2 billion by 2007. In addition, Hispanics tend to shop more frequently and spend more money than non-Hispanic households, according “Hispanic Communities of Central Florida: Economic Contributions to the Region,” a study done by Fishkind & Associates Inc. and commissioned by the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce. Hispanics’ buying power skyrocketed 160 percent between 1990 and 2001, to $542 billion, according to the Food Marketing Institute. “A lot of Anglo businesses want to tap the Hispanic market,” says Jose Estorino, volunteer chairman, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Orlando, which has more than 900 members. “With an economic impact of more than $11 billion (this represents total contribution, not just purchasing power), Hispanics [in Central Florida] are a huge purchasing machine,” he adds. The Hispanic Chamber recently hosted a Hispanic Business and Consumer Expo, which drew more than 10,000 attendees to the Orlando/Orange County Convention Center.“ We want to educate Anglos and create opportunities for Hispanic businesses to market and promote their products,” adds Estorino, who’s senior vice president of marketing at the Orlando/OrangeCounty Convention & Visitors Bureau. READ MORE Download full PDF version.

At a Glance

THE HISPANIC COMMUNITY HAS BECOME A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO THE

OVERALL WELL BEING OF THE REGIONAL ECONOMY.

Between 1990 and 2000 the percentage of Floridians of Hispanic origin increased by 4.62 percent from 12.17 to 16.79 percent of the population. Within Central Florida, the concentration increased almost twice as fast (8.5 percent) from 8 percent in 1990to 16.5 percent by 2000.
Since the 2000 census the percentage of the Central Florida population of Hispanic origins has increased an additional 3.33 percent, reaching almost 20 percent of the total population.

The distribution of the Central Florida Hispanic population by place of origin has remained relatively stable since 1990 and is expected to remain stable.

There’s been a shift in proportions of the regional Hispanic population of Cuban decent. The Cuban population of Central Florida is expected to continue to increase, although the distribution has shifted from 10 percent of the Hispanic population in 1990 to 6 percent in 2004.

The purchasing power of the Hispanic community is strong and will remain strong as the population ages and skill sets are acquired by non-U.S. originating in-migration.

Job skills for those Hispanics migrating from within the United States remain strong and are expected to remain so.

Overall the Hispanic community contributes more than $11 billion, supporting an additional 32 thousand regional jobs.

Hispanic contributions are expected to rise by almost 20 percent to $13.4 billion by 2007. The associated employment grow this expected to reach 19.5 percent with an additional 6,000 regional jobs supported.

In addition to influencing the way retailers position themselves in the regional market, the area banking system is experiencing shifts in competitive strategy to capture the growing Hispanic market. Since the middle ’90s Central Florida has seen the entrance of Doral Mortgage Corporation, Puerto Rico’s largest mortgage banking company. Similarly, Banco Popular, Puerto Rico’s largest bank entered the market around the same time. Even the major U.S. banks are catering directly to the Hispanic community of Central Florida. SunTrust, in the mid-to-late ’90s, set up Grupo Bancario Latino to cater directly to the local Hispanic communities.

SOURCE: FISHKIND & ASSOCIATES INC.