First Gen Hispanics Less Interested in Private Label?

Supermarket News reports in its June 22 issue that Hispanics in Spanish-dominant households are less likely to buy private label products than Hispanics in English-dominant households. This comes from a study commissioned by FMI (Food Marketing Institute) and sponsored by Marketing Management Inc.

I was scratching my head trying to figure it out. Could it be that less acculturated Hispanics (first generation, if I may generalize), are not used to the concept of PL? That they have unassailable connections to national brands (the same they shopped at home)? Surely the savings possibilities would move them to trial. And with quality trends in PL, shouldn’t that lead to adoption?

Shocker: turns out that “the difference … is most likely due to the geographic distribution of Spanish-dominant households and their lack of transportation.” The stores to which they have access, smaller neighborhood groceries and c-stores (presumably) don’t carry PL! Ya gotta love it.

The study was “based on 1,000 telephone interviews of primary grocery Hispanic shoppers in the Top 10 Hispanic markets.”