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by Kellye Hunter Caribbean is in and getting hotter every day. In fact, many experts believe that it will soon be the reigning fashion in the world of hot and spicy. Mainstream companies are realizing the growing potential, particularly with jerk products, jams and jellies, and hot sauces, as people in the restaurant industry respond to increasing customer demands for more of this healthy, flavorful cuisine. Consequently, there has never been a better time for Caribbean manufacturers to venture into the mainstream market. Many products that have been selling in low volume to the niche market now have a chance to increase their audience and profitability. But making this kind of transition takes a lot of preparation, monetary investment, possibly some recipe and packaging modifications, the ability to produce in large volumes, and most of all, patience. This is not a step everyone should take, but right now the direction is a little more clear for those who do. TRENDS One of the main reasons Caribbean cuisine is becoming so popular is that the Caribbean itself is a favorite vacation destination. The Caribbean Tourism Organization reports that tourist arrivals to the Caribbean grew steadily, at an average rate of 6.2 percent per year, between 1984 and 1994. In 1995, tourist arrivals continued to grow by another 4 percent during the period between January and August. This increasing number of travelers, most of whom are Americans, are bringing home more than a tan. "People who travel to the Caribbean come back with a taste for the food and they want to make it at home," says Leighton Ashley, president of Jamaica Producers Marketing. He manages the marketing of the Jamaica Best line and other products from Jamaica, which include jerk seasonings, hot sauces and packaged fruit. He says that his company is hoping to sell more product to people who have been exposed to the Caribbean through travel, and also to people who become interested through word of mouth. Mindy Baker, president of Caribbean Island Imports, says that product awareness through travel has been helpful in her business. "I went to the owner of a chain of five stores and he had recently been on a cruise," she says. "He picked up eight of my products without even really looking at them." Immigration is another reason for increased Caribbean familiarity. The April 1993 edition of the Packaged Facts report on the condiments market states that almost half of all immigrants to the United States between 1981 and 1990 came from Mexico, South or Central America or the Caribbean. There are now large Caribbean communities introducing their native cuisine to people in trendsetting areas such as New York. There are also other, less direct reasons for the expanding Caribbean market. Researchers in the food and restaurant industries work constantly to pinpoint the exact elements that will satisfy Americans' cravings, and they have identified several trends that point toward Caribbean cuisine. --More Heat The April 1993 Packaged Facts report on the condiments market predicts that hot sauce retail sales will top $127 million dollars in 1997, growing from $85 million in 1992. --More Flavor The same Packaged Facts report also states that Americans are craving more complex tastes which reach beyond a basic vinegar-based pepper sauce. Interestingly enough, many of these distinctions involve Caribbean ingredients, according to the report, which states: "Now, many flavor variations are subtly enhanced with mustard, rum, or tropical fruits like papaya, banana, passion fruit or tamarind." --More Nutrition The Food Trends '96 survey, sponsored by Thomas Food Industry Register and Find/SVP, found that 59 percent of surveyed restaurants and other foodservices are more concerned with nutrition and have responded by offering their customers more healthy choices like pasta and fish; 51 percent report increased "healthy" menu sales. --Less Fat Food Trends '96 also documented that 48 percent of surveyed restaurateurs and foodservice managers have realized that the number one concern of their customers is the fat content of their food. Put all these elements together, and Caribbean cuisine is like the missing puzzle piece. It encompasses all of these elements, with nutritious offerings like grilled chicken and seafood, predominant flavorings of peppers and spices, and plenty of fresh tropical fruits and vegetables. As American palates expand to include Caribbean cuisine, Caribbean cuisine is also expanding to meet American tastes. Melissa Stock, co-author of Hot & Spicy Caribbean, says that the old Caribbean cuisine included many fresh fruits and vegetables, but also involved fried fish and meats and many pastry dishes. In the last five years or so, she says, the influx of American tourists to the Caribbean has created a demand for more health-conscious dishes using indigenous ingredients that are flavored with spices rather than fat. Attention from mainstream companies also confirms the growth of the Caribbean food industry. One such company is McCormick, which began producing a jerk seasoning about two years ago, and another is McIlhenny, which, over the last year, has introduced a Caribbean Style Steak Sauce and an Habanero hot sauce with a definite Caribbean twist. "We see this as a tactical opportunity, combining the corporate icon of Tabasco with the emerging food trend of Caribbean," says Richard Dunn, vice president of sales and marketing for McIlhenny. He says that his company is viewing Caribbean as a long-term player in the fiery foods arena, and that it will possibly be even bigger than Cajun. Dunn says the habanero sauce, which is blended with tropical fruits such as mango, banana, tamarind and papaya, and suggested for use in recipes such as Mango Ginger Dipping Sauce, has been introduced into the targeted specialty markets of California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida. In these places, it has met with "resounding approval," says Dunn. However, because of its intense heat level, he says, it's not for everyone. The steak sauce, which is a more versatile product with a much lower heat level, has been marketed more widely. "It's not mainstream the way we would like it to be," says Dunn, "but it's growing slowly." Indeed, this reflects the state of many Caribbean products on the market right now, which are gaining audiences and attention, but are not yet household names. "I think really within another year we will see substantial growth," says Derryck Cox, co-founder and executive vice president of International Trade Promotion, Inc., and former Jamaican trade commissioner to the United States. He estimates that the Caribbean food market will grow by more than 10-15 percent for the next few years. Another factor helping this trend along is the increasing popularity of Caribbean foods in the restaurant industry. Food Trends '96 found that 14 percent of surveyed restaurateurs and other foodservice managers added Caribbean dishes to their menus in 1995, making it the third most popular ethnic addition behind Italian and Mexican/Tex-Mex. Additionally, the same study found that 11 percent of surveyed restaurateurs and foodservice managers planned to add Caribbean items to their menus in 1996. This ties Caribbean with Italian for the most popular planned ethnic menu addition. Darden Restaurant, Inc., which runs both the Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurant chains, is currently test marketing Bahama Breeze, a Caribbean-style eating establishment that opened in Orlando, Florida in February 1996. "We spend a lot of time talking to consumers about what they like and don't like," says Roger Thompson, who works in research and marketing for Darden. "We have looked at cuisines around the world and Caribbean was high on the list." He says Americans are also craving more flavorful items, and Caribbean cuisine fits this bill easily because it has been influenced by a number of cultures, including Dutch, Asian, African, Indian, French and English. Bahama Breeze offers a dining experience that includes Caribbean music played by live bands and a varied menu with selections for both heat lovers and the non-initiated, including authentic Caribbean foods such as Jerked Chicken and Rebecca's Key Lime Pie, the recipe for which comes from Rebecca's Jamaican grandmother; hybrid foods like Habanero Chicken Wings and Jerk Chicken Pizza; and a number of American selections like hamburgers. So far, people seem to be eating it up. Thompson says there is a one-to-two-hour wait most nights for the 300 available seats, but before Bahama Breeze goes national, test marketing will continue for at least another year to make sure the interest is broad-based. Right now, however, indications are good as Darden intends to open a second Orlando location in May. "We think America is ready for this," says Thompson. EDUCATING THE CONSUMER The growing number of Caribbean restaurants and menu items not only indicates, but fuels the trend as more and more people find out what Caribbean food is all about. "When you look at other ethnic foods, the mainstream's introduction to them is through restaurants," says Cox. Another way is through deliberate promotion, which is absolutely necessary for manufacturers if they want consumers to become familiar with new products and learn how to use them. It is helpful if manufacturers can get their distributors to agree to do in-store promotions such as tastings, demonstrations, cooking classes, prize give-aways, and coupons. "We've got to continue and prepare to invest in promoting products through demos to get consumers to take product off the shelf," says Cox. One such vehicle of publicity was "A Taste of the Caribbean," an in-store promotion at six Tops Friendly Markets in the Buffalo, Rochester and Ithaca areas of New York from September 22 through October 5, 1996. The Caribbean Export Development Agency, a main client of International Trade Promotion, Inc., sponsored and arranged for various Caribbean products to be showcased in these supermarkets and also brought in Caribbean chefs to conduct cooking classes. "It is important to introduce the products in a user-friendly manner," says Allan Marsh, marketing officer at the Caribbean Export Development Agency's main office in Barbados. "We want to show people how these condiments and sauces can complement the foods they are familiar with by creating dishes like 'Rasta Pasta,' or by simply giving them ways to liven up a hamburger. After the classes, it was great to see people going straight to the shelves to get these products." EDUCATING THE MANUFACTURER The Caribbean Export Development Agency exists for the purpose of increasing exports out of the Caribbean, and they encourage manufacturers to go mainstream if at all possible. "The optimum goal is to increase sales," says Marsh. "When volumes are low, the per unit costs go up." In the food and beverage industry, CEDA targets markets mainly in the U.S. and the U.K., and assists Caribbean manufacturers in various ways. One is by supporting the costs of going to trade fairs--for instance, they might pay for airfares and shipping while the manufacturer pays only a small exhibiting cost. Because they believe that manufacturers are much more likely to succeed if they have the right information, CEDA also provides resources such as market research, product feedback and training seminars. Market readiness The seminars that CEDA conducts are for people thinking about starting a business, as well as those trying to expand an existing business. "It's difficult to predict the size of the market--it's a maze, a jungle," says Marsh. "We want to try and educate people before they go in." Topics include: --Market awareness and orientation --How to use the trade media --Packaging and labeling, including design, legal issues and copyright laws --Ethnic marketing --Food technology--how to make the same thing over and over. CEDA also provides product and packaging feedback in terms of refining a recipe to suit mainstream tastes and designing a label that will first attract buyers and distributors, then customers. Group marketing approach "We have always gone as a group, not as individual countries or companies," says Marsh. "The costs to a group are lower." When products are sold and promoted together, limited promotional dollars are split more ways, such as in "A Taste of the Caribbean." These programs are beneficial to manufacturers, because all they have to do is provide product, and CEDA arranges the rest. Marsh says that almost every company represented at "A Taste of the Caribbean"sold some product, with some manufacturers selling nearly 50 percent of their stock in one week. Not only does this kind of publicity create demand for products and increase the potential of their success, he says, but it also proves to the stores that these products can move off the shelves. Another benefit to group marketing has to do with slotting fees, or paying for space on the grocery store shelves. These fees are determined by the volume a grocery store sells, and can range anywhere from a case of product to $3,000 per product per store. Sometimes CEDA can arrange to split these fees between several manufacturers, or they will help negotiate a reduced fee package. CEDA, however, will not provide slotting fees--manufacturers must pay these themselves. Remember though, that if a product does not sell well during the first six months or so, the store will remove it and keep the slotting fee. TURNING AMBITION TO FRUITION One of the companies that has succeeded with CEDA assistance is Native Treasures, run by Anne-Marie Whittaker of St. Michael, Barbados. She has been manufacturing her Tropical Inferno sauce, Tamangy Chutney and Bassa Bassa Sauce for almost two years, and has been in the mainstream market for about one year. Right now, her products are carried in Ralph's in Los Angeles, Vaughn's Pavilions on the West Coast, Waldbaum's in New York, and Food Emporium in New York and on the East Coast. They are scheduled to appear in more stores in 1997. "You've got to have a product the stores see as viable--it can't just be another pepper sauce," says Whittaker. Her recipes, she says, are not traditional blends, but rather a combination of old and new, that captures the romance and exotic feel of the tropics with native fruits and spices that are blended with just the right amount of peppers. "You grow up doing certain things the way the old folks do them," she says. "I took the old and put my creativity into it to make something new." She believes that in addition to a good recipe, appealing packaging and tireless promotion, a beginning mainstream manufacturer needs to have faith and persistence--sometimes even five years' worth before seeing a profit. After two years Whittaker is not yet running at a profit, but she is confident that her investments will pay off. She says she fights discouragement by focusing on finding ways to make things go right, not dwelling on problems and pitfalls. "I can see the light at the end of the tunnel," she says. "This is the first product from Barbados to make it to the supermarket shelves, and regardless of what it takes, we want to go on." Part of what it takes is the ability to produce in large volume to supply the larger demands of supermarkets. Mark Fields, vice president of marketing at Tastes of the Caribbean, the largest importer of Caribbean food products in the United States and importer of Native Treasures, says that manufacturers in the mainstream market must be able to provide their product in volume and deliver it in a timely manner--usually within ten days to two weeks. In the next few months, Whittaker plans to expand her operation enough to produce two twenty-foot containers a month, enough to fill an entire tractor trailer. While this might seem intimidating, she says it will take only five or six people working an eight-hour daily shift, and adding only a couple of kettles, a filling machine, a capper and some troughs for washing. She credits the CEDA seminars with helping her learn to better utilize what she already has. Fields, who first approached Whittaker about putting her products in the mainstream market estimates that Native Treasures will do a minimum of $500,000 in sales, both foreign and domestic, over the next year. Even as manufacturers work harder to bring their products to the consumer, consumers want to work less to find them. Convenience is the name of the game these days, and people want to save time with one-stop shopping without sacrificing variety. In response, supermarkets are offering more specialty items to attract interest and gain loyalty. Due to increased exposure in these sections and another convenience--restaurants--Americans are now recognizing more Caribbean products than ever before. "Due to education--of both consumers and buyers--people are demanding more Caribbean products," says Mark Fields, vice president of marketing at Tastes of the Caribbean, the largest importer of Caribbean food products in the United States. "The products were available before, but no one cared." Someone cares now, as Fields points out that he has seen a $3-5 million increase nationwide in the sales of Caribbean food products over the last three years. Right now, the stage is set, the demand is growing, and the door to the mainstream market is open wide. "I think Caribbean products are following on the tracks of other products like Mexican, Italian, and Thai," says Ashley. "In the near future, we will see Caribbean products take their place." Top of Page
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