Carlos Arámbula

Fair Food Choices Take in Ethnic Variations

September 2, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Brad Wolverton of The Washington Post describes the summer fair as "an annual eating extravaganza that seems to guarantee every American the freedom to leave their diet at the door for at least one day." Is there a significant opportunity to broaden the range of ethnic foods found at fairs to retail food stores?      [more...]

Questions: Is there a significant opportunity to broaden the range of ethnic foods found at fairs to retail food stores? Should more of the food found in fairs - albeit largely of the fried variety - be more widely adopted by retailers for year-round eating?

I believe this is a situation where if one looks at the "small" picture the opportunity is missed. The "big" picture includes the food network and other cooking shows and their popularity. There is a definite and clear opportunity for more ethnic foods and flavors at the grocers aisles. Of course, there will be some markets where it will be more popular (mainly large metros) but over the years ethnic flavors and products will become a larger part of American cupboards.

The big picture has shown that in more than 200 years ethnic foods have changed what we consider "American" and not the other way around. One day we might replace hot dogs and apple pie with burritos and churros. How does hummus and tortilla chips at the ballpark sound?