Hispanic Foods Break Out of the Ethnic Aisle

Kroger, H-E-B, and several Ahold Delhaize banners have begun integrating Hispanic CPG SKUs into mainline category sets, treating salsa as a condiment, tortillas as bread, and Latin American sauces alongside Italian and Asian counterparts.

The dedicated ethnic aisle has long been a merchandising compromise that hurt sales by ghettoizing high-velocity SKUs. Integrating them into mainline categories raises both findability and basket lift.

Expect similar merchandising restructures for Asian and African foods, with the "international aisle" reframed as a destination for less-mainstream specialty SKUs rather than a catch-all.

Hispanic and Latino shoppers in the US increasingly buy across the store rather than primarily in the ethnic aisle, and non-Hispanic shoppers report higher likelihood of trying Latin American products when theyre merchandised alongside familiar categories.

If youre a Hispanic-focused CPG, push your retail accounts to integrate your SKUs into mainline category sets. The shelf math is on your side.