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U.S. Hispanics restaurant visits, spending outpacing non-Hispanics, study says

The U.S. Hispanic population's overall restaurant visits outpaced its population growth, research says.

April 22, 2015

The U.S. Hispanic population's overall restaurant visits outpaced its population growth, The NPD Group, a global information company, reported in its Hispanic foodservice market research.The group's per capita visits to restaurants and other foodservice outlets increased by 4 percent last year compared to a 1 percent decline in visits by non-Hispanics, according to NPD’s CREST report.

The average U.S. Hispanic consumer visits quick service restaurants more than the averge non-Hispanic consumer, NPD said. U.S. Hispanics’ per capita spending at restaurants also increased by 4 percent last year, compared to a 3 percent increase in per capita spending for non-Hispanics. Spanish-oriented Hispanics increased their per capita spending by 8 percent, spending roughly the same at commercial foodservice outlets as the average non-Hispanic consumer. Higher spending is attributed to data showing Hispanics have larger party sizes and more visits with children.

Restaurant chains like Papa John’s made early efforts to reach out to the growing population. It began its Hispanic marketing campaign in 2006 by expanding its 24/7 online ordering capabilities to include a Spanish-language website. The company shifted its marketing focus to Hispanic consumers by growing its Spanish-language TV spend to 13 percent of its total in 2014.

The brand’s investment in marketing to Hispanic customers has paid off, NPD said. Hispanic sales at Papa John’s grew 43 percent, traffic rose 18 percent, average ticket went up $1.50 and items per customer moved from 2.07 to 2.25. 

"We put a Spanish-language strategy in place, but the message hasn’t had to change," said Papa John’s Chief Executive Officer John Schnatter in a statement. "Papa John’s goal of bringing family and friends together resonates with Hispanics who are very focused on getting together with family.  Similarly, it wasn’t necessary to change any of our menu items; we just needed to communicate to Hispanics in a way they understood in order to build their confidence in the Papa John’s brand."