October 12, 2007
Mexican Businesses Follow Customers to America
As more Mexicans cross the border to make a life in the U.S., the companies that served them while in their home country are following the same path in search of new business opportunities.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, five restaurants from Tijuana have opened locations in San Diego County to meet the demand for “authentic” Mexican food.
Luis Valdivia, a board member of the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, told the paper, “Our culture and our cuisine is more widely accepted, and it’s a natural consequence of the closeness and the movement between the border cities, yet there’s been a noticeable growth lately.”
Some of that growth has resulted from wealthy Tijuanans moving north in response to an increase in kidnappings. When these consumers moved into the U.S., they brought their desire for familiar Mexican foods with them.
Other U.S. border cities have also seen more Mexican businesses setting up shop. In El Paso, Texas, where 80 percent of the population is Mexican, there has been a marked increase.
James Clark, director general of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Mexico Business Center, said it would be a mistake to assume that these companies are just chasing old customers to a new location in the U.S.
“The Hispanic market is huge, but the overall market is much bigger and there is no reason why Mexican companies of quality can’t compete,” Mr. Clark said.
Mark Sloan, a project consultant with the chamber, said, “Whether you are based in the United States or Mexico, you want to take advantage of market opportunities, and the best way of doing that is to get closer to the customer.”
Discussion Question: How much of a competitive impact can we expect to see Mexican companies have in the U.S.? Are there any retail businesses moving north that have the opportunity to hit it big with consumers beyond their Mexican base?
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Very few Mexican or Canadian businesses have made any impact in the US. As the US dollar declines and the Canadian dollar gets stronger, there might be more Canadian penetration, but Mexican currency often declines along with the US dollar. Generally, the US penetration into Mexico and Canada is greater than the other way around.
Can you say, “Corona?” Seriously, assuming sufficient capital, why shouldn’t these companies do well with both the immigrant and mainstream markets? The potential for offerings that are both authentic and (from a mass market point of view at least) innovative is huge.
Is Mexican food made in San Diego by U.S. citizens (presumably!) of Mexican descent, working for a company based in Mexico, any more authentic than Mexican food made by undocumented workers (probably!) working for a company based in the U.S.? Reminds me of the time I pulled up in front of a hunting camp in a Nissan Titan. The front yard was full Fords and Chevys. Anticipating a (gentle) ribbing, I had done my homework. When the first “Why can’t you buy American?” rang out, I marched the lot of them out front and began to describe the percentage of their U.S. company trucks that were actually made in the U.S. Then I educated them as to the birthplace of my “import”–Alabama. Do we care about American OWNED or American MADE?
Don’t you think an authentic Mexican supermarket would fly in California? I wouldn’t ignore the possibility of that or in foodservice. Just because there haven’t been raging successes so far, doesn’t mean there won’t be.
If I were a supermarket executive, especially in Southern California, I’d be keeping a close watch on this.
Don’t underestimate the "taste of home." Mexican Coca-Cola is all the rage here in California. Made with sugar instead of corn syrup, it does taste ever so slightly different, and comes in the iconic glass bottle. It’s being sold in Costco here in Mountain View now!
As a further illustration, Taco Bell has opened a food cart in Mexico City, with plans to expand in Mexico. Presumably they are catering to the tastes of Mexicans who have lived in the U.S. for a long time, returned to Mexico, and now crave an authentic Chalupa!
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Very few Mexican or Canadian businesses have made any impact in the US. As the US dollar declines and the Canadian dollar gets stronger, there might be more Canadian penetration, but Mexican currency often declines along with the US dollar. Generally, the US penetration into Mexico and Canada is greater than the other way around.
Can you say, “Corona?” Seriously, assuming sufficient capital, why shouldn’t these companies do well with both the immigrant and mainstream markets? The potential for offerings that are both authentic and (from a mass market point of view at least) innovative is huge.
Is Mexican food made in San Diego by U.S. citizens (presumably!) of Mexican descent, working for a company based in Mexico, any more authentic than Mexican food made by undocumented workers (probably!) working for a company based in the U.S.? Reminds me of the time I pulled up in front of a hunting camp in a Nissan Titan. The front yard was full Fords and Chevys. Anticipating a (gentle) ribbing, I had done my homework. When the first “Why can’t you buy American?” rang out, I marched the lot of them out front and began to describe the percentage of their U.S. company trucks that were actually made in the U.S. Then I educated them as to the birthplace of my “import”–Alabama. Do we care about American OWNED or American MADE?
Don’t you think an authentic Mexican supermarket would fly in California? I wouldn’t ignore the possibility of that or in foodservice. Just because there haven’t been raging successes so far, doesn’t mean there won’t be.
If I were a supermarket executive, especially in Southern California, I’d be keeping a close watch on this.
Don’t underestimate the "taste of home." Mexican Coca-Cola is all the rage here in California. Made with sugar instead of corn syrup, it does taste ever so slightly different, and comes in the iconic glass bottle. It’s being sold in Costco here in Mountain View now!
As a further illustration, Taco Bell has opened a food cart in Mexico City, with plans to expand in Mexico. Presumably they are catering to the tastes of Mexicans who have lived in the U.S. for a long time, returned to Mexico, and now crave an authentic Chalupa!