Tap Into Taste Trends

One of America’s strengths is its diversity. And in recent years, the proverbial “melting pot” has become more diverse as people come here to pursue better lives. With these immigrants come parts of their cultures and tastes in cuisine.
Bringing a “taste of home” to the U.S. offers growers here an opportunity to tap into new crops and new markets. “If you go back 25 years ago, our idea of vegetables included crops like tomatoes, bell peppers, and watermelons,” says Gene McAvoy, regional vegetable Extension agent IV. “From there, the diversity went downhill quickly. But, that’s all changed today.”
In addition, the traditional American diet is changing as people embrace these new dishes from all over the globe. “When I was a boy, a visit to a restaurant meant American food,” says McAvoy. “Today, there’s Thai, Mexican, Korean, Chinese, etc., restaurants, so all of our diets have become more cosmopolitan.”

Because of the interest in the broadly named category of “ethnic” crops, a study was developed to determine the opportunities for growers producing these crops to supply northeastern states. The study was a collaboration between Rutgers University, University of Massachusetts, and the University of Florida.

Changing Demographics

There were four groups identified in the study — Oriental, Southeast Asian, Caribbean/African, and Hispanic. The study revealed heavy concentrations of these groups in the northeastern region and thus strong market potential.
McAvoy assisted in the study and says it yielded some interesting results. “Many of these folks see dishes from their home country as a comfort food,” he says. “Because the dishes are unique, they often cook meals from scratch. That means they use a lot more fresh produce. They are buying about 2 ½ times more fresh produce on average than Caucasian Americans, and they spend more per capita on fresh vegetables.”
Demographic research predicts by 2050 the U.S. will no longer be a white-majority nation, as more immigrants move here. “In business, you need to follow trends and realize there is tremendous opportunity to be found,” McAvoy says. “That is basically what we found in the fresh produce buying patterns of the groups we studied.”

Cropping Opportunities

The research collaboration has identified 22 crops that should be placed in production trials to build more knowledge on how to successfully produce the crops. These contained four types of vegetables that had significant cross-ethnicity demand, including several types of cucurbits, eggplants, chili/peppers, and cilantro.

According to McAvoy, the good news is that quite a few of these crops are already being grown in Florida. “We are growing many of the peppers like the habañeros, Serranos, pablanos, and Scotch bonnets,” he says. “Then we have a lot of the Asian vegetables like Bok Choy, Chinese cabbage, and the various herbs.”

Homework Required

One of the challenges these growers will face when producing these crops is finding information on their production. “Take tomatoes, for example, we have an entire volume of information on growing them from Extension and other sources,” says McAvoy. “But, with some of these newer crops, information can be difficult to find.
“In some instances, growers are getting out ahead of the research community in producing these crops. That is why it is important they involve university and Extension folks when developing these crops.”
While it can be challenge to find information, it can be found with a little homework, and there are some similarities in production of traditional crops. For instance, if a grower has been growing cabbage then he or she will find that growing Chinese cabbage has its similarities in terms of fertilizer requirements, pest and diseases, etc.

Other constraints to growing these crops are lack of seed and some chemical label restrictions. “Some of these lesser known crops might not be on the label, so you might not have the range of herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides that are common with traditional crops,” says McAvoy.
Another important area growers would need to study is understanding the diversity of market demands. “If you look at cilantro, it is popular in both Hispanic and Asian markets,” says McAvoy. “But, they want the herb harvested and packed in entirely different ways, so you need to know these types of things, too.”

McAvoy suggests establishing a relationship with a buyer who specializes in the various ethnic crop markets to gain insights on what these consumers desire. “This can give you an inside advantage to understanding the market,” he says.

As demographics change, demand for niche crops increases.