Abstract
To provide much needed knowledge and insight for the range of businesses, marketers, and advertisers that need it, this report examines Hispanic attitudes and behaviors towards dining at home--in six main sections. The first section of this report examines a core set of demographics that both uniquely describes the Hispanic consumer and helps illustrate the role of the Hispanic consumer with respect to dining out. The second section of this report examines expenditures, comparing the average expenditures of the total population, Hispanics, and non-Hispanics.
Subsequent sections assess attitudes towards home cooking--by comparing Hispanic responses to questions against those of other ethnicities and races as well as by analyzing questions asked exclusively of Hispanics. In these sections, Mintel analyzes data from the Simmons National Consumer Survey (NCS) and the Simmons National Hispanic Consumer Survey (NHCS), as well as results from its own exclusive custom research.
Thus, the third section analyzes Hispanic attitudes and usage patterns regarding home cooking, such as who cooks the meals, how long meals take to prepare, and attitudes about scratch cooking. The fourth section analyzes home cooking versus prepared and frozen foods, as well as attitudes toward prepared foods and fast food. The fifth section analyzes opinions about cooking and novel foods and marketing incentives, as well as food attributes. In the last section, Mintel assesses responses regarding the most important meal of the day.
Wherever possible, the data was analyzed to compare not only Hispanics and the overall population, but the non-Hispanic population as well. In addition, where data was available, the Hispanic population was segmented by characteristics associated with acculturation and other cultural differences. Specifically, Hispanics were segmented by nativity (whether born in the U.S. or another country), language spoken in the home, and country of origin or heritage.
Table of Contents
- Introduction and Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Definition
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
- Terms
- Executive Summary
- Hispanic population tops 43 million
- Too little time and money for some Hispanics
- Children prevalent, but not deciding factor in food attitudes
- Less acculturated Hispanics more likely to cook meals from scratch
- Men who are responsible for household meals take more shortcuts
- Most time spent preparing dinner meal, but lunch also time-intensive
- Prepared foods and frozen foods not popular, though use differs
- Lower than average interest in trying new foods
- For less acculturated, kitchen is the most important room in the home
- Nutrition important, but more so for women
- Demographics
- The Hispanic population
- Figure 1: U.S. population by race and Hispanic origin, 2006
- Figure 2: U.S. population, by Hispanic origin, 2001-11
- Figure 3: Marital status of Hispanics, by gender, 2004
- Figure 4: Households by presence of children and Hispanic origin, 2004
- Most Hispanics work, but have relatively low incomes
- Figure 5: Labor force participation, by Hispanic origin, 2005
- Figure 6: Median household income, by race and Hispanic origin, 2004
- Diversity within the Hispanic population
- Figure 7: Native-born/foreign-born Hispanics and country of origin/heritage, 2004
- Figure 8: Hispanics by country of origin/heritage, 2004
- Acculturation level varies among Hispanics
- Figure 9: Types of frozen foods used, by language spoken in the home, January-September 2005
- Food Expenditures
- Introduction
- Spending on food and beverages
- Figure 10: Average expenditures on food and beverages, by Hispanic origin, 2004
- Expenditures for food at home
- Figure 11: Average expenditures on food and beverages at home, by Hispanic origin, 2003 and 2004
- Figure 12: Average expenditures on food and beverages at home, by Hispanic origin, 2004
- Figure 13: Average expenditures on food and beverages away from home, per consumer unit, by Hispanic origin, 2004
- Home Cooking: Who Cooks It, Preparation Time, Scratch Cooking
- Introduction
- Primary responsibility for meal preparation
- Capsule summary
- Analysis
- Figure 14: Primary responsibility for meal preparation, by gender, April-May 2006
- Figure 15: Primary responsibility for meal preparation, by gender, marital status, and presence of children in the household, April-May 2006
- Figure 16: Primary responsibility for meal preparation, by gender and age, April-May 2006
- Time spent preparing meals
- Capsule summary
- Analysis
- Figure 17: Time spent preparing meals, by gender, April-May 2006
- Figure 18: Time spent preparing meals, by marital status and presence of children in the household, April-May 2006
- Figure 19: Time spent preparing meals, by preferred language*, April-May 2006
- Figure 20: Time spent preparing meals, by Hispanic/American identification*, April-May 2006
- Figure 21: Time spent preparing meals, by age, April-May 2006
- Figure 22: Time spent preparing meals, by household income, April-May 2006
- Figure 23: Time spent preparing dinner by number of restaurant dinners eaten in previous week, April-May 2006
- Importance of home cooking and cooking from scratch
- Capsule summary
- Analysis
- Figure 24: Opinions about home cooking, by gender, April-May 2006
- Figure 25: Opinions about home cooking, by marital status and presence of children in the household, April-May 2006
- Figure 26: Opinions about home cooking, by preferred language*, April-May 2006
- Figure 27: Opinions about home cooking, by Hispanic/American identification*, April-May 2006
- Figure 28: Opinions about home cooking, by age, April-May 2006
- Figure 29: Opinions about home cooking, by household income, April-May 2006
- Home Cooking, Prepared/Frozen Foods and Fast Food
- Introduction
- Home cooking versus prepared/frozen foods
- Capsule summary
- Analysis
- Figure 30: Cooking from scratch versus prepared/frozen foods, by gender, April-May 2006
- Figure 31: Cooking from scratch versus prepared/frozen foods, by marital status and presence of children in the household, April-May 2006
- Figure 32: Cooking from scratch versus prepared/frozen foods, by preferred language*, April-May 2006
- Figure 33: Cooking from scratch versus prepared/frozen foods, by Hispanic/American identification*, April-May 2006
- Figure 34: Cooking from scratch versus prepared/frozen foods, by age, April-May 2006
- Figure 35: Cooking from scratch versus prepared/frozen foods, by household income, April-May 2006
- Types of frozen, shelf stable and refrigerated foods used
- Analysis
- Figure 36: Types of frozen foods used, by race/ethnicity, January-September 2005
- Figure 37: Types of shelf stable foods used, by race/ethnicity, January-September 2005
- Figure 38: Types of refrigerated foods used, by race/ethnicity, January-September 2005
- Prepared foods and fast food
- Capsule summary
- Analysis
- Figure 39: Opinions about prepared foods and fast food, by Hispanic origin, January-September 2005
- Figure 40: Opinions about prepared foods and fast foods, by gender, January-September 2005
- Figure 41: Opinions about prepared foods and fast food, by language spoken in the home, January-September 2005
- Figure 42: Opinions about prepared foods and fast food, by marital status and presence of children in the household, January-September 2005
- Figure 43: Opinions about prepared foods and fast food, by household income, January-September 2005
- Home Cooking, Novel Foods and Food Attributes
- Introduction
- Cooking and novel foods
- Capsule summary
- Analysis
- Figure 44: Opinions about cooking and novel foods, by Hispanic origin, January-September 2005
- Figure 45: Opinions about cooking and novel foods, by gender, January-September 2005
- Figure 46: Opinions about cooking and novel foods, by nativity, January-September 2005
- Figure 47: Opinions about cooking and novel foods, by language spoken in the home, January-September 2005
- Figure 48: Opinions about cooking and novel foods, by marital status and presence of children in the household, January-September 2005
- Figure 49: Opinions about cooking and novel foods, by household income, January-September 2005
- Food attributes: nutrition, ingredients, and calories
- Capsule summary
- Analysis
- Figure 50: Opinions about nutrition, ingredients, and calories, by Hispanic origin, January-September 2005
- Figure 51: Opinions about nutrition, ingredients, and calories, by gender, January-September 2005
- Figure 52: Opinions about nutrition, ingredients, and calories, by nativity, January-September 2005
- Figure 53: Opinions about nutrition, ingredients, and calories, by marital status and presence of children in the household, January-September 2005
- Figure 54: Opinions about nutrition, ingredients, and calories, by household income, January-September 2005
- Most Important Meal of the Day
- Introduction
- Capsule summary
- Analysis
- Figure 55: Most important meal of the day, by Hispanic origin, January-September 2005
- Figure 56: Most important meal of the day, by gender, January-September 2005
- Figure 57: Most important meal of the day, by nativity, January-September 2005
- Figure 58: Most important meal of the day, by language spoken in the home, January-September 2005
- Figure 59: Most important meal of the day, by age, January-September 2005
