When consumers look for information about diabetes, for example, they will discover D’Arrigo’s cactus pears and nopalitos. And when television host Dr. Mehmet Oz made a claim that cactus pears were a hangover cure, the company experienced a sales spike.
“We’re not claiming that at all, but when it happened, we got a lot of people asking us where they could buy cactus pears,” Pizarro-Villalobos recalls.
Next Moves and Messaging
Although it can be a challenge to market superfoods due to an overcrowded landscape for such claims, where the message can be lost amid the hype or diluted, it is still worth the push to introduce (or reintroduce) Latin-origin fruits and vegetables to both U.S Hispanics and other consumers.
Messages directed specifically at His-panic consumers, and Hispennials in particular, often stand out since the opportunity is relatively untapped in the fresh produce industry.
Positioning guava, lucuma, nopalitos, or verdolagas as superfoods in Hispanic-focused marketing efforts may be a way to differentiate a product or brand and drive sales.
Images: gdefilip, Rafael Ramirez, david156, AleSalM, Kosan, LAURA_VN, photoearl, MIGUEL GARCIA SAAVEDRA/Shutterstock.com
