By MINDY POEHL | Central Texas Edition

Wendy Esch, director of marketing with Dean Foods, speaks about marketing dairy products to Hispanics, at a dairy conference in Fort Worth. — Staff photo by Mindy Poehl

March 16, 2006 - Dairy foods are extremely healthy, filling and tasty. Dairy producers and marketeers are making sure the public is aware of the healthfulness of dairy products by marketing their products worldwide. On Monday, March 6, a dairy marketing research symposium was held at the Renaissance Hotel in Fort Worth, in which people from the dairy industry discussed new marketing techniques, as well as new research about the dairy industry.

Wendy Esch, director of marketing for Dean Foods Company on the dairy group side, discussed the need for marketing dairy products to Hispanics.

In 2000, 12.5 percent of the population in the United States identified themselves as Hispanics, which includes Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans and South Americans and Latinos.

"U.S. Hispanics have more purchasing power than the entire country of Mexico," Esch said. "By 2050, the U.S. population of Hispanics will triple in size."

Forty-six percent of the U.S. birth rate is driven by Hispanics and nearly 3/4 of Hispanic adults are aware of U.S. consumer products.

Esch explained how Hispanics migrate to the U.S. "temporarily." And, while they are in the U.S., Hispanics shop more often and spend more money each on groceries than the average U.S. citizen, based on the emphasis for freshness, Esch said.

Hispanics tend to care of the "F Factors" when it comes to food, Esch explained. They like freshness in their food. They like a lot of flavor. They eat with their large families and eating is a friendly process.

Considering what a large percentage of Hispanics go to the grocery store almost every day and spend more money on fresh products, Esch said, "No one is targeting this group with unique milk-based products. They prefer whole milk and creams. Their milk spending index is more than the white and African American population."

 Dairy products that would appeal to the Hispanic population are milk shakes, liquid yogurt, flavored milk, coffee with milk and kid-oriented products.

"These are products that are untapped in the United States, but are successful in Latin America," Esch said. "These products should have duel language on the packets."

Esch summarized her speech by saying how the Hispanic culture affects Americans. By creating dairy products for them, she said, Americans will eventually adopt those products, too.

Caragh McLaughlin, senior brand manager for Horizon Organic White Wave Foods, spoke about organic dairy products and catering to the health or environmentally conscious consumer.

"Seventy-five percent of Americans believe diet is a better influence or health than medicine," McLaughlin said. "Consumers are taking a closer look at how their food choices impact their health. They were looking for a 'wonder pill,' but not any more."

Consumers buy organic foods because they believe they are healthier for them, McLaughlin said. 

"You think of the earthy, crunchy, granola-eating hippie woman who probably lives down the street from me in Boulder, Colorado, and we love that woman and her kids," McLaughlin said.

Seventy-six percent of the population is concerned about growth hormones in their food. Seventy-three percent are concerned about antibiotics and 68 percent are concerned about pesticides in their food.

The Hartman Group is a company performing a study that focuses on why people focus on health and organics, McLaughlin said. The Hartman Group found that the main triggers for people focusing on health are children; when a family member has a health condition like food allergies, skin disorders or cancer; or a social network influence, like if they saw or heard a story about food products that scared them.

"My favorite question to ask is, 'If pesticides aren't good for bugs, how can they be good for us?'" McLaughlin said.

Dairy is the second category, behind produce, to adopt organics, McLaughlin explained. Non-dairy beverages, like soy, is number three, baby food is fourth, and meat/poultry is fifth.

"Organics in the meat/poultry category has gone up like crazy since the first case of mad cow disease," McLaughlin said.

The drivers for people to buy organic produce are freshness, taste and lack of pesticides. The drivers for buying organic dairy products are lack of growth hormones and lack of antibiotics.

"Three member families have the highest eating index for organic milk," McLaughlin said. "It's the highest in families with kids under six years of age."

In 2002, $1.7 billion consumed organic milk. In 2007, it is projected that the market will be $5.4 billion. Eighty-five percent of organic milk is sold in grocery stores and 65 percent of Americans have tried organic foods.

"The cost of the raw milk supply is rising due to increased competition and increased cost of production on farms," McLaughlin said. "When there is not enough supply, like there is today, prices go up. Organic feed costs are at an all time high."

Horizon Organic partners with 325 family members with anywhere between 12 to 2,000 cows.

"We are also helping to transition 179 farms to organic farms," McLaughlin explained. "We (the organic milk industry) are going through growing pains right now, but all companies go through them. The reality is that we'll be short on supply for some time, but hopefully it will be less than four years."