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Veteran Bakery Execs Finding Success In Growing Hispanic Market

With the explosion of growth in the food industry's attempts to market to the country's expanding ethnic population, it's not surprising to learn that two industry veterans of the Mid-Atlantic bakery business are using their expertise to build a profitable business in the arena.

Mark Salman and Suhayl Sauma may be familiar names to readers of Food World. Salman and Sauma were principals in La Parisienne, a Rockville, MD based bakery business, which they sold last year.

Since then, Salman and Sauma have put their energies into developing and selling the Buenos Dias line of baked goods specifically designed for the Hispanic consumer. While the brand is new, the companies involved in its creation, manufacture and marketing are run by individuals with years of experience.

AmeriBrands Corp. LLC is led by Sauma, a product development and branding specialist. Rockville, MD based ABC works with suppliers to identify, modify and develop the products that have the greatest chances of success in the U.S.market.

International American Supermarkets Corp., a specialist in international trading for more than 22 years, imports the products and provides the resources needed to keep them flowing smoothly to market. Headquartered in Piscataway, NJ, IAS outsources its warehousing and distribution needs mainly to Distribution Plus Inc., a specialist with national coverage.

AmeriBake International LLC provides the role of sales and marketing for the group and is the link with buyers. Salman, whose career spans 17 years in domestic sales and marketing and who has a thorough familiarity with the American bakery sector, heads ABI, which relies on its well established network of food brokers.

The brand these entities are working together to sell is the Buenos Dias line of thaw and sell baked goods marketed mainly, but not exclusively, to the Hispanic consumer in the U.S. Salman and Sauma have been able to start out running on marketing and merchandising the line, drawing on their extensive experience in the bakery business.

After selling La Parisienne in April 2003, the two men sought to remain in the business they love but needed to find a new avenue to explore. The two had spent about two years working on research and development of a line of baked goods to market to the Latino population in the U.S., one that the two believed was being severely under-served in the fresh bakery business. They sought the perfect tropical jams for specialty tarts.

They found out what shapes and cuts are important to the Latino shopper and consumer. They found out what countries had the ingredients they needed, as authenticity was tantamount to creating a product that would be accepted.

It took nearly a year to convert the initial research and development into a product line, which today continues to be the result of a constant give and take between the research and development in the U.S. and the bakeries in Spain.

By September 2003 the company was ready to start baking. Today, about five baking facilities are employed in the manufacture of Buenos Dias products, which are baked, packaged, frozen and then shipped to the U.S, ready to thaw and sell.

The main challenge the company faced as it sought to introduce its line to traditional supermarket operators was that brand is not as important in the bakery category as in other aisles of the store. The most important factor to address in bakery is freshness.

However, the Latino population is a bit different. The Latino consumer is often a brand-conscious shopper, one who finds appeal in a product that reminds them of home and of the brands they trusted. But, those marketing to these shoppers must find a way to gain authenticity in their eyes.

Buenos Dias employs a strong co-branding program to reach these consumers, having purchased the U.S. licensing rights to an entire series of programs produced by Grupo Televisa in Mexico. One at a time, program characters and other icons are included on the labels of Buenos Dias packaging and incorporated into the brand's marketing and merchandising plan.

This type of co-branding gives the Latino consumer an instant identification with the Buenos Dias line, and lends the brand an instant authenticity that demonstrates that it is really meant for them.

In looking for a familiar comparison to the type of co-branding that Buenos Dias is utilizing, think "breakfast cereal." The cereal aisle in the supermarket is probably the place where you can find the products that have most wholeheartedly grasped the cobranding phenomenon and really made it work. Think SpongeBob SquarePants, Winnie The Pooh, Spider Man. That's what Buenos Dias is doing, only with the characters from Spanish language TV programs that the Hispanic consumers can relate to.

The two men also understand that retailers really want and need help on marketing and merchandising to ethnic shoppers, especially in the bakery. So, Buenos Dias provides a solution for the category through its line, its special racks and other support the brand offers. For example, the company recently conducted a 10 week campaign sending information to 80 targeted retailers on ethnic consumers in the form of a newsletter/fact sheet sent to category managers that would help them learn more about ethnic marketing in general and the bakery category in particular.

Once the products are in the stores on specially designed, customized rack displays, they are backed up by a strong marketing program that includes on-pack promotions for mail-in offers items such as for DVDS, toys and CDs. The company readily participates in store openings with exciting hand-outs of hats, pencils, toys, stuffed cartoon characters from popular TV shows, etc.

Another plus for the retailer that Buenos Dias offers is an instore bakery thaw and sell product which offers a hard to beat shelf life of 45 days.

Salman and Sauma believe that retailers will recognize the value of the assistance and authenticity Buenos Dias can give them with the Hispanic shopper. The bakery line offers retailers a new opportunity to drive sales with the ethnic consumer who might not normally buy at the traditional supermarket in-store bakery.

In February, Buenos Dias hit the shelves with an initial six SKUs. Currently the company offers 10 SKUs and has two more just about ready to roll out. The next six months look to be extremely busy ones as there are still quite a few new products to be introduced, with continued research and development and adjustments.

In the U.S., the Buenos Dias line is initially being introduced to major markets where the populations will most readily embrace the line. Today, 10 major metropolitan areas offer the Buenos Dias line, either in a testing phase or in full roll-out of the line.

Although the Buenos Dias brand is still in its infancy, having less than a year of sales under its belt, its retail customer ledger is an impressive one. The company is in the early stages with Ahold's Stop & Shop and Giant/Landover divisions. The line is already on the shelves in Shaw's, Pathmark, Shoppers, Magruder's, Wegmans, Whole Foods, Kroger and a host of independents. The brand does particularly well at the Gristede's chain in New York and just got approval from ShopRite.

In addition to DPI Mid Atlantic, Buenos Dias employs EMD Sales for distribution and expertise in ethnic merchandising in the Mid- Atlantic market. Salman and Sauma cite EMD's strength in the arena, saying, "We wish we had an EMD in every market."

Also integral in the brand's strong start has been its network of food brokers, who ensure the best handling of its line at the sales and marketing level. Among the companies representing the line in the Mid-Atlantic are Hughes Sales, Food Scene, Baker's Group and Fresh Food Sales & Marketing.

The company's business development manager in the U.S. is Raya Elkhatib. Tomas Iglesias serves as the company's procurement director in Spain.

The goal for the company, say Sauma and Salman, is to have 1,000 points of sale by the end of the year, and 5,000 by 2005, a feat that, with the experience these two gentlemen offer and the network they have built, seems very "doable."

Veteran Bakery Execs Finding Success In Growing Hispanic Market Above, Mark Salman (l) and Suhayl Sauma introduce the market to the new Buenos Dias line of thaw and sell baked goods. At right, a specialty rack for display of the product.

-Food World, August 2004, Page 8