Perhaps the most practical example of the scope of the demographic changes brought to the U.S. by Latino/American immigrants in recent decades can be found at your corner grocery store.
Check the aisles closely and you might just notice more shelf space then ever for tortillas, the humble Mexican-style flat breads that are expected to top $6 billion this year in the U.S., moving them past total receipts for sandwich breads.
Tortillas have been making steady gains in recent years, with restaurants serving them up in increasing numbers and consumers in ethnic niches and mainstream markets gobbling them up. Indeed, the trend reflects the growing numbers of Latino/Americans throughout the U.S., as well as the overall population's adoption of the tortilla as standard addition to grocery lists.
Tortillas topped the sales of white breads several years ago, and more recently took firm aim at sandwich breads of all sorts. The McLean, Virginia-based Tortilla Industry Association — which includes a number of tortilla makers with operations in the Los Angeles area — called the expected new milestone "a momentous occasion." The U.S. Congress apparently agreed, finding time to declare September "National Tortilla Month," a designation that came a few weeks before its members became occupied with the ongoing crisis that has led to plans for a $700 billion tax-payer bailout of the nation's financial system.
Tortillas might be just the sort of basic staple that thrives in an economic downturn, but it appears that sales were doing quite well before the mess on Wall Street boiled over. Tortilla Industry Association spokesperson Jim Kabbani recently said that sales of both corn and flour versions of the flat breads — which split the total about evenly — have been growing by a pace of nearly 10% on a year-to-year basis so far in 2008. Kabbani credited the growing Latino/American for some of the sales increase, but also took the opportunity of the Congressional resolution to plug the tortillas as a healthy food.
"Just as significant is the adoption by all Americans of healthier eating habits," Kabbani said. "People are eating wraps instead of sandwiches, which is contributing to the positive trend in sales and consumption."
Sam Hassan is a writer for the L.A. Garment & Citizen.
Photo from National Cancer Institute
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