VivirLatino

Pizza for the People

13:10 H | Topics: Business - Food - Marketing

Fast food niche markets: first there was Pollo Campero, a fried chicken chain which originated in Central America, now there's Pizza Patrón, a Dallas-based venture with its eye on the Latino market.

Some pizza chains may run print or radio ads in Spanish, "but no one has made it their focus, their priority," White said.

The pizza isn't much different from other chains. What's different is the marketing.

Pizza Patrón sites must be where the population within a three-mile radius is 40 percent Latino or is growing toward that. The manager of the store needs to live in the area.

"That helps the store plug into the community because the guy running it is part of the community," said Andy Gamm, director of brand development. "It really operates on a very grass-roots, local community level when it's done correctly."

The staff needs to be fluently bilingual.

In looking at the Pizza Patrón web site, it's true, the only distinguishing factor is the marketing. The company slogan is "Más pizza, menos dinero" and has an image of something that looks like Pedro Navaja or a Pachuco. A bit strange. But the idea in itself is smart. They are targeting the U.S.'s fastest growing market and only that market. I'm not sure about what their menu features, so I am wondering if they are targeting some of the more particular "local tastes" of Mexicans, like putting ketchup, tabasco or worsterchire (a.k.a. "salsa inglesa", or all of the above) on their pizzas.

Via / AZ Central