With a bit of extra time on my hands last week, I popped by an H-Mart store in my Denver-area suburb to take a look around.
For those unfamiliar, H-Mart is a Korean-based grocery chain that operates large-footprint stores across the United States. They focus on ethnic diets, with perishable sections and grocery aisles stocked with items you won’t find at Kroger or Walmart. Taro root and rambutan are interspersed with lettuce and cucumbers in the produce section. The seafood section includes a live lobster tank and a counter where customers can scoop fresh squid and octopus.
You won’t find inch-thick ribeyes or porterhouse steaks the size of a platter in the meat section. Those cuts are thinly sliced for Asian-style cooking. And the case-ready aisle includes packaged beef lips, tendons, pork tongue, pork ears, and even beef feet.
Then I noticed the clientele.
The shoppers at H-Mart didn’t fit any ethnic category. The singles, couples, and families filling their shopping carts mirrored the demographics of the customers at the Walmart across the street, a Trader Joe’s one block away, or the Kroger affiliate store nearby.
The only difference: these shoppers were primarily millennials and Gen. Z. I was among a handful of Baby Boomers on site.
Talk about a carcass utilization opportunity!
Smaller processors and marketers aren’t likely to gain shelf space in a large chain like H-Mart and Pacific Market. But the shoppers I saw are culinary explorers and would be receptive to locally-produced and packaged ethnic meat and poultry items. Offering some thinly sliced cuts and a few variety meat selections may attract them to your retail shop.
Smaller-sized ethnic retail markets may also be looking for items that will provide them with a point of difference from their large footprint competitors. It’s worth the time to drop in, browse the selection, check out the shoppers, and perhaps have a conversation with the meat department personnel.
