By Ed Avis
Owners of Mexican restaurants have many ways to learn about products for their businesses, ranging from trade shows to magazine advertisements. A survey of readers of el Restaurante magazine – who are owners and managers of Mexican and other Latin-cuisine restaurants in the United States – revealed that sales calls, word-of-mouth, and el Restaurante magazine are the top three ways they learn about products.
The survey was conducted the week of December 16, and 80 completed surveys were received. Sixty-four respondents completed the English version and 16 completed the Spanish version.
The survey asked readers which brands of cocktail mixers, canned tomatoes, tortilla equipment and tortilla supplies they used. Then the survey asked if they remembered how they learned about those items before they chose them.
Of the 80 completed surveys, 74 respondents were able to remember how they learned about at least one of the items. Of those, 62 percent said a salesperson told them about at least one of the products; 53 percent said a friend or associate told them about products (word-of-mouth); and 30 percent said they learned about their preferred products by reading the ads and articles in el Restaurante magazine. Trade shows and other print magazines registered in the single digits.
Interestingly, Mexican restaurant owners/managers don’t seem to be gathering much information about products online. In no category of products did the internet break out of single digits in percentage.