We close the year with an issue full of celebrations and holidays, and the first is for private label. This edition coincides with the PLMA (Private Label Manufacturers Association) trade show, and in our special insert we congratulate the companies that manufacture private label products. For years, store brands were seen as the “second choice.” Today they are among the fastest-growing categories in the Hispanic supermarket, and the people who produce them have proven that quality and an accessible price are not enemies. They deserve the recognition.
On the cover
On our cover, we celebrate the authenticity of two multicultural brands that walk together: GraceKennedy Foods (USA) LLC, with Caribbean roots that now span generations, and La Fe, a name Hispanic consumers recognize as their own. Both understand something many big brands still don’t: multicultural consumers don’t want to be translated; they want to be recognized. Andrés Falquez, Global Marketing Manager – Hispanic Brands Category at GraceKennedy, puts it precisely: “It must complement authenticity, not replace it.” That line applies to innovation, to marketing, and to any company that wants to grow in this market without losing what made it relevant in the first place.
40 years of Hispanic pasta
Speaking of staying power: Pasta La Moderna celebrates 40 years in the United States. Few brands manage four decades on the Hispanic consumer’s table in this country, in the grandmother’s pantry and the grandchild’s. For Esteban Abascal, Executive Director of Interamerican Foods-La Moderna USA, the anniversary carries special weight: “Forty years is easy to say (…), but there is an enormous amount of work behind those four decades.” Their story, of how you build loyalty that crosses generations and borders, is also in our PLMA insert. I invite you to read it.
Holiday season
Allow me to end on a more personal note. This holiday season, whatever religion you profess, or if you profess none at all, I ask every one of our readers and friends of Abasto to take a moment to think about the children who are being killed in the wars being fought right now in different parts of the world. They chose none of this. While we talk about sales, categories and trade shows, they are losing their childhood, and many their lives.
Ending these wars is not in our hands, but refusing to be indifferent is. A thought, a prayer, a donation, a conversation with our own children about what is happening beyond our homes: all of it counts. In this industry, we know how to feed people. This season, let’s also know how to stand with them.
From the entire Abasto team, thank you for another year of trust. Happy holidays and a prosperous 2027.