Imagine Alfonso Cornejo's relief knowing he no longer has to carry prickly pear cactus on an airplane.

        Until just a few years ago, Mr. Cornejo, a Mexican native who lives in Montgomery, couldn't buy fresh nopales,or prickly pear cactuses used in Hispanic dishes, in Greater Cincinnati groceries. He often bought the cactus while on trips to San Francisco, carefully packed it in his carry-on luggage, and flew home with his edible treasure.

Lourdes Leon in her Fairfield bakery. Ms. Leon has expanded her original business twice in three years. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        But now, Mr. Cornejo can find nopales at a dozen or more Hispanic food markets in Greater Cincinnati, along with his favorite Mexican breads; cookies; chiles; and spicy, freshly ground chorizo sausage.

        Entrepreneurs — most of them immigrants — are opening mercados and groceries throughout the Tristate to feed the hunger of Hispanics, who are moving here with a pang for the foods of their homelands.

        Greater Cincinnati's Hispanic population increased 136 percent during the last decade, from 9,456 to 22,303, according to the 2000 Census. Most of the stores are opening near the highest concentrations of Hispanic population — in Butler County, Northern Kentucky and on Cincinnati's west side.

        Not only do these markets offer hard-to-find products and familiar convenience foods for which Hispanics yearn (Coca-Cola bottled in Mexico, for example), they provide a tangible that many mainstream supermarkets can not: clerks who speak Spanish and understand the Hispanic culture.

        Many of these independent merchants have learned to cut costs by bypassing food distributors. Ray Garcia, owner of La Mexicana Grocery & Taqueria in Newport, for example, makes weekly trips to Mexican wholesale markets in Chicago to truck in his products at lower prices.

        Business is so healthy at his store and taqueria (restaurant), Mr. Garcia is looking to expand the taqueria within the year. And he's always looking to attract non-Hispanics searching for authentic ingredients at La Mexicana. He plans to eventually advertise in mainstream newspapers and magazines.
       

Diversity spurs growth

        George Perez, publisher of The Spanish Journal, the Hyde Park publication in which many of the Hispanic markets advertise, said there are close to 15 Hispanic markets in the Tristate, compared to only one four years ago.

        “Diversity is coming to Cincinnati,” said Mr. Perez, who estimates Hispanics in the Tristate spend about $1.5 million a year on food and groceries. A report to be released in May by the Food Marketing Institute, US Hispanics: Insight Into Grocery Shopping Preferences & Attitudes 2002, estimates Hispanic families spend an average $117 a week at grocery stores.

        So many Hispanic and other ethnic markets are stocking shelves in Ohio, the Ohio Department of Agriculture by summer will introduce an education program to help health inspectors license the establishments. In Ohio, county and city health departments inspect retail food markets; the state Department of Agriculture oversees the inspections.

        “We hope this (the program) will give health inspectors more examples of what they might see in the ethnic setting,” said John Christoph, a supervisor in food safety at the Ohio Department of Agriculture in Columbus. Greater Cincinnati health inspectors say their biggest challenge when visiting Hispanic markets is the language.

        “Our job is not just to inspect, but to educate,” said Dave Fortner, environmental director for the Northern Kentucky Health District. “And with the language problem, that can sometimes be difficult.”
       

Immigrants' tastes

        Over the years, as immigrants settled in the Tristate, ethnic markets opened — German wurst shops, Italian delis, Jewish bakeries and Indian spice stores. Hispanic markets are the latest wave, carrying the exotic scents of papaya, poblano chiles and cilantro. In addition to produce, most Hispanic markets are stocked with a variety of dried peppers, rice, fruit nectars, cheese and canned and dried beans.

        Those who open these markets must not only track down ingredients, but like Lourdes Leon of Fairfield, they must have a savvy understanding of their customers.

        Shortly after moving to Fairfield from Chicago with her husband in 1999 to open two restaurants, Ms. Leon had an idea about opening a taqueria. Three years ago this month, she opened Taqueria Mercado on Dixie Highway in Fairfield.

        “Everyone said it wouldn't work,” said Ms. Leon, who moved to the United States more than 20 years ago and taught herself to speak English while working at a factory in Chicago. “But I said, "Let's try it.'”

        Hispanics flocked to her taqueria, which became so successful Ms. Leon soon rented adjoining space in the strip shopping center to open a Mexican bakery that produces sweet breads, Mexican cookiesand a few Hispanic groceries. Then she opened another store next door that sells Hispanic clothing, videos and music.

        Ms. Leon hinted she's looking to open another market, this time in Northern Kentucky.

        If she does, she'll become a competitor for Mr. Garcia and his wife, Susy, at La Mexicana in Newport. A furniture upholsterer, Mr. Garcia decided to open his grocery after friends kept begging him to bring back fresh tortillas from his trips to Chicago.

        “That's when I told my wife, "Maybe we should do this,'” said Mr. Garcia, who moved to the United States from Mexico City when he was 16.

        This month, the Garcias celebrated their fifth anniversary in business.

        Just four years ago Sylvia Martinez opened tiny Tienda Mexicana in Lower Price Hill. Ms. Martinez, who owns Sylvia's Mexican Restaurant in Newport, decided to locate her small grocery on State Street to cater to a growing Guatemalan population there.

        “When I came here, I was the only one,” said Ms. Martinez, a Mexican native. “Now I see the stores opening all around me.”

        Kroger is also watching the Hispanic stores open — and the increasing Hispanic population in the Midwest.

        “They (Hispanics) are a growing segment of our customer base and we are trying to make sure we have what they're looking for,” said company spokesman Gary Rhodes.

        The number of Hispanic food items Kroger offers has increased dramatically in the last five years, he said. At a Kroger store in Indianapolis scheduled to open in May, the company is adding a 3,000-square-foot section featuring mostly Hispanic and Asian foods.

Personal touch

        Hispanic-owned markets thrive not just because there is a burgeoning population of customers to support them, industry experts say, but because the owners and clerks are familiar with the products and because they speak Spanish.

        “It's all about comfort,” said Jay Rosengarten, a New York consultant who specializes in helping groceries appeal to ethnic customers.

        In order to feel comfortable in the store, Hispanics want to hear their language spoken, listen to Latin music and they want to be able to pause in the store aisles to chat with friends.

        Mr. Cornejo added that the clerks' familiarity with the cuisine is also important to him and other Hispanics at a market.

        “When I say I want a hot chile, I want them (the clerks) to know what I mean by hot,” he said. “When I tell them I'm going to make pozole (a stew of hominy and pork), I want them to know what I need to make it.”

        These subtleties explain why most mainstream grocery store chains can't attract Hispanic customers just by adding more tortillas and salsa to their shelves, said Mr. Rosengarten. He predicted independently owned Hispanic markets will continue to open, including more ""super-mercados'' and Hispanic chain stores that offer check-cashing, travel agents and a range of other services.

        Jim Bonaminio was well ahead of the ethnic curve in 1983 when he began offering international foods at his Jungle Jim's Market in Fairfield. Although small Hispanic groceries are cropping up around his 180,000-square-foot store, Mr. Bonaminio said the competition hasn't hurt his business.

        But he must continue to aggressively court Hispanic customers, he said. He is expanding his Hispanic foods section, looking to hire Spanish-speaking clerks and soon will bring in a machine to make fresh tortillas at the store.

        Mr. Cornejo has been a loyal Jungle Jim's customer since he moved here 13 years ago. But now when he makes his pilgrimage to Fairfield, he also stops at the Mexican bakery and at another Hispanic market that sells meats. This routine might change if someone opens a market near his home in Montgomery.

        “That may happen soon,” Mr. Cornejo said.

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