• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, April 12, 2011

Hispanics who speak primarily Spanish are more likely to use restaurants for breakfast and evening snacks, while those who speak primarily English are more likely to dine out for lunch and dinner, according to recent foodservice research by The NPD Group.  

Among Spanish-speaking Hispanics, nearly one-third (31%) of restaurant visits are at breakfast, 22% are during the evening snack period, 23% during lunch and 24% during dinner.

In contrast, English-speaking Hispanics show patterns nearly identical with the total non-Hispanic population: breakfast and evening snack periods account for 18% and 10% of their total restaurant visits, while lunch and dinner account for 34% and 32%, respectively.

In addition, Hispanics as a whole, and Spanish-dominant Hispanics in particular, are much more likely than non-Hispanics to bring children when they dine out. More than half of visits by Spanish-dominant Hispanics -- and one-third of visits by English-dominant Hispanics -- include parties with children, versus 29% of non-Hispanic visits, the NPD data show.

Hispanics -- who now make up 16% of the population -- make about 9.8 billion restaurant visits per year, reports NPD, and about 40% of Hispanics are most comfortable speaking Spanish, according to the Pew Research Center.

Given the rather significant differences in restaurant usage patterns between Spanish- and English-speaking Hispanics, it's clear that shaping marketing messaging that is relevant to both groups will continue to become more and more critical to restaurants' success, stresses NPD restaurant industry analyst Bonnie Riggs.