Kraft targets ethnic market with star chef

To target ethnic consumers, Kraft has called on celebrity chef Susur Lee to be its new Kraft Chinese Culinary Expert.

In his role at Kraft, Lee will not only provide expertise on Chinese culinary culture and taste preferences, he will be working with a wide range of Kraft brands and product lines to develop new recipes for Chinese families as well as Canadina consumers interested in new flavours.

While targeting domestic minority groups is still something quite new for major North American food companies, it’s becoming more common as demographic changes significantly alter the country’s ethnic makeup. Campbell Canada has a line of halal-certified soups for Muslim Canadians, and Loblaw has a new president with expertise in Asian retail.

It’s estimated that over the next 15 years, minorities will account for some 75% of new consumers in Canada. Despite this, food companies have been slow to address this growing market, most likely due to the recession that put a halt on growth plans.

Still food companies face an uphill battle trying to convince immigrants to pick up mainstream North American brands when they can easily attain their prefered homeland brands at their ethnic grocer.