The Monterey Jack profile is also available in a restricted-melt cheese-sauce powder. That “allows the end user to determine how it is rehydrated and used. It can be used in fillings containing IQF vegetables. These types of vegetables often give up excess water which, if allowed for in the rehydration ratio, will be picked up by this sauce,” says Schoenster.
Young also suggests other “restricted-melt cheeses with mild flavor profiles that exhibit similar qualities to fresh queso in meltability, form and function in particular dishes and applications.”
Fruits galore
Wilkerson observes many convenience stores are now stocking Hispanic foods. “You’re seeing a lot of bottled juices and soft drinks imported from Mexico,” he says.” You’re also seeing cross-shopping on that. The juice blends are interesting.”
Lime is key to many Hispanic beverages. While the mojito flavor is associated with an alcoholic drink, Angelich notes that flavor is finding its way into all kinds of beverages, such as energy drinks, teas and vitamin waters. “Some of it is labeled as such. Some is influenced. You’ll see the growth of lime that may or may not be attributed to mojito on a label or in marketing,” he says.
Angelich suggests care when formulating for an ethnic audience, because there’s great variation among flavors. For instance, “there’s something like 2,600 cultivars of mango,” he says. “The mangos that are in South Asia and India are very different than the ones in Mexico vs. the Dominican Republic. They all have different tastes and flavor notes.”
Angelich also believes that “we’ll probably see more things coming out of Mexico, things like pineapple soda, coconut soda. As more Hispanics become more dispersed all over the country, you’ll find those kinds of products showing up in a lot of places where they and other people shop.”
Because of this influence, Angelich sees tropical fruit flavors such as pineapple, lemon, lime and some mandarin oranges continuing to expand. However, he cautions, “something that you find in a Mexican market taste-wise is very different from something that originated here. It may be flavors that are of the same kind, but with a different kind of taste and skewed to them.”
It’s important to consider perception when formulating with flavors Americans are familiar with. “To non-Hispanic Americans, cinnamon is associated with a much more narrow taste base,” says Angelich. “It goes with apple pie. It goes with certain pastries. People in the mainstream are not used to putting cinnamon in red tea or in pineapple or into something else. If you’re trying to capitalize on something like a cinnamon taste that appeals to Hispanics, you’d have to put it at levels where it doesn’t seem incongruous. If you put cinnamon at high levels, it may taste like apple pie. But as a subtle background note, it’s pleasant.” The quality and character of the cinnamon is equally important. The cinnamon flavor associated with a farm-fresh apple pie is very different from a Red Hots® candy.
Fruits in the Hispanic market are also influenced by the health-and-wellness trend. “A lot of Hispanic people are starting to get very interested in nutrition and health from diet,” finds Angelich. “In the research we’ve done, we’ve found pretty high levels of interest in superfruits and interest in trying things they haven’t tried before in that area, like pomegranate and açaí. The media is reaching these people. These products are advertised and show up in a lot of places. You may end up with some fusion, maybe a pineapple-açaí or a pineapple-pomegranate.”