Kroger Co's Bring a Taste of Spain

[SamSpade]

Well, the iSpot website no longer wants to display unless you're playing for it apparently. Anyway, Fred Meyer is currently running the 'Taste of Spain' event. It's actually kind of cool and definitely more interesting than last time's Taste of Italy. The QFC (Quality Food Center) stores here do not appear to be on it as there are no mentions in their 2-week ad.

I've ended up in three FM stores this week and even though Interstate was in the middle of a big remodel, the promotion was probably best executed there so far.

Are other Kroger Co's stores running this currently?

[architect]

Well, the iSpot website no longer wants to display unless you're playing for it apparently. Anyway, Fred Meyer is currently running the 'Taste of Spain' event. It's actually kind of cool and definitely more interesting than last time's Taste of Italy. The QFC (Quality Food Center) stores here do not appear to be on it as there are no mentions in their 2-week ad.

I've ended up in three FM stores this week and even though Interstate was in the middle of a big remodel, the promotion was probably best executed there so far.

Are other Kroger Co's stores running this currently?

It's also being run in Texas, and likewise has been executed very well!

[submariner]

I saw this in the Ralphs Fresh Fare near my work in Tustin on Wednesday, but it was limited to a few cardboard displays by the front entrance. The store isn't all that big, however.

[arizonaguy]

Fry's is running it in Arizona. I've even seen several television ads for it.

My local Fry's simply had one table set up near the front entrance with a mixture of items on it, however.

[storewanderer]

This promotion is poorly executed at Smiths in Nevada. They have a fairly large display of some items that appear to be imported and the employees have Taste of Spain uniforms (t-shirts and some odd looking hats). The bakery had a big table of Lofthouse Cookies with a large Taste of Spain table cover in what are supposedly Spain related colors? Really I am sure they can do better than that. There doesn't seem to be anything special going on in meat or deli for this promotion.

[CalItalian]

I saw this in the Ralphs Fresh Fare near my work in Tustin on Wednesday, but it was limited to a few cardboard displays by the front entrance. The store isn't all that big, however.

They have an endcap near the checkstands at the Ralphs in Torrance. Many products including wine. Doesn't look like very much has been bought between Wednesday and Sunday. Nobody was looking at it while I was in store on Sunday and it was busy in that newly remodeled store.

I hate the yellow Taste of Spain t-shirts Ralphs employees are currently wearing.

[architect]

Personally, I think that Kroger's biggest challenge in making this concept successful is the fact that many Spanish cuisine items are not carried en masse at many store locations. Compared to an Italian or Mexican themed event, Spanish cuisine is much more specialized. In order to make an event like this truly successful, Kroger must commit to importing authentic products from the country in question, and then provide inspiration and recipe ideas to encourage shoppers to branch out. Even during Kroger's "Taste of Italy" event last year, most of the items being pushed during the promotion were heavily Americanized, and were not impressive considering that true Italian staples can be found so readily at most good grocers these days (including Kroger). For example, at the store I frequently shop at in the DFW area, Barilla products were heavily promoted during this event, most of which are made in the US and are terrible quality compared to authentic Italian pastas such as Dececco (which Kroger also carries), Delverde, or even Kroger's own Private Selection imported pastas.

[pseudo3d]

I was at a Kroger in Houston last week, April 6th I believe (Echo Lane and I-10), and I didn't see anything advertising a "Taste of Spain" or anything. It was a nice store (even included a climate-controlled room for fancy wines) and while I did notice the display near the front of "Dylan" (don't know if your local store has it, but it's a picture of a Kroger employee with a particularly awful-looking haircut...the run-down CS store has the same), I didn't see anything about Taste of Spain at all.

[klkla]

Most American's don't know anything about Spanish food to begin with (I bet 80% would confuse it with Mexican). It's not particularly popular outside of Spain.

I've been going to Spain at least once a year because of work for the last ten years and it took a while for me to find anything I liked.

Some popular ingredients off the top of my head would be:
Pimenton (Spanish paprika)
Saffron (spice)
Calasparra rice (used to make paella)
Chorizo (very different from Mexican - it's a dried sausage more like salami or pepperoni)
Cava (Spain's version sparking wine)
Iberico ham (This is very expensive in U.S. - It's made from a specific breed of big that if fattened with acorns and aged for at least a year)
Serrano ham (The authentic Spanish version is better than any American version)
Manchego cheese

Iberico ham is one of the first things I look for when I get there. It's amazing.

[storewanderer]

They improved it a bit today at Smiths in Nevada with a few cold items in the service deli; they had a few Chorizo dishes, some Paella, and some bread salad. The quality was a lot better than I would have expected it to be.

The display of center store items (also includes a few pans or some cooking materials) also appears more full than before.

I will look forward to some clearance deals on these items just like after the "Taste of Italy" which struck me as a flop. I thought their "Taste of Mexico" was the best executed and appeared pretty successful but maybe that is just out west it was successful.