As another key growing region in the country, the city hosts the Atlanta State Farmers Market, the largest market in the world on 150 acres. Though only about 2.4 percent of businesses in the state are owned by Hispanics, overall retail sales neared $6 billion offering plenty of opportunities for prosperity in the growing and selling of fresh produce.
Besting Las Vegas’ Hispanic growth for the 2000 to 2013 period is Oklahoma City—yes, Oklahoma City. Nielsen reported a huge jump in Hispanic population at 119 percent, ranking this city sixth in the nation. According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, between 1900 and the 1960s Hispanic immigration came predominantly from Mexico. After the 1960s, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and a variety of other countries contributed to the metropolitan area’s diversity.
The city’s Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has stepped up its support of community success stories, hosting the annual Viva Oklahoma Expo and Career Fair as well as its Viva Sabor to promote Hispanic businesses. In addition, the city’s annual ‘OK Cine Latino’ promotes and focuses on Latino films and filmmakers.
While Oklahoma City has the smallest number of Hispanic residents (under 150,000 according to the most recent Pew report), over 4 percent were business owners. There is plenty of room for growth, however, and this city is certainly one to watch.
Washington D.C. is another up-and-comer. Besides being the hub for national and international politics and government, Nielsen reports that as economic and climatic troubles have hit California and other traditional “gateway” cities such as New York and Miami, immigrants are looking for better job prospects in new arrival points, such as Washington DC. This may account for the 108 percent growth among Hispanics from 2000 to 2013.
Other cities climbing in the ranks of Hispanic population include Kansas City, Missouri; the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro region in Minnesota; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Austin, Texas—all of which experienced growth rates ranging from 94 to 98 percent in the decade-plus since 2000 according to Nielsen.
Looking to the Future
Looking ahead, Schlatter is concerned the Hispanic population boom and the many benefits it brings to the produce industry may not last. Assimilation of future generations may lead to a breakdown of traditions. “I think after the kids get more and more assimilated, it will actually hurt the business,” he contends. “This is kind of what has happened with other generations of North Americans: they don’t cook as much, they don’t have larger families. In a decade, you’ll start seeing more of this happen.”
Like Snider, Schlatter hopes the Hispanic propensity for buying and consuming high levels of fresh produce doesn’t change in the years to come. Goldschmidt believes the changes seen by the West Coast are moving eastward.
