Meat+Poultry - April 2017 - 78

M E AT M A R K E T I N G

Cargill's Rumba Meats
has partnered with food
bloggers Mely Martinez
(left) and Sonia Brennan
(right) as part of a relaunch
of the Hispanic-focused
product line led by Cargill's
Carolina Tabares (center).

"We love
bright colorsthat is part of
our culture.
We love to eat
and we love to
have fun."
- CAROLINA TABARES

78

as by training the meat department workers.
"We are telling them, 'We can be your
expert; we can tell you what these people like
because they are coming to your stores and
shopping your Hispanic aisle but not stopping
in the meat department,'" opting instead for
buying meat at a local ethnic market.
Many retailers are of the mindset of trying
to figure out how to sell more meat when, in
many cases, the answer to that question can
be found with the Hispanic customers who are
already roaming their aisles, but not dancing
through their meat departments. For retailers
already carrying variety meats, Tabares says
calling attention to the products is critical
and the reason for the bright colors and the
"dancing lady" image.
"I want to make the connection that Rumba
means 'party,'" Tabares says. "We love bright
colors - that is part of our culture. We love to
eat and we love to have fun," she adds.
Brennan recalls when she first found
Rumba's vacuum-packed honeycomb tripe in
a small market in New York and hesitated to

MEAT+ POULTRY | 04.17 | www.meatpoultry.com

buy it. She had bad memories of a previous
experience when she purchased tripe from a
carnecería to use in a menudo recipe handed
down from her mother. Even though she thought
the odor of the tripe seemed wrong, she made it
anyway. "It was terrible and I had to throw it all
away," she says, and she was discouraged.
Upon seeing the Rumba product months
later, she was tempted to try the recipe again.
"It looked so clean. I opened it and there was
no odor whatsoever, so I tried it. This was
the way I remember my mom's menudo. I've
cooked it many times since then using Rumba
product," she says. "That sold me."
Brennan was approached to be an
ambassador for Rumba when she was informed
the brand was bringing beef cheek and beef
tongue to a market in her area - two cuts she
hadn't eaten since she was a child when she
helped her mother clean them with vinegar and
lemon. Because they are cleaned at the plant,
eliminating that step made the preparation
easier and the taste more authentic.
"Being able to introduce foods that you grew
up with is what inspires you," Brennan says.
Martinez says finding Rumba products in
a growing number of markets is encouraging,
pointing out that in preparation for meeting
Brennan as part of what Rumba coined the
"Rumba Influencer Meet Up and Cooking
Experience," she found marrow bones at a
Kroger store in a Dallas suburb. The marrow was
used to make an authentic beef stew, just one
of many dishes the duo created together while
cameras flashed and video footage was taken as
part of the marketing of Rumba's star bloggers.
"When you go to a supermarket sometimes
you don't know how long that meat has been
there," and shoppers at some Latin stores are
left to sniff out unsavory cuts of meat.
"You don't feel comfortable buying that
meat," she says.
When Martinez had the opportunity,
she was happy to be a partner, with Rumba
knowing the product is consistent and safe.
Part of the Rumba quality proposition is
ensuring shelf life and eye appeal using a
spiral chilling process with a dwell time of
45 minutes to achieve a product temperature
of 35° F, which preserves freshness and
eliminates odor.
"Meat is the main part that brings flavor to
the dish," she says. "And it has to be fresh."
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