Uncover the potential of an invisible target group

Why do Belgian supermarkets hide their ethnic product offerings while Albert Heijn considers them a pillar for growth? Marketer Rachid Lamrabat passionately argues against pigeonholing and in favour of the unifying power of food.

Pigeonholing prevails

Consumers with a migrant background all too seldom find something to their liking in the supermarket: For a long time, they were an invisible target group for many food retailers and brands, who consequently missed out on enormous opportunities. “Pigeonholing dominates in Belgian retail”, says Rachid Lamrabat of strategic ethno-marketing and communications agency Tiqah. “Supermarkets hide their world foods section. That is a problem: through food, you can actually make connections between different target groups.”

He wrote a book about it: Food For All, the connective power of food retail. Feel free to call it a manifesto: “It is my vision of the food world of tomorrow. We must learn to live together and therefore buy things together, put communal products on the market and the supermarket shelves. We have to learn to look at the values we share.” He does see improvement: “Many companies now have a diversity and inclusion strategy. The next step is to build trust.”

Authentic hummus

Abroad, Lamrabat sees retailers who do want to take up this role. “In France, Carrefour and Auchan have dedicated buyers for specific products. They have to transcend pigeonholing. At Rewe in Germany, also, I can see the need to connect. Take hummus, for example: you do not need three different types of it, do you? It has to be an authentic recipe for all target groups. You would not sell a Flemish and Walloon version of a vol-au-vent.”

The awareness has grown with the latest migration wave, he thinks. “Food retailers feel they missed the boat with the first migration wave: these people do all their shopping in their own stores. Now they want to do it right, and they are also willing to gain knowledge and get feedback.”

Albert Heijn pulls out all the stops

So, why does Belgium lag behind? “If I let my emotions speak, I think that in Belgium, we have lived next to each other for too long, know too little about each other, and are even afraid of each other. My ratio says that the knowledge is not there. Buyer Jeroen, a fifty-year-old from a classy area, determines which products I can buy. And that is not right. As a man, despite all the available data, you would not manage the tampon and pantyliner product category. A woman could make those choices more easily.

According to Lamrabat, there is no doubt about the potential. “Do you know what is remarkable? The world foods aisle in the Flemish Albert Heijn stores generates almost three times as much turnover as the stores in the Netherlands. Why is that? Simply because they are the only ones who do it, and they do it well. They do not sweep it under the carpet: it is a real pillar of growth for them, just like plant-based products, for example.”

Free book

Are you also fascinated by the possibilities of ethno-marketing? Rachid Lamrabat will present more concrete cases during the support programme ‘The Future of Food’ at the RetailDetail Night on 25 November in Antwerp. At the event, co-author Jorg Snoeck will present his new book The Future of Food. Participants will receive a copy! Deliveroo, Hopr (the first Belgian online supermarket) and ‘ghost kitchen’ pioneer Casper will also take to the stage. Through this link, you can book your tickets. Be quick: there is an early bird discount until 29 October.