In many areas across the United States, Cinco de Mayo is a popular holiday. It was established to commemorate the 19th-century Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War, and while in Mexico it isn’t widely celebrated outside the city of Puebla, it has become widely observed in the U.S.

Co-ops can use the opportunity to support Mexican American businesses and organizations in the local community, promote them on social media, feature locally made products and add authentic Mexican recipes to your prepared foods department. Keep in mind that Mexican American businesses may be busy with their own celebrations and promotions, so ask early and offer to partner in the future. Take time to research traditional Mexican recipes from people with Mexican heritage that you can help your shoppers prepare through the promotion of certain ingredients throughout the store.

The celebration of Cinco de Mayo is a great reason to continue diversifying suppliers and providing options that are authentic to the communities to which they are culturally relevant. Asking members of these communities about items they might like to see at the co-op is another essential step in our shared effort to create a more inclusive and equitable food system. To celebrate Cinco de Mayo respectfully (as well as any other culturally important holiday or event), if you borrow cultural recipes or ideas, please acknowledge where they came from and stay true to the ingredients and processes involved in their creation, ditch the costumes and anything else that perpetuates stereotypes.

NCG’s Q2 Promo Playbook offers great ideas for products to feature.

Produce

In the U.S., tropical fruits and avocados are Cinco De Mayo staples in the produce department. American per capita avocado consumption recently surpassed nine pounds and total U.S. demand could grow 70% by 2028, with a forecasted value of $28.2 billion. With terrific nutritional value and great price points on both organic and conventional fruits, avocados are the centerpiece of the produce department. Promote Fair Trade and ethically sourced ingredients from Mexico whenever possible since these items can bolster economic security for Mexican people.

Many other products support avocados and round out the produce basket, including:

• Red/white/sweet onions
• Jalapeño peppers
• Limes
• Cilantro
• Garlic
• Red, ripe tomatoes (vine clusters, beefsteaks or Romas)
• Mangoes (standard, as well as Ataulfo varietals, a cultivar originating in Mexico)
• Pineapple
• Fresh salsa and guacamole

Create a selling event for the holiday with a front-of-department promo display that captures the shopper’s imagination.

• Create an abundant display of avocados at a great price. Pro tip #1: Price avocados with multiple pricings (e.g., 3/$5, 4/$5, depending on your costs).
• Round out the display with all the fixings for a great homemade salsa — tomatoes, jalapeños, onions and limes. Don’t forget the recipe cards!
• Include other departments in the display by adding some tortilla chips or Mexican beer. An ice table or two of fresh salsa and guacamole is the finishing touch! Pro tip #2: Build displays a week before Cinco de Mayo to generate interest and excitement.
• Add bagged or packaged avocado to your sales sets. Retail sales of bagged avocados doubled in the last five years, making bags an increasingly important part of the category. Nearly half of all avocado shoppers and 70% of heavy avocado shoppers bought bags last year.

The secondary Cinco de Mayo display in produce should feature beautiful, colorful mangoes. Run standard red mangoes or Ataulfos on deal. If you can get a good price on both, run them both. The trick is to create an “event.”

For opportunities to merchandise key produce items outside of the department, keep these items front of mind. Impulse sales can come quickly with ripe avocados and guacamole mix displayed by the tortilla chips or a basket of limes with a Mexican beer display.

Remember, many people decide where they are going to shop based on the produce department. Vibrant, culturally sensitive celebratory displays are great opportunities to turn occasional shoppers into frequent shoppers and co-op advocates.

Prepared Foods

If you feature prepared foods in connection with Cinco de Mayo, be sure that you are featuring authentic recipes — partnering with an authentic local restaurant might be an option — and provide consumers with educational information related to the holiday. Here are several examples of popular dishes to excite customers and help them learn more about foods from several regions in Mexico.

Northern Mexico

The flour tortilla reigns supreme in El Norte, with almost 40 different variations available. It’s the prevalence of the flour tortilla that allowed burritos to become popular, given the pliability of the style of tortilla. Popular dishes include:

• Burritos
• Fajitas, or arrachera, as it was originally known
• Cabrito, or roast goat
• Machaca, which is rehydrated dried beef simmered in its own juices

Mexico’s North Pacific Coast

This region, along the Pacific Ocean, is known for a cuisine that relies heavily on seafood, which is commonly cooked with spices and locally grown chile peppers. Some popular seafood in the region includes:

• Aguachile, a spicy shrimp dish served with vegetables
• Ceviche, which consists of fish or shrimp “cooked” raw in lime juice
• Torta ahogada, a torta smothered in a spicy red sauce
• Birria, a stew of pork, mutton or beef with chiles or spices

Bajio

This region is known for its strong Spanish influence and includes the prevalence of pork and rice, desserts such as cajeta (caramelized goat’s milk), as well as Cotija cheese, named after the town of the same name. Dishes include:

• Morisqueta, a sausage and rice dish
• Carnitas, pork fried in lard
• Arroz con leche, otherwise known as rice pudding
• Chirupa, a beef, vegetable and chile broth
• Enchiladas mineras, tortillas stuffed with cheese and topped with veggies and chile sauce

Southern Mexico

Corn and achiote are the main flavors of the region, as are habaneros, which are generally used as a condiment. The area is known for the pibil cooking style, in which foods are wrapped in banana leaf, buried and slow cooked in a pit.

• Cochinita pibil, or slow pit-roasted pork in citrus juice
• Mero, or grouper
• Panuchos, or thick tortillas fried and stuffed with beans and topped with cabbage and meat

Mexico’s Gulf Region

Many African ingredients have made their way into the cuisine, such as plantains, yucca and sweet potatoes. While vanilla, papaya and corn are native to the region, European influence brought other herbs, such as cilantro and parsley, that can be found in these dishes:

• Huachinango a la Veracruzana, or red snapper with tomato sauce, capers, olives and onions, and sweet peppers
• Pollo encacahuatado, otherwise known as chicken in peanut sauce
• Chilpachole stew, which features seafood such as shrimp, oysters and crab
• Arroz a la tumbada, a seafood and rice dish

Central Mexico

Prominently known for its abundance of street food. The region also has a Middle Eastern influence, with the use of a pita-style bread tortilla with tacos. Here you’ll find:

• Tacos
• Barbacoa, or barbecued goat meat
• Chalupas, lightly fried tortillas topped with salsa, onion and meat
• Chiles en nogada, or stuffed chiles fried and served with walnut sauce

South Pacific Coast

While this region often cooks with Mexican staples such as chicken and pork, it also uses animals such as armadillos, rabbits and insects. Black beans are the beans of choice in this region and these dishes are popular:

• Mole, of which there are seven different types that are popular, ranging from a chocolatey mole negro to a tomatillo-based mole verde
• Enfrijoladas, or enchiladas drenched in pureed black beans
• Estofado de pollo en frutas, a stew of chicken and fruit

Meat and Seafood

Your feature ad the week of Cinco de Mayo should include bone-in and boneless pork shoulder roasts cut into 2- to 3-lb. roasts with signs suggesting a slow roasting for shredded pork carnitas dishes or for a classic tamale filling.

Another item that will generate excitement is skirt steak for carne asada, trayed into 2-lb. overwrap trays or displayed in the full-service case as a value-added item, marinated in chile peppers, garlic and lime juice. Signage could include recommendation for marinades and cooking instructions for grilling and slicing, or braising and shredding, and use as a taco filling.

For the chicken category, consider promoting boneless/skinless chicken breasts and thighs for pollo asado. A traditional citrus and spice marinade is the recommended flavor profile and will look great merchandised as a value-added item in the full-service meat case.

To entice your seafood lovers, include the IQF fish category and/or full-service seafood case to promote a 26/30 count raw shrimp, cod, tilapia or snapper for fish tacos.

Team up with your prepared foods and produce departments and cross-merchandise salsas, limes, tortillas, jalapeños and prepackaged sliced and seasoned onions and peppers. And include grab and go recipe cards for carnitas, carne asada, pollo asado and fish tacos to generate excitement for those at-home chefs.

Grocery

To round out the shopper’s experience, focus on a few categories in the grocery department.

• Corn tortilla chips of all colors, as well as salsa and seasonings like guacamole and taco mix are go-to items for shoppers looking for quick solutions.
• Salsas and guacamole, whether house-made or from the refrigerated department, work well in an impulse cooler.
• Cross-merchandise flour and corn taco shells, taco and fajita spice mixes, and shredded or block mozzarella and Monterrey Jack cheeses for festive meal inspiration.
• Corona, Modelo, Tecate and Sol are the typical Cinco de Mayo beers of choice, but if you don’t carry these brands, don’t worry — include a domestic pilsner-style lager in your displays as a substitute.

NCG’s Retail Programming Senior Managers contributed to this article.