Consider just a few obvious facts of current times that are and will continue to influence the fresh produce industry profoundly.

First, we know from reports from the U.S. Census Bureau that the Hispanic population is the fastest-growing consumer category in North America today. The 2010 Census reported that the U.S. Hispanic population surged 43 percent, rising to 50.5 million in 2010 from 35.3 million in 2000. In 2010, Latinos constituted 16 percent of the nation’s total population of the then 308.7 million.

The Census Bureau has estimated that the non-Hispanic white population would drop to 50.8 percent of the total population by 2040, and then drop to 46.3 percent by 2050. This demographic transformation translates into the Hispanic population now accounting for about one in four people under age 18, holding the potential to shift the political and cultural dynamics across the country.

Secondly, in its June 13, 2013 news release, the U.S. Census Bureau issued a news statement announcing that Asians were the nation’s fastest-growing race or ethnic group in 2012. The population of this category rose by 530,000, or 2.9 percent, in the preceding year, to 18.9 million, according the bureau’s annual population estimates.

More than 60 percent of this growth in the Asian population came from international migration.

By comparison in that same time range, the Hispanic population grew by 2.2 percent, or more than 1.1 million, to just over 53 million in 2012. The Hispanic population growth was fueled primarily by natural increase (births minus deaths), which accounted for 76 percent of Hispanic population change. Hispanics remain our nation’s second-largest race or ethnic group (behind non-Hispanic whites), representing about 17 percent of the total population.

In the bureau’s news release, Thomas Mesenbourg, the Census Bureau’s acting director, stated, “Asians and Hispanics have long been among our nation’s fastest-growing race or ethnic groups.”

On July 9, 2013, just prior to the release of the Census Bureau’s report, Food Republic published an article titled “Demand For Ethnic Food Is Exploding In America. How Will Food Companies Respond?” by Matt Rodbard. In his story, he states that The Mintel Group, a market research firm, estimated that between 2012 and 2017 sales of ethnic foods in grocery stores will grow more than 20 percent. Mintel, Rodbard noted, predicts that Middle Eastern and Mediterranean foods will increase the most in that time in terms of dollar sales.

The majority of Rodbard’s coverage was directed to processed foods and beverages, and was basically an overview of some interesting ethnic items that were recently featured at the 2013 Fancy Food Show in New York City. And he also credits an article on the topic that ran in the New York Times on July 8 titled, “American Tastes Branch Out, and Food Makers Follow,” by Stephanie Strom.

In her story, Strom also focused predominantly on food products displayed at the Fancy Food Show, the gross majority of which were processed and/or bottled products.

But the New York Times article did point out that for years, multinational food companies have been experimenting with ingredients, often being unable to find appeal broad enough to start or sustain a new brand.

The article also noted that according to company executives, as the buying power of Latino and Asian consumers expands, fruit flavors, hotter spices, different textures and grains and even packaging innovations are becoming essential for big food manufacturers trying to appeal to diverse appetites.

Strom points out that food and beverage companies are investing heavily in transforming product lines to capture many of the same things. Two years ago, for example, the Campbell Soup Company purchased Bolthouse Farms, a farming company that produces fruits and vegetables, in part to have greater access to the foods that are more attractive to the new American palate, for instance salad dressings like Miso Ginger Vinaigrette.

New packaging from Campbell’s also reflects demographic shifts. “Go Soup,” a new line, is ready to eat in a pouch, an innovation aimed at young people who will also like the flavorings of soy, coconut milk and green chilies in a creamy chicken soup. The company also opted for pouches to package its new Skillet Sauces and Slow Cooker sauces, which come in flavors like Sweet Korean BBQ and Toasted Sesame.

For the fresh produce industry, this strong and growing trend is somewhat akin to “spring is popping up all over,” but with “ethnic foods replacing the “spring.” Check at any terminal market across the country and you will find specialty ethnic houses opening new doors, growing by leaps and bounds and setting new standards.

Free-standing import companies have also crossed their national boundaries and are now spread across America’s landscape. The majority of these learned to grow from their generational family businesses in countries across South and Central America and Mexico.

Today, more and more conventional produce growers in the U.S. are grooming their fields and replanting basic cucumbers with some very peculiar (to some of us) skinny foot-long eggplants, for example, along with a lot of other items that mainstream consumers couldn’t identify and aren’t sure what they should do with them. Even greenhouses across North America are undergoing a slow but steady transition that includes ethnic items today.

But education on ethnic produce is also changing rapidly. Food shows, media venues, cook-offs, cooking segments on talk shows and others are all helping to educate Americans about these wonderful food products that people from other countries know as well as we know our potatoes and carrots, so to speak.

Conventional produce companies are also fully aware of this movement. It makes one wonder what’s coming next: Middle Eastern, African, Russian or other food trends? It’s a small world, and it’s getting smaller in the produce industry.