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Niche grocers help immigrants keep flavors of home on the dinner table

It’s 10 a.m. on a Wednesday morning and customers have yet to crowd into Aroma Market and Catering in Davie, which offers kosher and Mediterranean groceries.

But the 40 employees of the 10,000-square-foot store are already busy.

In the back, cooks, butchers, and bakers prepare salads, soups, cuts of meat and freshly baked challah bread. All of the items sold in the market under the Aroma label are made on-site, said co-owner Gil Ribak, 38, as he instructs stock personnel in Hebrew.

“The food you get here you can’t get anywhere else,” said Ribak, who was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and immigrated to the United States in 2003.

Ribak and his business partner, Meir Yaloz, opened the market in 2006. They chose 8819 Stirling Road in Cooper City because it was a convenient location for the Jewish population living in the southern half of Broward County.

Across South Florida, immigrants are establishing grocery stores to cater to the culinary needs of their fellow countrymen, in addition to attracting a more diverse customer base.

According to the 2011 census estimate, 31 percent of Broward County‘s population is foreign-born. That figure is 22 percent in Palm Beach County, and 52 percent in Miami-Dade County.

Immigrants are also forming and owning small businesses at higher rates than the rest of the population, especially in South Florida, according to a 2012 Small Business Administration report.

At ABC Grocers in Sunrise, co-owner Soham Vyas begins each morning with a cup of tea and a samosa, a triangular pastry typically stuffed with meat or veggies.

Seventy percent to 80 percent of ABC’s customers are of Indian origin, who use the 3,800-square-foot grocery at 10079 Sunset Strip as a “one-stop shop” for everything from Indian produce and frozen meals to Bollywood movie rentals and religious paraphernalia, said Anuja Vyas, Soham’s wife and co-owner.

“I like to work here,” said Soham Vyas, 40. “I found that I could stay connected to my culture and my people.”

Retail expert Mark Hamstra believes these niche grocery stores help immigrant communities “maintain a sense of identity.”

“They represent a little bit of a comfort level for immigrants who can find foods and brands they are familiar with,” said Hamstra, retail editor at Supermarket News, a New York-based trade publication.

The profit potential of niche grocery stores has begun to attract the attention of big-box supermarkets.

In 2007, Publix launched Publix Sabor, a separate line of stores that include the customary grocery offerings alongside Hispanic products from Central and South America and the Caribbean. Signage is in English and Spanish and employees are also fluent in both languages. The bakery prepares Cuban bread daily and the deli offers traditional Latin fare.

There are currently seven locations across South Florida, including one in Lake Worth, said Kimberly Reynolds, Publix’s spokesperson for South Florida. A new Miami location will open in the next few weeks.

“Our customers love it,” she said. “It’s a home away from home.”

These specialized grocery stores can also attract a broader customer base.

At Aroma Market, Hallandale resident Lily Mendez, 30, stopped by on her way to work to pick up an order of bagels for her co-workers in Miramar. s

“They have the best bagels here,” she said.”The food is always good.”

Soham Vyas routinely has Chinese and Italian customers wander over from the neighboring Doris Italian Market and New York Mart, a Chinese grocery. Others shop for ingredients for an Indian dish or herbal remedy that requires hard-to-find spices and produce.

“We have something from every state in India,” said Soham Vyas. “That is the main attraction.”

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