Financial Analysis of Salud Tiene Sabor: The Economic Feasibility of Latino-Owned Restaurants Providing Healthy Menus and Nutritional Information for the Community

Mercado La Paloma is a marketplace home to seven restaurants in South Los Angeles, a low-income, predominantly Latino neighborhood burdened by high obesity rates and minimal healthy eating options. Mercado restaurant owners, promotoras de salud, and the public health department came together in 2009 to make healthier eating options available through a culturally relevant menu redesign and labeling program called La Salud Tiene Sabor. The initial evaluation of Salud, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Salud America! research program, found these restaurants are improving the Latino community's nutrition environment and that restaurant owners and patrons embraced these changes. The financial study of Salud examined the economic feasibility of five Latino-owned Mercado restaurants providing healthier menus and nutritional information. The study team charted sales trends at the restaurants prior to and after implementation of Salud, and compared them to other restaurants in the community and larger area. Findings show all Latino-owned Mercado restaurants maintained their sales after implementation of Salud, and three restaurants showed an increasing trend in sales during and after implementation. Findings will also be presented comparing Mercado restaurants' sales trends to those of other area restaurants, some of which experienced declines during the economic downturn. The Salud financial findings demonstrate that restaurants can make nutritional information and healthy menus available to the Latino community while maintaining, or even building, their client base and resulting profits. Mercado restaurants improved the nutrition environment for Latinos and continue to be successful, even in a difficult economic climate.