The month of September hosts a celebration of many things: Chicken Month, Better Breakfast Month, Honey Month, and Whole Grains Month. One occasion that has caught the eye of Cargill is Hispanic Heritage Month. In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, Cargill and Rumba Meats, its food brand focused on celebrating tradition and family, is recognizing Hispanic cultural contributions to the U.S. as it partners with the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute (USHLI).
“Rumba Meats is choosing Hispanic Heritage Month as an opportunity to acknowledge the many cultural contributions of the Hispanic community to society and to embrace the richness of the cultures it honors,” said Hilary Gerard, Cargill’s Retail Brands Marketing Director for its North American protein business. “Celebrating Hispanic culture is not confined to a month, and we are dedicated to recognizing our Hispanic team members and communities throughout the year.”
From September to October, Rumba Meats will donate proceeds from purchases to empower future Hispanic leaders through its scholarship program in partnership with the USHLI.
For the third consecutive year, Rumba Meats is partnering with USHLI, providing 25 scholarships of $1,000 for post-secondary education to high school seniors across the country. Since 2019, Rumba Meats has invested $150,000 in scholarships and funding for USHLI’s Student Leadership Series program which serves more than 85,000 high school students, in more than 25 states, annually.
“Hispanic undergraduate enrollment is increasing, however, financial investment is a primary barrier for most,” said Dr. Juan Andrade, Jr., Founder of the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute. “Access to higher education is helping to build future Hispanic leaders, and the continued investment from Rumba Meats is helping provide students access to education and to build toward a successful future.”
To encourage celebration, Rumba Meats is raising awareness of Hispanic contributions to America through shared stories from team members, partners, and past Rumba and USHLI scholarship recipients.
“Spanish is by far the most spoken non-English language in the U.S. today. The Hispanic culture and language impacted our county even before we became a nation,” Luz Magaña, Scholarship Coordinator, USHLI. “The names of many cities and states such as Colorado, San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Fe, and numerous others are Spanish words. Our Hispanic culture and language are so interwoven into American life that it has become common or familiar. Our rich culture and language are important contributions to the United States.”
Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to strengthen personal connections to culture, especially for parents who strongly value the occasion as an opportunity to share cultural experiences with their children through food, according to research conducted on Hispanics’ views of Hispanic Heritage Month noted the release.
“At a time when embracing cultural differences is critical, Latinos are celebrating what makes our culture strong,” Raúl Sánchez Sandfort, Cargill Hispanic Latino Council Member and Supply Chain Associate, explained. “It is not just one nationality, race, language, or heritage, but a shared identity of our countries, experiences, and spirit, and we celebrate that throughout the year.”
For many who celebrate, dinner with family and friends is the single most popular activity during Hispanic Heritage Month (Cargill Proprietary Research, November 2020), stated the release. To further reach consumers, Rumba Meats is partnering with influencers to share recipes and stories behind the meals and tastes that Hispanic culture has contributed to the U.S. on the brand’s website and social media channels.
For more on this new partnership, click here.
Keep an eye out for more noteworthy occasions and events to reach your shoppers as Deli Market News reports.
