Sales increase of 250 million last year – E24

– It has been an absolutely fantastic year, says Santa Maria Norway Marketing Director Kine Kotte.

He has reason to smile, because the company, which has about 70 percent of its turnover from tacos and Texmex food, has had a very good year. Its in-store turnover increased by NOK 85.5 million, an increase of 16.3 percent.

Santa Maria Norway’s turnover ended at around $ 460 million last year, representing an increase of nearly 16 percent over 2019, and much better than any previous year, says Kotte, who is hesitant to wait. a similar turnover in 2021.

– It’s a bit difficult to predict 2021 when 2020 has been such an artificial year. But we compare ourselves to a normal year, where we had growth of 3-4 percent the year before. But who knows, this year may also exceed all expectations, says Kotte.

But not only has Santa Maria done well, everyone who sells tacos to Norwegian consumers has done it. In 2020, the turnover of Norwegians’ most popular Friday dinner increased by a quarter of a billion to a total of 1.6 billion crowns, according to the Nielsen analytics agency.

Restaurant sales plummeted

It’s not the closed borders and lack of duty-free trade that largely ensures that Norwegians eat more tacos, but that many more people eat within the four walls of the house seemingly has a lot to say for growth.

In week 12, when Norway closed for the first time, turnover in the catering industry fell by 77.8% and, although turnover increased considerably during the summer, it plummeted during the autumn when the “second wave” of the virus crown hit Norway.

The taco arrived in Norway, more specifically Stavanger, in 1965 when a local merchant imported products that Americans working in the oil industry could think of buying. But it wasn’t until the 1990s that the taco really took hold in Norwegian homes, according to SNL.

According to the latest Ipsos survey on eating habits in Norway, 84 percent of Norwegians ate tacos at least once a month and 13 percent ate tacos every Friday.

In recent years, several popular taco restaurants have sprung up in Norway, but two of them, Taco Republica and El Camino, went bankrupt during the crown crisis. The latter, by the way, started up again.

Taco war

It is the Santa Maria and Old El Paso brands that are fighting for Norwegian portfolios, and according to research agency Nielsen, the former took a small lead when it comes to market shares in 2020.

Santa Maria has a 39.1 percent market share versus Old El Paso’s 37.2 percent market share.

– Every year we lie and slash over the top position, and we change to keep the leader jersey, so we are very happy with last year, which saw their in-store turnover increase by 12.7 percent, which is equivalent at 65.4 million crowns, says Edvard Mellbye. in Haugen The group responsible for Old El Paso.

The remaining market share is in the hands of the chains’ own brands, the so-called EMVs.

The Haugen Group, which represents Old El Paso, had actually envisioned a decline in 2020 due to large and expensive supermarket chain launches, but that changed the pandemic.

Exactly what the result ends up being, they don’t want to come out yet, other than it will be “the best front-line result of all time.”

Forging while the iron is hot

Kotte says the brand’s company is now doing what it can to keep as many customers as it has gained during the period that Norway and the restaurant industry have been closed.

– We continue to focus on small leftovers and varying protein content such as chicken and fish. We want people to have a bit of the restaurant feel, says the manager of Santa Maria.

The Haugen Group and Old El Paso do the same.

– Our experience is that people have a better time in the kitchen than before the corona pandemic, and you experiment more, so we have to launch products that meet expectations, says Mellbye.