Joining a national trend, local grocers are expanding their offerings to cater to the Hispanic market.

Over the past two years Wiseway Super Food Center Inc. remodeled its Hobart location and converted its store in Merrillville to a PayLow.

"We have increased the amount of Hispanic foods in the aisles," Wiseway Vice President Michael Zaucha said.

"What we did was open up some lines of food we did not previously carry like La Preferida, El Milagro and Nuevo Leon. We have availabilities of all these companies so if a customer requests a special item we by all means can get it for them."

Pamela Ruiz Janiszewski of Calumet City, buys Mexican groceries from La Balanza in Lansing. Janiszewski said a regular store doesn't have the variety of a Mexican grocer.

"If you walk into a Mexican store, you find everything you need and everything is fresh," she said. "I've bought things from a grocery store and tortillas were moldy or chips were stale. I prefer a Mexican store when I need the Mexican ingredients for cooking." Janiszewski said La Balanza prepares fresh carnitas and menudo on weekends.

"On Sundays I try to get it for the family," she said. "It's something my parents did for us after church every Sunday so I try to do the same and keep up the tradition. We actually just had a family picnic for Father's Day and of course we had to bring this."

Strack & Van Til has a dozen locations in Northwest Indiana, all of which have a Hispanic section - some larger than others depending on the Hispanic population of that community.

"We recognize the needs of the communities we serve," said Mike Nisevich, buyer for Strack & Van Til. "East Chicago is one of our smaller stores but we've definitely increased the Hispanic item selection in that store."

Jewel-Osco approaches its growing Hispanic shopping base with a variety of in-language communication materials from monthly circulars to seasonal mailers.

Its ethnic marketing department continually meets with store directors to ensure the stores are merchandised correctly, showcasing dedicated Latino endcaps and eye-catching displays throughout the store.

"Jewel-Osco has recognized the importance and significance of the growing Latino community," said Jim Seidler, Jewel-Osco/SUPERVALU category manager. "We have taken a targeted approach to advertise our efforts by showcasing the most relevant products in the most relevant areas, always with a strong focus on the utmost in freshness, quality and overall value."

Alicia Perez, of East Chicago, said most local stores carry a wide range of Hispanic food and she only goes to specialty grocers "if they have a sale." She also said more non-Hispanics are stopping her in the aisles asking about items like husks for making tamales.

Nisevich has also recognized the desire for Hispanic ingredients from the entire population.

"With many Americans tightening their belts during these tougher economic times they are eating at home more often," he said. "They might be seeing a dish on the food channel network or a recipe in the magazine and they're looking for those ingredients at their local grocery stores."