{"id":538373,"date":"2021-09-15T07:03:35","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T11:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/el-pollo-loco-calls-for-long-overdue-recognition-of-hispanic-culinary-talent-with-hispanic-heritage-month-for-your-consideration-campaign\/"},"modified":"2021-09-15T07:03:35","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T11:03:35","slug":"el-pollo-loco-calls-for-long-overdue-recognition-of-hispanic-culinary-talent-with-hispanic-heritage-month-for-your-consideration-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/el-pollo-loco-calls-for-long-overdue-recognition-of-hispanic-culinary-talent-with-hispanic-heritage-month-for-your-consideration-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"El Pollo Loco Calls for Long Overdue Recognition of Hispanic Culinary Talent with Hispanic Heritage Month For Your Consideration Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nThe LA Mex restaurant spotlights notable Hispanic chefs to fan the flames of representation for the community\u2019s vital contributions to the food and restaurant industry
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COSTA MESA, Calif., Sept. 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, El Pollo Loco, Inc.<\/a> (\u201cEl Pollo Loco\u201d or \u201cCompany) (Nasdaq: LOCO), the nation\u2019s leading fire-grilled chicken restaurant chain, is calling attention to the disproportionate gap between the Hispanic community\u2019s crucial contributions to the U.S. food and restaurant industry and national recognition of Hispanic culinary talent with the launch of its new For Your Consideration campaign, which spotlights 11 exceptional Hispanic chefs as recommended nominees for the 2022 James Beard Awards.<\/p>\n

The Hispanic community is an indispensable part of America\u2019s food scene, holding nearly 30% of U.S. restaurant and foodservice occupations1<\/sup> and accounting for nearly 23% of the country\u2019s executive\u00a0chefs2<\/sup> and 18% of its restaurant owners.3<\/sup> Despite this, they have been overwhelmingly excluded from culinary conversation and recognition. As of 2018,\u00a0only 2.4% of all nominees for the James Beard Foundation\u2019s Best Chef and Outstanding Chef award categories have been Hispanic.4<\/sup> And in California, where Mexican food is ranked as the most popular ethnic cuisine,5<\/sup> only one Mexican restaurant was included in the Michelin Guide’s 2019 list of best restaurants in the state.6<\/sup><\/p>\n

To help turn the tide of underrepresentation of Hispanic talent and contributions, El Pollo Loco is taking a page from the playbook of its Los Angeles hometown, where For Your Consideration campaigns are regularly employed during awards season to generate buzz for notable entertainment industry talent. The company is leveraging a variety of physical and digital activations \u2014 including a full-page print ad in The New York Times \u2014 to publicly share and promote a short-list of 11 extraordinary Hispanic chefs who deserve to be celebrated and merit consideration for the 2022 James Beard Awards. These same chefs and their stories will also be profiled and promoted on El Pollo Loco\u2019s social media channels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hispanic community is the backbone of the U.S. food industry, and yet, the country\u2019s ever-growing wealth of Hispanic culinary talent and contributions continue to be overlooked and underappreciated,\u201d El Pollo Loco President and Chief Executive Officer Bernard Acoca said. \u201cEighty percent of El Pollo Loco\u2019s workforce is Hispanic, and we take great pride in our Mexican roots, so it feels right to pay homage to Hispanic Heritage Month by highlighting this unacceptable disparity to elicit positive change.\u201d<\/p>\n

The accomplished chefs highlighted in the campaign are:<\/p>\n