Bringing Betty Crocker to the Land of Tapas

Despite living in Spain for more than three decades, Lynne Friedman still longs for the marshmallows, Grape-Nuts, and cranberry sauce she recalls from her childhood in Philadelphia. To satisfy those cravings, the 55-year-old English teacher often drops in at Taste of America, a Stars-and-Stripes-bedecked shop on Madrid’s Calle Serrano that offers graham crackers, pancake mix, chocolate chips, and more than 2,000 other products familiar to anyone who has cruised the aisles of a U.S. supermarket. “I come here to get the ingredients I need to make recipes for my family and friends that show people what my country is about,” Friedman says as she tosses a jar of chili powder into her shopping basket.

Founded 16 years ago, Taste of America has long catered to expats such as Friedman. Now, the store is betting that a broader segment of Spanish society will thrill to the delights of Betty Crocker cake mixes, Kraft macaroni and cheese, and French’s Mustard. Taste of America today has three stores in Madrid, and in April opened a franchised location in Barcelona. By the end of next year, co-founder Alicia Vañó expects to have nine franchises across Spain and within four years aims for 50. “We felt we needed bigger volumes to keep prices low,” Vañó says. “We can do that through franchises.”