Sol Trujillo has advocated for the growing economic power of Latino businesses and consumers at the L’ATTITUDE conference this week.
But it was an outing to a San Diego Padres game two years ago that opened the businessman’s eyes further and reinforced his mission.
As he sat with his wife at a playoff game in 2022, he was struck by a moment when the stadium speakers blared Mexican crooner Vicente Fernandez’s classic song “Volver” as a walk-up song for a Padre hitter.
“The place went nuts,” he recalled. “Whether you were Latino or Anglo or anything else, the whole place was singing.”
Trujillo said it was an authentic moment that showed that change is coming, and he credited the Padres for understanding their audience.
“This is business, it’s not about politics,” he said.
Trujillo shared that anecdote during a discussion at the Latino business conference that he co-founded, held this week at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego.
The L’ATTITUDE conference, which concludes Sunday, featured seminars, workshops,
investment opportunities and networking that attracted about 6,000 executives and
entrepreneurs.
The conference aims to bring businesspeople together to engage with each other and to share information about the Latino market. Organizers released a report at the beginning of the conference showing that the U.S. Latino economy grew by 13% to $3.6 trillion in 2022, the most recent year when specific data was available.
If Latinos were an independent country, their gross domestic product would rank fifth in the world, according to the study, by the economic think tank, Latino Donor Collaborative, and Wells Fargo.
“It’s not the economy that’s doing Latinos a favor, it’s the Latinos doing our economy a favor,” said Trujillo.
Business leaders said the growing economic clout of Latinos can be seen in numbers and in
other ways.
For example, Modelo beer has outpaced the sales of Bud Lite, based on dollar sales. Spanish-language commercials are more common on mainstream broadcasts. And Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN, said 17% of their fantasy players are Hispanic.
“The Hispanic audience is large, is growing, is younger,” Pitaro said. “They are digital first.
Mobile. Streaming.”
The conference attracted well-known companies, including Disney, Nike and U.S. Bank. It also drew lesser-known firms, like Diageo North America, a premium drink producer and distributor.
They were participating in the conference for the third year to raise awareness about their business and also discuss their responsible drinking campaign and partnership with MADD.
“Our purpose is to celebrate life, everyday, everywhere and we want to celebrate the Latino community,” said Luis Rabago, communications director for Diageo.
This is the third time in seven years that the L’ATTITUDE conference has been held in San
Diego. Trujillo, who has a home in San Diego, said the region is great for the gathering because of its weather, hotels and proximity to Los Angeles and its entertainment and tech icons.
He said the conference will return to the city.
“San Diego is unique,” said Trujillo.
