In recent years, Viva Latino Market has become the place to go for lovers of Latin American cuisine. Cuisines that call for diverse ingredients and precise seasonings, and which can easily be found on the shelves of this grocery store in the heart of Saint-Gilles.
It's called the nostalgia economy. It revolves around the sentimental taste buds of a migrant community in search of the flavors of their place of origin. This economy materializes the role of food as a source of memories, as a moment of sharing, beyond a purely vital function. It usually begins slowly, with requests made to friends who return home with suitcases full of spices, spirits or cookies. When demand becomes too strong, import channels are set up and grocery stores open their doors. Such is the case of Viva Latino Market, which has been satisfying the cravings of taste nostalgia since 2020.
Raúl and his wife opened the store at the time of the pandemic. They had previously been selling jewelry and decided to look for premises to open a Latino grocery store. He is Peruvian and she is Ecuadorian. After a few months' work, they opened "Viva latino market", near the Barrière de Saint-Gilles. A neighborhood where Latin American communities are strongly represented. But also a Belgian public in search of new flavors.
Most of the grocery store's customers are Belgian. Raul tells me that they are mainly looking for Mexican or Peruvian products. It's true that the store's opening coincides with a boom in Latino gastronomy in Brussels. In recent years, quality Mexican/Peruvian restaurants and food-trucks have proliferated in the capital. Other customers want to reproduce recipes they've tasted on their travels. And the ingredients on offer in traditional supermarkets are clearly not up to the consumer's standards.
And so it all comes together at Viva Latino Market. The store's main advantage is that it brings together a huge variety of flavors under one roof, at competitive prices. You can find ingredients to start recipes "from scratch": corn flour for arepas, manioc flour for pão de queijo, dried chillies essential to Mexican preparations. For those who don't like to cook so much, there's a large selection of preserves, frozen dishes and fruit pulps. In the drinks department, the choice is endless, from Colombian coffee to Argentinian mate, from Mexican beers to typical sodas like Inca Kola (Peru), from Argentinian wines to strong spirits like tequila or pisco. In addition, the grocery store selects brands that correspond to the nac&pop (national and popular) imaginary. Brands engraved in the national collective imagination, mainly cookies and sweets, which sustain this economy of nostalgia.
But Raúl doesn't intend to stop there. Every day, he prepares some fifty generous empanadas, which he sells directly to foodes. Given the strong demand for take-away food, he is going to open a "sanguches" counter in the store. This sandwich shop will be called "Mamut" and will open in the next few days. The menu will feature Latin American-style sandwiches, opulent and hot, brimming with chicharron, sauce and pickled vegetables. But also fruit juices and the Peruvian chicha morada , a drink made from purple corn.
In just a few years, Viva Latino Market has become the place to be for lovers of Latin American cuisine. In this grocery store, run by a dynamic couple, there's something for everyone. We love the fact that the range of products is regularly renewed, so you can find the essentials and still be surprised at every visit. The place is clean, tidy and reasonably priced. Another important factor is that the place is not intimidating for neophytes. And let's face it: we love to shop while listening to Luis Miguel or Soda Stereo over the store's speakers. Perhaps these are the keys to the success of Viva Latino Market, the indispensable partner for your Latin American meals.
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