A thousand flavors of the United States

Chocolate or blueberry muffins, hamburgers, the famous "American pie" ? apple pie ? that so many movies, songs and books have immortalized, nachos and guacamole, barbecue sauce and mustard, ice-cream with all types of sauce, chocolate bars and nuts, the kind of sweet and savory snacks that Homer Simpson usually guzzles down while he watches the World Series... the list goes on and on.

More than 2,000 different products can be found in the aisles of Taste of America, a colorful group of food stores that has been proving for more than 15 years that a "Made in the USA" culinary culture exists.

The stores boast tidy product displays, brightly lit spaces and well-informed clerks, who can not only tell you the ingredients for that cake that was in such and such a movie, but can also tell you the recipe you need to make it.

"A lot of people come into our stores just out of curiosity, or if they have seen somebody in a movie eat something that looked good, they come in to ask if we have it. They might not buy just then, but if we make that visit to the store a pleasant experience, they will probably come back," says Alicia Vañó, whose very clear idea of customer service means "the customer is always right."

Along with her friend and business partner, Dana Knowles, Vañó founded and manages Taste of America.

Knowles was born in Arkansas, and met her Spanish husband in the US. He brought her to Spain, where she met Alicia, whose partner was a childhood friend of Knowles' husband. It was only a question of time before the two entrepreneurs conceived the idea of opening a store offering North American products. "A friend asked me where Americans could find the foods they missed in Spain," Dana recalls. Aiming to supply the cupboards of the North American community in Madrid, Dana and Alicia opened a store in the center of the capital. Their ambitions did not go beyond covering the demand of a niche market that, they thought, would only be made up of Americans residing in Madrid.

Time, however, would show them a different reality, far beyond their initial expectations. Today, "more than 60 percent of our clients are Spanish, followed by 15 percent North American and a significant number of Filipinos," says Alicia. "We have gone from the one store we opened 15 years ago to our current four, and we are planning to open nine more at the end of the year."

Taste of America wants to grow, but slowly, using the franchise formula, but not with just anybody nor at any price. Alicia says the franchisee must be "someone who adopts our work philosophy. It would also be good if they had retail experience and even better if they have had some former contact with North American culture.

"The truly essential factor is that they are really on top of the business, that it isn't someone who just puts their money in looking for profit. They have to be truly interested in developing the brand, beyond the 40,000 they must contribute to open."