When the Pizza Patron Inc. chain signed L.A.-based Hispanic radio star Piolin as a pitchman, it was a declaration of war for a slice of the Latino pizza-buying market.

Dallas-based Pizza Patron only has two of its 70 stores in Los Angeles, but three more are under construction and there are plans for others in the works. The chain will not only be competing with La Pizza Loca Inc., based in Santa Fe Springs and with 44 stores in the L.A. area, but with large chains such as Little Caesars, Pizza Hut and Domino’s.

It’s an odd battle over a demographic that has been traditionally inclined to favor food from their native lands.

That’s changing, though, and it means that fast-food companies view the growing Latino population, already the largest minority group in the United States, as a critical market. The resources the pizza chains are dedicating to the fight for market share are another indication of the transition.

Pizza Marketing Quarterly, a trade Web site, noted that pizza was not among the traditional choices for Latinos, for cultural and cost reasons. “Tacos, burritos and the like are much less expensive than pizza.”

But Wilson Camelo, a principal at ad agency Bauza & Associates, has seen the shift.

“Today’s Hispanics are largely from the second and third generations and are more acculturated, so we have a lot of influence from U.S. mainstream culture, including food,” Camelo said.

He added that Latinos strongly prefer fresh food, and research shows Latino families lag behind the U.S. average in the consumption of frozen pizza, prompting the delivery chains to fill the need.

The term “Latino pizza” might evoke images of toppings like chorizo, jalapeños and carne asada sprinkled over cheese. While such pizzas do exist, that’s not what the fight is about.

“There’s nothing really different about the pizza. Your basic pepperoni is still the No. 1 seller among Latinos,” said Antonio Swad, founder and chief executive of Pizza Patron.

Mark Edwards, president of operations at La Pizza Loca, said that pepperoni remains the top seller at his chain, too, especially among younger assimilated Latinos.

For years, Swad had tried to compete solely on price, because the major pizza chains routinely charged $15, compared with Pizza Patron’s $4.99. But prices in the industry have fallen, and Swad concedes that now everyone competes around the $5 price point.

That led to Swad’s hiring of a celebrity spokesperson. Piolin has the top-rated Spanish-language morning show in Los Angeles, beating Ryan Seacrest and Kevin & Bean. The comedian syndicates his show, which originates on Univision’s KSCA-FM (101.9) in Glendale, on 645 stations nationwide.