With the growing immigration rates, due to employment opportunities, higher education, and tourism, the demand for ethnic food has been increasing.
The ethnic food manufacturers are focusing on the convenience factor, quality of food, cuisine variants, and packaging formats of the products. Therefore, according to Mordor Intelligence, with the increasing consumption of nutritious food and rising capital investment in producing healthy, ethnic-based food, the market studied is expected to gain traction over the forecast period. The market studied continues to diversify, as consumers continue to experiment with new global cuisines. Some of the niche ethnic food categories include the African and Indonesian cuisines that have been growing over the recent past.
Ethnic Foods are those which are traditionally prepared without any adulterants, colors or flavors. The ethnic food gives the customer a satisfaction of eating their own country specific food, while living in other country. These cuisines are demanded and preferred by majority of the global population, thus increasing their market base. In the developing countries like India, the cross-culture cuisines like the Chinese and Italian cuisines are highly preferred by the all the segment of population, thus increasing their market shares. Restaurant chains who are serving the ethnic foods are increasingly diversifying their food service facility by preparing different types of ethnic cuisines, due to the development and innovation of taste among people.
Market Trends
Consumers’ interests in Asian cuisines, such as Thai, Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese, are increasing, globally, and they are seeking bold and spicy flavors. As per the data published in the Pew Research Center report in 2017, there were 20 million Asian-Americans in the United States, an increase of 72%, since 2000, making the Asian population the fastest-growing population group in the country. With an increasing number of Asian-American grocery store chains, Americans are consuming more Asian food than ever. In 2017, iFresh, a Chinese supermarket chain in the United States, introduced its tenth national location and first Texas location in Houston, thus, meeting the demand for ethnic food products among the fast-growing Asian population and the established Vietnamese community.
The rising young population, along with a fast-paced trend of eating out and experimenting various interstate and inter-country food trend on a frequent basis has provided the plethora of growth opportunities for ethnic food services operation in Asia-Pacific region. The increasing use of social media among the Indians and other developing countries are sharing their culinary experiences – urging consumers to try new food options and outlets, based on the reviews shared. Exploring the new culinary experience for both global and authentic regional cuisines are on the rise among consumers in Asia-Pacific. As such, the researchers say that the global ethnic foods market is fragmented, with various small and medium-sized companies. The development of regional markets and local players in different parts of the world due to globalization of food is the major factor for the fragmented nature of the market. North America and Asia-Pacific are the two regions showing maximum competitor activities.
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