Demand for ethnic foods continues to increase across much of Western Europe. Although the pandemic largely shut down global travel during 2020 (thereby reducing the population’s exposure to foreign and exotic meals), consumer tastes remain as broad as ever, especially amongst the younger age groups. Until COVID-19 closed much of the foodservice industry, ethnic cuisine benefited from the rising popularity of street foods, which featured dishes and products sourced from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. In recent years, cuisines such as Thai, Japanese, Caribbean and Middle Eastern have been encroaching upon the territory of favourites like Chinese, Indian and Mexican.
One of the main drivers of growth has been the fact that ethnic foods are now used for a range of meal occasions. In the past, the experience of ethnic cuisine within the home was usually limited to a frozen or chilled ready meal, or a dish cooked from scratch using ingredients such as cooking sauces and spices with suitable accompaniments (e.g. naan bread or prawn crackers). However, as the market has expanded, ethnic food has found a niche during eating occasions such as snacking and home entertaining – for example, many of the party food selections sold towards the end of the year by the leading supermarkets now contain ethnic foods such as samosas, spring rolls, tempura king prawns and falafel.
Until 2020, the foodservice industry was a major driver of market growth, given that this was where consumers would often first experience ethnic cuisine. It remains to be seen how quickly Europe’s foodservice industry recovers from the effects of the pandemic – however, the situation was not looking promising across much of the region as 2021 drew to an end, with some countries having introduced new lockdown measures in the face of escalating cases. For now, it appears that consumers will continue to seek to replicate the restaurant experience within their homes in the face of eating out restrictions, thereby driving demand for products such as ready meals, cooking sauces and various other products associated with ethnic foods.
COVID-19 is believed to have led to widespread closures within Europe’s ethnic foodservice industry. In the UK, for example, the number of Indian restaurants in the country prior to the pandemic was estimated at between 9,000 and 12,000. However, around a third of these are believed to have been lost due to the lockdown measures introduced – even though many introduced takeaway or delivery services, this was insufficient to remain profitable. Ethnic restaurants have also come under pressure from other factors, such as the drop in tourism caused by the pandemic and rising competition from food delivery firms (e.g. Deliveroo).
Elsewhere, The Restaurant Group (TRG) announced it would permanently close 61 out of its 80 Chiquito Mexican outlets during the first half of 2020, citing the pandemic as the main reason. Around the same time, the same company also announced the closure of two London-based Wagamama outlets. However, the situation is not all negative – the Taco Bell chain has begun to expand in the UK to take advantage of the continued popularity of Mexican cuisine. It now has 29 outlets in the country, although this compares with more than 7,000 in its home market of the US.
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