These foods are at the center of a report titled “The U.S. Emerging Ethnic Foods Market,” Mintel International Group, Chicago, which estimates the emerging ethnic foods market at $800 million. That estimate does not include foods strictly defined as Chinese, Mexican or Italian. Mintel focuses, instead, upon foods from a number of backgrounds, including Japanese, Korean, Thai and select other Asian cuisines, as well as those of India and the Middle East/North Africa.
While the impact of exposure to these foods (either through travel, the media or restaurant menus offering varying ethnic temptations) cannot be overstated, manufacturers have taken such concepts into the supermarket with a number of easy-to-prepare ethnic food items. These prepared products have driven the emerging ethnic foods market to grow 41% between 1996 and 2001, led by frozen, refrigerated and shelf-stable appetizers, snacks and entrees.