ASIAN PERSUASION

AMANDA BALTAZAR

Asian consumers represent the second-fastest-growing U.S. demographic, behind Hispanics.

Their fare is growing more ubiquitous as a result, and leaving retailers with a new quandary — one that involves catering to American shoppers' ethnic cravings while at the same time offering recent Asian immigrants the tastes from their homeland.

“Asians are looking for ingredients to make dishes at home, while Americans tend to seek branded products we recognize,” said Tom Hann, director of international foods for Jungle Jim's International Market, Fairfield, Ohio. “Ninety percent of the time, Americans go for the American products and Asians go for the Asian brands.”

Jungle Jim's merchandises its extensive Asian offering within seven 750-foot aisles. Each aisle is dedicated to a different country's fare: Items from China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia are all on display.

“Customers seem to like to shop this way, and it makes it convenient,” noted Hann.

At least 80% of Jungle Jim's Asian foods are imported. The retailer doesn't carry a private-label line, “because when you're selling international foods, you're selling what people know and remember, and these people are not driven by price so much as their memories.”

The retailer's best-selling Asian offering is rice.

Jungle Jim's carries 35 varieties of mostly traditional rice, as opposed to the new parboiled versions that cook in just a few minutes.

“Asians don't want [the non-authentic rice], and Americans cooking this food want to take some time to cook it,” explained Hann.

Soy sauce, coconut milk, noodles and instant ramen also sell well at Jungle Jim's. In the frozen department, fish, fruit and exotic vegetables such as cassava are category drivers. Pot stickers and spring rolls are also popular, Hann noted.

Four-store Caputo's Market, on the other hand, more closely caters to convenience-seeking shoppers with its Asian offering. Items include fully prepared frozen and shelf-stable meals.

“People are convenience-oriented,” said Kevin Copper, buyer/merchandiser for the Addison, Ill.-based chain. “Seasoning and sauce mixes are popular, because they allow people to easily make a dish and add fresh ingredients to it.”

In Caputo's freezers, entrees sell fairly well, as do Asian appetizers such as egg rolls, noted Copper.

About 75% of the retailer's Asian offering is imported, and the items are segregated by country in the aisles to help consumers.

“American shoppers often don't know which country a particular food is from, so this makes it easy for them,” he said.

PACKAGING INNOVATION

Convenient packaging is helping boost sales of Asian foods at Market Street stores, according to Suman Lawrence, living well business manager for the United Supermarkets banner, based in Lubbock, Texas. Lawrence has seen sales of Asian food rise 17% in the past two years.

“Packaging has changed a lot — it's now cleaner, and it almost sells you,” she said. “It's much more customer-friendly; it clearly explains if a dish is microwaveable. Lots of brands even include a fork in the box.”

Annie Chun's noodles, for instance, are packaged in biodegradable bowls, while the KA-ME brand recently repackaged its noodle and rice boxes to resemble Chinese takeout containers.

“Best sellers are the boxed noodles, rice or bowls that take less that five minutes to prepare,” said Lawrence. “We try and merchandise these in the Asian area, but within their own set, so people know it is going to be a quick fix.”

Weekend shoppers often have a different objective.

“During the week, fast fixes like the microwavables are popular,” said Lawrence. “At the weekend, people are a little more ingredient-based as they eat with family or make it more of a social event.”

Offering convenient options may be an easy way to target American consumers, but attracting Asian shoppers who are new to this country can prove a bit more challenging.

“You've got to understand the degree of acculturation,” said Jim Hertel, managing partner with Willard Bishop, Barrington, Ill. “There's an opportunity when it comes to foods they recognize, probably imported from their country. These people may not be conversant in English, but if they see a product that has a brand or colors that are recognizable, they're going to be drawn to it.”

If a retailer is looking to attract recently immigrated Asian customers, its strategy shouldn't be limited to Center Store.

“Most ethnic shoppers shop more frequently and go more for fresh foods, so they'll probably pick their store depending on produce, meat and seafood,” Hertel noted.

Marcia Mogelonsky, a senior research analyst at Mintel International Group in Chicago, said produce such as mangoes, lychees and tamarind will draw consumers who are new to the U.S.

“Asian supermarkets appeal more to first-generation shoppers, because they speak their language, and it becomes like a community,” she said. “It's good for [mainstream] supermarkets to have some bilingual signage, but it's difficult, because there are so many [Asian] languages, and you really have to understand your demographics.”

Hiring Asian American employees can make customers feel more comfortable, and if they wear badges stating their ability to speak a certain language, or languages, it makes them more approachable, said Thomas Tseng, a principal with New American Dimensions in Los Angeles.

At three Central Market stores, part of Town & Country Markets in the Seattle area, store associates are stationed in the aisles, where a substantial Asian offering is merchandised. About 200 to 250 linear feet of space is dedicated to the offering, said Mitch Uyeno, the retailer's Asian department manager.

“We try to have someone on the floor to answer questions,” he said. “We used to put out recipes, but it started to look cluttered, so we prefer to help on a one-on-one basis. If a person comes in, we'll help each one personally with a recipe.”

Personality is the most important factor when hiring employees for the jobs, said Uyeno. Four of his five employees are bilingual. Between them they speak Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese and English.

Studying the demographics of each individual store is vital to building a thriving Asian food section, too.

“This process of understanding acculturation is key, and even if [retailers] look at foods that work in 95% to 99% of their stores, they're going to miss opportunities. If you understand your demographics, each store can be very individual,” Hertel said.

The number of Asian food products making their way onto supermarket shelves has been gradually increasing since 2000, according to Datamonitor's Productscan Online, Naples, N.Y., citing more than 500 product launches in 2006 alone.

At Town & Country Markets, best sellers are the basic rice, cooking sauces, soy sauce, rice vinegar, rice crackers and coconut milk. But convenience items like cooking sauces also sell well, said Uyeno. New foods tend to focus on convenience, he said, such as ready-to-eat foods and sauces, like curry sauce, that simply need a protein and vegetables added, as well as heat-and-serve boxed meals.

If a retailer wants to build American awareness of these product lines, it's a good idea to educate customers.

“If we have something that we feel is a great product, but it needs a little education to get it going, we'll do a sampling, put it on special and distribute recipe cards,” said Lawrence. “A lot of the time, the problem is that [consumers] don't know what to do with foods.”

United runs regular demos of Asian food, and sales generally increase in the days and weeks after they've been held, she said.

“We usually find we've increased awareness,” Lawrence said. “A lot of times, people are intrigued by the Asian set but are confused or worried about ingredients and how to fix them. But we sell a lot more when they see a dish is easy, has just a few ingredients and tastes good.”

Language on the packaging is also becoming more familar.

“Unusual ingredients like lemongrass, star anise or gangal are getting more familiar,” said Lawrence. “This is also where training your employees and educating your customers is vital — it's all about building that trust relationship.”

Caputo's runs demos regularly, especially for new items, and hands out recipes during the demos.

“If customers see [Asian foods] are easy to make, they're interested,” said Copper. Demos are particularly useful, he explained, when a shopper is looking to replicate a restaurantexperience.

One of the chain of six Treasure Island stores in Chicago — the Clybourn store — not only offers cooking demos with a local chef and gives out recipe cards, it also holds cooking classes every week, often featuring Asian food. These are held in a separate area of the store, on the second floor, and tend to attract around 25 people.

Frozen entrees lead the Asian category when it comes to supermarket sales, followed by rice and miscellaneous Asian food.