EXPANDING ASIA

Sales of Asian products to supermarkets have easily doubled in the last few years, according to William Chase, national sales manager for American Roland Food Corp. "Asian is getting bigger and bigger," said Joanne Scheid, one of the owners of Roland, a New York-based specialty food distributor. "It's inexpensive and good for the home cook who has tasted these dishes out in Thai or other Asian restaurants."

arket], they can plateau and have to reinvent themselves to keep growing."

Promar's recent study, called "Riding the Ethnic Food Tide," found cuisines are first popular in restaurants before moving into the retail arena. Currently, non-Chinese Asian cuisines are among the fastest-growing ethnic categories, led by Thai and followed by Indian, Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean foods. According to the report, Indian cuisine is moving from the "narrow" evolutionary stage (still "authentic": market crossover occurs with enthusiasts and experimenters) to "expanding" (adaptation of tastes/flavors to the mainstream).