Asian grocery brands are evolving beyond the ‘ethnic aisle’

When Candice Choi launched her Korean seaweed snack brand, Geem, in 2023, she thought the company would be strictly direct-to-consumer, with its marketing strategy relying primarily on TikTok.

But within three months, the seaweed snacks were on the shelves of grocery stores, including some Whole Foods locations, where Geem chips sit next to kale chips and veggie straws.

“There was so much confluence of people being really excited about our snacks and stores really willing to take us on that was really, really exciting,” Choi told CNBC. “Traditionally, buyers are gatekeepers, and it takes years and years and years to develop those relationships, but they saw the category was growing, and we’ve been performing.”

Because of its explosive demand, Geem will be launching in Whole Foods stores across Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii in July, the company told CNBC exclusively.

Geem’s growth is indicative of a larger trend: As demand for global flavors in the U.S. rises, Asian grocery items are getting more of a spotlight in mainstream grocery stores, signaling an evolution beyond the traditional “ethnic aisle” of years past.

Those aisles typically included a limited selection of international products, often offering primarily sauces or oils. Now, grocery stores look much different.

“People are being exposed to newer flavors earlier on, and it’s no longer that weird snack that maybe you try once and you’re like, ‘No,'” Choi said. “It’s really exciting, and we’re seeing that taste profile really influence consumer demand. And you can see it in the numbers. Asian snacking is expected to go to multiple billions in the end of 2030, and that’s just the snacking.”

Research from global investment banking advisor BDA Partners estimates that the “ethnic aisle” generated $8.8 billion in sales in 2024, with Asian products growing nearly four times faster than the overall grocery sales. The U.S. Asian food market is projected to grow to $51.3 billion by 2031, with a 4.7% compounded annual growth rate, BDA said.

According to data from market research firm Circana, sales of Asian grocery items jumped from $1.57 billion in 2021 to over $2.31 billion this year.

That growth is multifaceted, Circana analyst Sally Wyatt told CNBC. The Pew Research Center has reported that the Asian population in the U.S. has more than doubled since 2000, growing to a 7% share of the total population. As that population grows, Wyatt said, so too has its influence, introducing new flavors to the rest of the country.

It’s a trend playing out at restaurants, too, but at a time when eating out is 4.3 times the cost of cooking at home, Wyatt said, the dynamic is most apparent in grocery stores.

“Especially as younger consumers are exploring, as consumers want to travel but maybe can’t, we do see that food and beverage is just a perfect way to get a taste of a culture that you might not be able to do every day,” she said. “So the flavors provide some unique experiences and can allow for culture exploration through food.”

Some of the segments seeing the most growth are condiments, sauces and frozen foods, Wyatt said. The growth is driving those products out of the traditional “ethnic aisle,” with Asian flavors placed next to American ones as mainstream grocery stores work toward being a one-stop shop for all consumers.

“I could go down each aisle, and all of them have been touched by the ethnicity of different cultures, flavors, combinations,” Wyatt said. “You’ve started to see those go into more mainstream because these retailers are wanting to appeal to not just the Asian consumer, but the consumer that wants to have the Asian exploration and Asian flavor combinations.”

Specialty grocers are expanding rapidly, too. Chains such as H Mart, Patel Brothers and 99 Ranch Market are opening new locations around the country, offering large selections of Asian products.

In the frozen food section, Deep Brands is serving Asian flavors to a diverse customer base that reflects the country, not just an Asian population, according to General Manager Kiernan Laughlin.

“Our overall purpose is to elevate global flavors and make them more accessible to all consumers, regardless of what ethnicity they’re from,” Laughlin told CNBC. “And what’s really interesting about these trends is people initially may think Asian flavors, global flavors, are growing specifically because that population is growing … but it’s agnostic to ethnicity.”

Deep Brands includes Deep Indian Kitchen, a legacy brand available in more than 25,000 stores, and Thai brand Tem Toa, which is available in Target. Laughlin said the Indian frozen food brand has grown exponentially and holds 51% market share of frozen Indian food nationwide, meeting growing demand driven by high-income millennials and members of Generation Z.

Deep Brands products are also sold in mainstream aisles of grocery stores, Laughlin added, serving as easy access points for non-Asian consumers as well. It expects to surpass $110 million in syndicated retail sales this year, he said.

“If you look at the ‘ethnic aisle,’ or you look at the ethnic grocery channel, generally speaking, that’s targeting people of a specific ethnicity, or it’s a multicultural consumer,” Laughlin said. “There’s a business there as well, but what our thesis is on Deep Brands and who we serve is the consumer of all ethnicities who want an authentic, premium, global flavors experience. So that’s where we sit in the store as well, and we’ve had great success with that.”

Amazon‘s Whole Foods has also been increasing its investments in Asian flavors. Category merchant Julie Bandin said the grocery giant has seen demand grow “pretty tremendously,” and it’s also an area that’s seeing a lot of innovation.