Oriental food growing well with contemporary trends, says Wing Yip research
Even as Chinese restaurants continue to thrive in the UK as they have been for more than 100 years, the Oriental food market is rarely researched in detail. It is for that reason that Wing Yip commissioned the Oriental Food Report consumer research, conducted by Populus and augmented by 19 expert interviews with key players.
According to the report, Oriental food is consumed by the great majority of the British public, aligning well with contemporary trends in terms of flavours, social eating, street food and social media. As much as 94% of the eating out crowd have eaten Chinese food at least once, 56% for Thai food, and 35% for Japanese. 30% of adults have eaten at least one Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indonesian or Korean meal.
The research also found that 87% of people have admitted to like eating Chinese food, 39% for Thai, and 20% for Japanese.
From an operator’s perspective, Head Chef at Bone Daddies, Tom Moxon, views the Oriental foodservice market “as going from strength to strength, and not slowly either. The customer base is in place, ready and willing, so the only real limiter on the growth of brands and the market as a whole is the speed at which they can find, train and nurture their teams.”
Restaurants drive the market and they are expanding, particularly Japanese/sushi restaurants, led by the emerging branded groups. Chinese restaurants increased by 12% since 2010, Thai restaurants by 16%, and Japanese restaurants by a soaring 67%.
Kanada Kazuhiro, founder of KanadaYa ramen restaurant, puts it, “the UK has proven that it’s open to trying new dishes and cuisines – the vast amount of Oriental restaurants in the country really does speak for itself.”
The Wing Yip report also asked people for the reasons they like the various Oriental cuisines, and the flavour factor is overwhelmingly dominant – it was mentioned by 85% of Chinese food consumers, 85% of Malaysian food users, and by 90% of those who eat Thai food.
“The specific dishes named by consumers as their favourites understandably include some established menu staples – the five most mentioned were Sweet & Sour Chicken, Thai Green Curry, Chicken Chow Mein, Sushi and Crispy Duck – but that top five also reveals the strength of the wider Oriental food market, and specifically the impact sushi has made on the UK consumer,” the report said.
There is massive scope for consumers to be drawn to discover the Oriental cuisines beyond and within China, and this restaurant expansion will be instrumental in that process. Growth in long haul travel will further stimulate interest and demand, aligned to the trend for culinary tourism, at home and abroad.
But there is clear scope to improve the perception of the Oriental food proposition in the retail and pub sectors, alongside an opportunity to help consumers become more confident in their own cooking ability.
