More than three quarters (76%) of ethnic restaurant or takeaway users have visited a Chinese restaurant or takeaway, topping the proportion visiting Indian (72%) or Thai (40%) establishments, while Caribbean and Malaysian-inspired outlets are starting to gain traction, according to new research from Mintel.
The research found that consumers in London who have the strongest taste for Chinese food. Four in five (80%) Londoners have ever used or visited a Chinese restaurant compared to 70% in the West Midlands, 75% in Wales, 76% in the North West, South East and East Anglia, 77% in Yorkshire and Humberside, and 78% in Scotland and the East Midlands.
Richard Ford, senior food and drink analyst at Mintel, said: “Overall, the ethnic restaurant and takeaway market holds real potential, the popularity of both Chinese and Indian takeaways and restaurants reflecting the cuisines’ long-established position in the UK. Those Chinese restaurants that lay on special menus or otherwise celebrate Chinese New Year should have a useful point of difference to help them attract diners.”
Moreover, although some may see ordering a Chinese as an unhealthy treat, of those who have visited an ethnic restaurant or takeaway, just one in seven (14%) view Chinese food in these venues as unhealthy.
Overall, just one in 10 (12%) of those who have used ethnic restaurants or takeaways agree that eating a takeaway from an ethnic restaurant is unhealthy, falling to 4% who agree that eating a sit-down meal in these venues is unhealthy.
Ford said: “That a minority of consumers see ethnic restaurants as unhealthy is good news for the operators, suggesting that consumers have taken little heed of occasional news drawing attention to takeaways in particular as unhealthy.”
Finally, the research found that whilst Chinese venues are currently in the lead with the number of consumers visiting these restaurants or takeaways, it seems that Malaysian and Caribbean could be the cuisines to watch in 2015.
Currently just 14% of Brits who have ever visited an ethnic restaurant or takeaway have visited a Caribbean venue or ordered a takeaway from one, but over half (58%) of those who haven’t would be interested in doing so in the future.
In addition, whilst less than one in 10 (9%) have visited a Malaysian venue or ordered a takeaway from one, 58% of those who haven’t would be interested in using this type of restaurant or takeaway in the future.
Ford said: “Whilst Malaysian and Caribbean cuisines have little in common, being from geographically and culturally different areas of the world, they both enthuse consumers. That a large proportion of people would be interested in visiting a Caribbean restaurant is likely to partly stem from the cuisine’s visibility in recent years, for example, through brands such as Levi Roots in the retail channel.
“Strong interest in Malaysian cuisine similarly comes as the cuisine has been gaining greater visibility in foodservice and at retail. The 2014 BBC MasterChef winner Ping Coombs is an advocate of Malaysian food, helping to boost visibility of the cuisine similar to the way in which 2005 MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers has promoted Mexican food.”
