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Unable to dine at restaurants and leery of takeout, consumers discover frozen options are an excellent way to enjoy their favorite asian cuisine.

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Even before the coronavirus goosed sales this past spring, the frozen Asian foods segment was on the rise. A slew of new product introductions in 2019 – especially in the underdeveloped single-serve entrée subcategory – helped bring some new demographic groups to the category, which appears to have finally shed its reputation as unhealthy, MSG-laden belly filler. But when the pandemic hit U.S. soil, the category really took off.

According to syndicated data for the 13 weeks ended July 12, sales of dedicated frozen Asian food brands jumped a whopping 51.5% versus the same period a year ago. Thanks in part to Pagoda’s return, Asian snacks and apps led the way with an 81.8% gain while multi-serve meals and single-serve meals climbed 45.1% and 27.6%, respectively.

Pagoda’s newly reformulated Vegetable Egg Rolls meet growing demand for meatless snacks

What’s driving such spectacular growth compared to many other frozen food categories? Frozen Asian had already been enjoying significant growth and then restaurant closures prompted consumers to to turn to frozen even more, says Linda Pollack, vp of shopper marketing at Ajinomoto Foods North America (ajinomotofoods.com), Ontario, Calif., maker of the Tai Pei and Ling Ling brands. “Consumers stuck at home are bored with their usual options and they are branching out into frozen Asian and other ethnic foods.” They can’t easily go to restaurants, she continues, and they don’t have the time, the skill or the ingredients to make authentic potstickers or ramen from scratch. So high quality frozen Asian foods are the logical choice.

Although the folks at Santa Fe Springs, Calif.-based Day- Lee Foods certainly didn’t see the pandemic coming, the package refresh it completed earlier this year aligns perfectly with frozen Asian food’s new role, says director of sales and marketing Craig Jaunzemis. The upgraded design features the new tagline “Restaurant quality at home” and also calls out the fact that meals can be prepared in today’s trendiest small appliance: the air fryer (instructions are on the back). “The timing of the changes was really remarkable,” he adds.

Although Asian food used to be considered “exotic,” for many Americans, it’s comfort food, which is also helping drive category growth, says Jaunzemis.

Millennials and Gen Z in particular grew up with global flavors, confirms Suji Park, chief inspiration officer at Suji’s Korean Cuisine (sujiskorean.com), Austin, Texas. Of course, many of them are themselves multi-national, but even American kids are familiar with products like Korean tacos – not from Korean restaurants but from American restaurants, she explains. So these are flavors they already know and love.

It’s not surprising, then, that today’s best sellers are largely the same as yesterday’s, says Victoria Foster, associate brand manager of the P.F. Chang’s Home Menu brand (pfchangshomemenu.com), owned by Chicago- based Conagra. “The most popular flavors and forms are still working. Frozen Asian food isn’t experiencing the same better-for-you, lifestyle trends that are impacting other segments of the frozen food department. Consumers are craving their favorite Asian restaurant dishes.”

SNACKS, PLANT-BASED DRIVE GROWTH

Seventy percent of snacks and appetizers are consumed as a main dish, and Asian snacks and apps are no exception. To help meet growing demand for these dual-purpose products, several frozen Asian food manufacturers are expanding their snack offerings. Tukwila, Wash.-based InnovAsian Cuisine (innovasiancuisine.com) recently added both Chicken and Pork Potstickers to its frozen snack lineup. However, the company also debuted a four- SKU line of single-serve refrigerated snacks (Chicken and Pork Potstickers and Dumplings) for grab-and-go occasions. Touted as the perfect snack or mini-meal, the apps come in their own microwave-ready tray with a side of ponzu dipping sauce. They’re shipped frozen for easy slack and sell and have a 14-day refrigerated shelf life, according to the company.

While 90% of frozen Asian appetizers are either egg rolls or dumplings/potstickers, tempura vegetables are becoming increasingly popular on restaurant menus, reports Conagra’s Foster, citing 20% growth year over year. To help consumers replicate the restaurant experience at home, the company recently rolled out a pair of frozen tempura veggies, Crispy Green Beans and Kung Pao Cauliflower, under its P.F. Chang’s Home Menu label. Not only will they bring some excitement to a segment of the category that’s gotten a little stale, the newcomers also tap into the plant-based trend.

Marshall, Minn.-based Schwan’s Consumer Brands is also building on momentum in plant-based with its new Vegetable Egg Rolls. Offered under the Pagoda (pagoda.com) label, the reformulated, preservative- free product, now in redesigned eight-count packages, includes fresh cut cabbage, carrots, celery and bok choy (and no artificial flavors or dyes) in a crunchy wrapper, reports associate marketing manager for Pagoda Jack Laing. He adds, “We know that nearly 50% of all eating occasions are snacks, and at least 92% of snackers eat snacks instead of a meal at least once a week. But consumers are also breaking out of mainstream snacking items. . .and looking for healthier options – specifically meatless options.”

Suji’s Korean Cuisine will debut plant-based frozen Asian meal kits next spring.

Another company carving out a place in the plant-based frozen Asian apps segment is Washington-based Nomad Dumplings (nomaddumplings.com), which just rolled out its fourth meat-free variety. Originally made with chicken, the company’s reformulated Shangri-La Honey dumplings now feature No Evil Foods’ Comrade Cluck No Chicken. “Shifting to a plant-based chicken will be better for our environment and allow more customers to try this dumpling flavor,” says Nomad Dumplings founder Karen Hoefener.

Demand for plant-based is also bleeding over to the Asian entrées segment. In 2019, reports the Plant Based Foods Association, U.S. plant-based meat sales hit almost $1 billion (up 18.4% since 2018), but a disproportionately high percentage is represented by burgers. In order to attract both flexitarians and meat lovers to the category, says Suji’s founder Park, the industry needs to offer more whole muscle-type products (strips and chunks) – especially high quality chicken alternatives. To that end, Suji’s will introduce two new lineups. The protein-only collection for consumers who want to create their own rice bowls or tacos includes refrigerated fully cooked Beefless Strips, Chick’n Strips, Korean BBQ Style Beefless Strips and Teriyaki Chick’n Strips. The frozen 20-ounce meal kit collection (consumers add rice or tortillas) includes Orange Chicken, Chick’n Garlic Teriyaki, Korean BBQ Style Beefless Bulgogi and Korean BBQ Style Spicy Beefless Bulgogi.

“At one major retailer we work with, Asian is not only the largest sub-type of the skillet meals and entrees segment, it’s also the fastest growing,” reports Park. Juxtapose that against surging growth in the meat substitutes category (+48.9% during the 52 weeks ended July 12, 61.6% during the past 12), and it’s easy to see why Suji’s is going in this direction, she says.

DEDICATED SETS, VARIETY KEY

While Park would like to see frozen Asian foods integrated with their non-Asian counterparts, other manufacturers continue to push for a dedicated frozen Asian foods set. “Retailers that have created Asian destinations have seen the results,” says Ajinomoto’s Pollack, who calls dedicated sets a significant opportunity for growth. “Many frozen Asian brands are small and tend to get lost if they’re integrated with other frozen entrees or snacks. A dedicated set makes it easier for consumers to find them and promotes buying across the [frozen Asian] category.”

Another opportunity, says Pagoda’s Laing, is to decrease redundancy in terms of form and flavor. “Retailers don’t need four or five brands of each format, only the top-performers,” he explains. “By reducing redundancy across the platform, they will be better equipped to bring in fast-growing new forms and flavors, such as steamed dumplings and Mandu, to broaden appeal across the spectrum of shoppers.”

Offering that kind of variety is key to category growth, according to manufacturers. Since the start of the pandemic, they report, retailers have cut their assortments down to top items, which is a fine near-term strategy. But over the long haul, they will need to bring variety back. Manufacturers add that without the incremental variety and multiple purchase opportunities stores will eventually lose shoppers.

ASIAN PULLS AHEAD

Based on a recent analysis of Google Trends data, Chinese edges out Mexican as America’s favorite ethnic food. (Thai, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese also made the top 10.) A similar shift also appears to be underway in the frozen entrée segment where both single- and multi-serve Asian meals not only outperformed the category as a whole during the most recent 52 weeks but also their Hispanic and Italian counterparts. (Asian appetizers and handhelds also outgained the category as a whole though Italian is growing faster off of a small base.)

“Frozen Asian appetizers and meals are growing over double the rate of their respective categories, and frozen Asian meals are the fastest-growing of the major ethnic food segments,” says Victoria Foster, associate brand manager for Conagra’s P.F. Chang’s Home Menu (pfchangshomemenu.com), Chicago. Especially during the pandemic, she continues, “Consumers are looking for food solutions that can replicate the restaurant experience at home.” As the numbers suggest, “Frozen Asian food fits that need perfectly.”

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