The future looks bright for the international supermaket chain based in New Jersey-H Mart and other
Asian supermarket chains in America.Earnings of Asian-Amerian households outpace the national
average.Their spending exceeds all other groups,too,according to Geoscape.And Asian-Americans spend
more of their money on groceries than average America households.Americans have developed greater
appetite for cooking and eating Asian foods,too. In 2012 non-restaurant sales of Asian foods topped
$1.5 billion, according to Mintel Group. Though Latin foods are a bigger market, the popularity of
Asian foods is growing faster. Once strange-seeming imports like seaweed and sashimiare now
fashionable food stuff.Though the rate of growth is expected to fall, sales of Asian foods are
likely to keep rising.But Asian delicacies can be hard to come by. Few Americans are likely to see
durian or bamoo shoots in their local shop. Some specialty ingredients are only to be found at a
premium in up-market grocery stores, or miles away, in ethnic markets in older Asian neighborhoods.
Even so, most Asian grocers have not made efforts to reach new customers, says Jeffrey Cohen, an
analyst at IBIS World, an industry-watcher.Many shops are located in minority enclaves, and do
lillte to market themselves to other Americans. Narrow car parks and dim interiors put off customers
used to the bright lights of mainstream supermarkets. Ingredients labeled with poorly translated
English can leave shoppers puzzled. A few Asian grocery chains have caught on, opening stores in
more widely. Other than H Mart, there are Californian chains such as 99 Ranch Market and Shun Fat
Supermarket, which have been expanding into the American southwest. 99 Ranch Market was even
featured in a humorous YouTube music video-Asians Eat Weird Things-which has been watched more than
900000 times. As American eating and shopping habits change, however, those weird things do seem so
weird things do seem so weird after all.