26 | The Grocer | 20 July 2019 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk

world supermarkets

W

alking through the doors of Oseyo is
like stepping into another world. The
shelves of the Korean supermarket on
Charing Cross Road are lined with kim-
chi, gochujang and bulgogi. There are
sweet Korean pancakes alongside K-pop collectibles
and a mind-boggling array of ready-to-eat noodles.
Opened in May, it’s the fifth store the chain has
opened in London (along with one in Manchester)
as it rides the wave of popularity Korean culture has
enjoyed in the UK of late, thanks in part to the preva-
lence of K-pop in the charts.
It isn’t the only one. Specialist Korean shops are
now a common sight in many city centres. And cru-
cially they aren’t only catering to the 53,000 Koreans
living in UK. In fact, “most of our customers are not

Lois Vallely

Koreans,” Jae Joon, manager of the Miss Korea restau-

rant in Birmingham, told The Guardian in April. “The

British have developed a taste for our food, which has

further led to an interest in our culture.” A spokesman

for Oseyo says it, too, has seen increasing interest from

the British population.

It’s an evolution that isn’t limited to Korean cuisine,

with an array of world cuisines gaining popularity with

British consumers to the benefit of expert grocers like

Oseyo. So why is this? And how are these specialist

retailers capitalising?

Ex-pat communities

Traditionally, grocers selling specialist world cuisine

h ave c ate re d to lo c a l s l iv i ng a b ro ad. Ta ke Pol sk i sk le p s.

Just over a decade ago, the influx of Polish migrants

to the UK, sparked by Poland joining the European

Union, saw the emergence of hundreds of these inde-

pendent shops specialising in Polish food to cater for

this new migrant community.

Now, though, these specialist stores are a staple of

the British high street, with many British people fre-

quenting them too, as well as Polish immigrants – as

many as one in 10 Brits are now regularly buying Polish

groceries, according to Mintel.

Brits’ growing appetite for world cuisine isn’t just

re fle c te d i n s p e c i a l i s t g ro ce r s , of cou r s e. T he world c u i-

sine aisles of the major mults are booming too.

A March report by Mintel found retail sales of world

cuisine ready meals, cooking sauces and ingredients

are up 5% for the second year in a row, with the category

now worth £1.8bn. That’s a 12% rise on 2013.

At t he s a me t i me , g lob a l ly i n s pi re d d i she s we re e ate n

The specialists

bringing the

world to Britain

Well-travelled Brits are increasingly seeking out

more authentic tastes from the likes of Korea and

Vietnam. And a growing number of specialist world

supermarkets are making the most of it

“TV chefs are

championing

authentic,

exotic

dishes and

consumers

are becoming

far more

interested in

new flavours”

Oseyo, a Korean grocery chain owned by Hmart, recently
opened its fifth London store on Charing Cross Road