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United Kingdom Statistics

Retail Ethnic Food Sales

The above figures do not include Italian sales. The continued growth in Caribbean sales is down to the increase in product lines in supermarkets as the restaurant base is still very small. Mexican/Tex-Mex continues to grow well and Thai has grown well from a small base. Fusion products are now appearing which are very difficult to pigeonhole for comparison purposes.

Number of Minority Ethnic
restaurants in UK 2002

(1999 figures) Tex-Mex/Caribbean restaurant industry has an annual turnover of approx £215 million. Spanish, Greek, Turkish etc account for a further estimated turnover of £450. 2002 - the number of Spanish and Portuguese restaurants continue to grow steadily and South American have made a niche for themselves for the first time.

2005 update - Spanish restaurants have grown markedly in recent years mainly due to the success of 47 strong La Tasca group. Similarly with Portuguese due to Nandos

Tex-Mex and Caribbean foods have made considerable strides in the past ten years from a base of almost nothing pre 1990. This growth is certain to continue as consumers become more aware of the opportunities and a wider range of products are featured in supermarkets, but the growth could be helped by a more rapid growth in restaurants. The growth in tourism is, however, providing a natural impetus, and a further expansion is certain. Very few figures exist on other "Mood Food" cuisines despite their antiquity and their restaurant base and this is largely down to lack of proper publicity. The potential of these markets is considerable.

Source: menu2menu.com