Why Do Grocery Stores Still Have Ethnic Aisles? | Priya Krishna | NYT Cooking
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2021
- Why do grocery stores still have ethnic aisles? In this video, Priya Krishna explores the question while visiting a Food Bazaar grocery store in Queens, N.Y.. Its aisles are full of a variety of foods from around the world, but in other grocery stores they’re often relegated to what’s labeled an ethnic aisle. This international hodgepodge in ethnic aisles strikes many shoppers and food purveyors as outdated and out of touch, but doing away with it isn’t as easy as it might sound.
Read Priya’s story here: nyti.ms/3lKA2BR
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I like having an international foods aisle, it makes it more convenient for me to get Chinese groceries without driving all the way to an Asian grocery store. I only wish that the foods stocking the ethnic food aisle were more authentic. Like, if you’re going to stock only 1 brand of hot sauce in the Chinese part, make it laoganma rather than some strange Americanized version. Stock a Chinese brand of noodles rather than an American brand. I can accept a tiny ethnic foods aisle in areas where it’s not getting frequently purchased, but at least make the foods there the ones people actually commonly use in other countries
Ayyy, Laoganma!
You know your stuff.
Chili crisp is not the same thing as hot sauce
@Cosmos Poppies maybe not, I'm abc, but I know what my mom always bought from the chinese supermarket
Based
@Cosmos Poppies laoganma may not be a traditional sauce of every chinese province, but it most definitely is broke college student food in every part of china. i think that makes it pretty representative.
Ours changed it to international foods. And even has a bunch of British stuff now too. I like that better better the little ethinc food aisles of my childhood
Mine is the same! And they are sectioned out by what country the products are from, and also in my experience tend to vary according to where you are shopping. My university was in a very middle eastern area, so grocery stores near there had nearly entire aisles dedicated to middle eastern foods. In other areas I've been to with other primary demographics, I see them represented (1-2 aisles dedicated to indian food in areas where that is the demographic etc. etc.). I think that that is more helpful than trying to figure out what conventional category certain things belong to
Yeah, the section with Indian food and Greek food also has candy from the UK. lol
Agreed, the open ended questions were refreshing.
Yeah! I appreciate this much more, my dad's from Dublin and now I can get rashers and candy without flying home.
The grocery store I work at has this, and is kosher focused as the store area has a high number of Jewish population.
I love the ethnic aisle. As a POC, firstly I enjoy seeing the elements that this grocery store have deemed as classic ingredients for my culture. At the same time, it is also a quick way for me to get some of the most important ingredients from other cultures as well. I will say that given the current food trends, many "less trendy" cultures may be under represented. Additionally, even food from Europe can be hard to find! I greatly enjoy small stores that focus on one region, where I can peruse and discover, and usually there are lots of fun snacks to try!
I love those small groceries that focus on one region's cuisines - but I have to drive forever to get to any of those where I currently live.
@@diannt9583 I live in SoCal now so finding ingredients is easy. But when I lived in Illinois, I had to drive forever for certain items. But then again, when I invite my friends over for some "as-close-to-Mama's-cooking-as-I-can-get" feast, it is always most appreciated 😃
As a person living in Europe, even in Europe it's sometimes hard to get food from Europe in the supermarket. I think the bigger conversation is how cities in the US are organised differently than cities in many other countries, in that in the US, people are expected to do grocery shopping by car and not in the same neighbourhood where people live. The way European cities are organised, the farmer's market is often in the middle of the neighbourhood, next to the local supermarket, discounter, butcher, baker, and sometimes an Indian, Chinese or Middle Eastern store.
The necessity of an "ethnic food aisle" is created for people who don't want to do a separate run to go to "ethnic supermarkets", which I think is quite understandable. Not to say that there is no ethnic food aisle in my local supermarket, but I don't really need it because the Chinese supermarket is only 10 minutes away by bike and easily doable in one midweek shopping trip.
I find this interesting because in New Zealand we often have “international” sections in the grocery store and it does have the typical Mexican and Asian food in it, but we also have a British foods and American foods section
yes, same for us in the Philippines.
Ack! What's in the American section? (I'm assuming that's just US American rather than pan-American.)
I must disagree, Mexican was a hard find in New Zealand lol
I love it... a distinct American food section! Cheetos and Doritos???
In Australian supermarkets they have a New Zealand section.
In Seattle, WA we generally have dedicated “Asian” and “Latin American” sections within major chain grocery stores with a fair amount of product. There is still significant generalization of cultural foods - considering “Asian” and “Latin American” are about as unspecific as you can get - but I do appreciate that it is better than nothing. The “generic ethnic” section still exists but doesn’t always have things I would have traditionally considered “ethnic”. You will see British HP sauce next to canned Greek dolmas alongside jarred Russian borscht. It’s almost treated as a catch all for products they can’t find other places for.
Ours calls it “international” and is further labeled by country
@@alisaurus4224 Great reply!!
I don't feel that "Latin American" is as unspecific as it can get. As someone that was born and lives in a small country Latin America, I feel that allows better representation than having aisles or sections of an aisle dedicated to "Mexican" "Colombian" "Dominican food" and then "Other countries". My country is an Other country because it is small, but it has a lot of things to offer food wise that may be overlooked when we observe Latin American cuisine by making sections dedicated to the countries a supermarket may find more representative, Latin American food is diverse but shares many building blocks and there I find my country's cuisine, I love the Latin American food aisles when I go abroad!
isn't it usually labeled Hispanic foods at Safeway or QFC?
We need to stop accepting bare minimum
A new Indian supermarket has opened near me (I live in London) and it has small sections for western food - pretty refreshing to have the set up reversed! At the local Asda the "ethnic isle" is called World Foods and includes Polish and Jewish foods. Often, if there's an American section, it's near the sweets isle because that's mostly what it contains!
As an American, that sounds about right. Needs some grease and very processed goods as well.
Not hating on myself; it's just how it is. & I love it.
I love this video. Mostly because it asks open-ended questions, and asks the viewer to think about their own viewpoint. There's no singular correct answer on how grocery products should be shelved. But this video asks us to think critically about our experience as consumers, and ask "Why is that they way it is?"
Priya does a great job in her reporting, and she always leaves the viewer to make their conclusions.
I do like the open ended way it is made, though I am unfamiliar with her reporting otherwise. I however thought that the arguments "against" ethnic aisle weren't really discussed very well beyond having a small selection. But maybe I am also misled by the "good" shop they are visiting
Yeah, but she's framing it in a way where you can only come to one conclusion despite what exact question she's asking.
This is just the type of reporting I live for; this discussion is the very essence of what it means to be American and how the borders of identity are constructed and policed in our country. This is a microcosm of us, and I deeply appreciate you bringing its nuances to us. Please keep this type of reporting coming!
It's easier for me to shop those aisles. They're the ones I go to first. Do hate boutique pricing attempts some stores do, however...
What the heck are you talking about? It's best to have ethnic foods together for easier shopping. That's all.
@@susier7766 how is having the same type of item located in two different aisles (ie, “sauces” and “ethnic sauces”, easier shopping?
Or are you saying that when you decide to have Mexican ingredients that you also buy Chinese, Korean, and Mediterranean all at the same time?
@@theouthousepoet Yes
Honestly, as an expat living abroad it was challenging to negotiate the grocery store in a language I was learning to speak through immersion. I really valued the international section that grouped familiar foods in an easy to find format.
Related, but slightly different, I am also celiac and it’s interesting to see how grocery stores deal with gluten free alternatives. It’s really a toss up to see if they’re mixed in with everything else, if they have their own section, or if they’re absent altogether. GF bread for instance could be in the bakery, the GF section, in a freezer with baked goods, or in a freezer with specialty foods. I fully acknowledge that this doesn’t carry with it the same connotations or baggage as the term ethnic, but it still makes negotiating grocery stores a bit of a treasure hunt. Here too I generally prefer when things get grouped because it makes it easier for me quickly asses if a store has any GF alternatives and how robust or minimal their selection may be.
When you go to the ethnic aisle you're sure to find the specific product you're looking for and you don't have to search all over the freaking store.
I live in a medium sized city in Western NC… the “ethnic aisle” is ok for a quick trip to the big box grocery, and I’m glad we have it, because otherwise I’m not sure how I’d find things like rice noodles or fish sauce. We do have a few “Asian grocery stores” which are, of course, way way better in terms of selection & authenticity, but it’s an additional trip to make. I wish I lived somewhere with a Food Bazaar type store!
I have worked in a grocery store for several years, the ethnic aisle is broken up into sections by cuisine. While it makes sense to do away with it and mix the items into the rest of the store it is often easier for current customers to find what they are looking for by having those items on one aisle. As for introducing customers to new items, it is hit or miss. The biggest selling stuff are things like noodles and sauces. There are a ton of packaged bulk spices similar to those Priya commented on, but the customers never purchase this stuff, preferring instead to go to an indian grocer to purchase the items instead. While the store does have a large indian, hispanic, and asian clientele a lot of the more exotic stuff we carry doesn't sell as there is a certain trust factor involved which I don't think this video addresses.
Just say international stuff, not exotic. Exotic is code for other.
I hope they keep it. It is so much more convenient.
I dont think its a trust factor. Id rather get my indian groceries from an indian grocery store because they have more choices and variety and cheaper prices than a standard grocery store. Like if I take rice, I can get a large bag of basmati rice for much cheaper at an indian grocer. The standard grocer will sell smaller bags for way more. And there are items that I just know a standard grocery store won't carry, like certain types of spices or specific fruits/veggies that are not commonly eaten in North America (e.g. Okra, plantain, etc.). But I trust my standard grocer to carry my favourite cereal and rather buy eggs, milk, cheese, bread from a standard even though indian groceries do carry that stuff.
Yes that part. The cultural connection in visiting stores catering to specific regions is more trusting and loving. Like a sense of home and shared nostalgia that you won't feel in the big stores that store it.
@@pearlngozi2818 Sometimes "more exotic" just means that. Like... feijoada and churrasco is what's country's famous for, but we have especially foods that are more often than not missed (even inside of the country). Acarajé and Tacacá would be exotic in São Paulo and special food fish and prawn would be exotic in places away from the sea. I'm not even going into things like tha sauva that's a common ant to eat in some parts of the country or maybe gongo which is a larvae. It's fine to call it exotic when you mean exotic (like pretty uncommon things). I also understand what you mean, I'm just adding up.
"Italian" olive oil is limiting also. Mediterranean ingredient with MANY cultures using it.
That being said, the store you were at seems like the best sorting method. I absolutely hate having one aisle in my typical store where I have to find matzo next to sesame oil next to lentil...but the next aisle over is filled with chips and soda
Agreed!
@Gryph alcon "Italian" oil is not limiting; it's called "branding". Americans have long embraced Italian cuisine (or their version of it), so "Italian" oil would be a good thing to have in the kitchen, no? Meanwhile, not a lot of people are familiar with Mediterranean cuisine. Shoot, some people still pronounce "gyro" wrong!
More on branding: "Chinese gooseberries" sounded too exotic for most Americans, but when it got re-branded as "Kiwis" it became a popular produce item.
Also, inventory is determined by demand. Your typical store sells more chips and soda than matzo, sesame oil, and lentil combined, so they keep stocking what sells.
Especially when the country that exports the most olive oil is Spain.
I am similarly conflicted about this.
Where i shop, i have been finding they are mixing in a lot of ethnic foods, like sauces, in the 'regular' aisles in addition to having ethnic sections. I do appreciate that there are these options put it in front of me that I might not have been aware of if they didn't intermix them.
On the other hand, when I am looking for an 'ethnic' item, it might not be in the ethnic section because they have now integrated it. When they keep all the ethnic foods together, then you sometimes have a better understanding of what works together.
Right! There is also the question of where some items should be put. For example, should a shaoxing wine be in the alcohol section, or in the sauces section? Where should nori be placed? In the end as you said, the easy answer would be to bundle it up in the same corner as soy sauce, oyster sauce and such. It's easier for the general people to know the context and use of such products, and for experienced people to know where to look.
As someone who spent the majority of her career influencing where stores should place their products, this video article mentions a lot of the decision criteria, but could have really benefited from a few interviews with a category manager and category buyer. Food manufacturers and retailers literally spend millions of dollars on shopper surveys, ethnographies, and regional studies to try to figure out these questions. If you imagine what it's like to plan where every item goes in a grocery store - across all stores from the top down, that is the challenge we are faced with.
It's the same with the all you can eat "Pan Asian" restaurants in my area. You get Hong Kong desserts, Americanized Korean restaurant staples like bulgogi and kalbi, sushi rolls, and dim sum like har gow and tsiu mai. For people dining out, I guess it's OK. But as a Korean, when I get asked to go out and everyone chooses one of these places, I'm not really enthused. It's a bit like going to a restaurant and seeing fish and chips, lasagna, sauerkraut and sausage, fondue, and souvlaki on a menu.
If you go to Germany, these "Pan Asian" places also offer curries and pizzas 😂 I can't!
@@DizzyBusy I think it's kinda like other countries treat "American food". Traveling, I've seen fast food places in other countries make some weird combos for their special "American style" menu items like randomly putting sliced wieners in things like fried rice and spaghetti.
As soon as I see a menu that has har gow and sushi on the menu, I know they probably don't do either very well... And that the rest of the menu is going to be doused in some sort of syrupy sauce.
I def avoid going to those places, but at the same time- I hate to be the killjoy if other people enjoy it.
very interesting perspective! this sort of reminds me how it always annoys me when chefs on food network say things like "asian style" to whatever dish they are making bc asia is huge and extremely diverse. what part of asia are you referring to??? meanwhile they define italian cuisine by region and are super exact.
@@shalenah It's like the outmoded North American way of treating any ethnic cuisine. Italian food became synonymous with pasta in red sauce, meat balls, or some thin cutlet breaded, fried, and pizza; the only relevant Italian cheeses were mozzarella and Parmesan. 1970's French food was associated with overly complex tiny bits of nothing with a single artistically draped string bean, duck a l'orange, or souffles (Thank Heavens for Julia Child, her cassoulet was my first real stab at french cooking). Chinese food was the overly sweet and greasy take out stuff or the combo plate at a mall food court. So Italian style=tomato sauce, French style=very complicated and technical, and Chinese=add soy sauce and stir fry.
The one thing that Food Network has done is show people that what they have been eating is not really a country's food but a very Americanized version. I think the last major culinary tradition that hasn't experienced this in NA is Indian cuisine. To a lot of westerners, Indian food is curry, biriyani, samosas, etc. bought take out or frozen from Costco. A country of a billion people has a lot of regions and varied food.
But I still know a few people that think every Asian country's soy sauce is interchangeable and all rice is the same. But they also think there is only one style of American BBQ.
I just came here to say that this Food Bazaar in Woodside really reminds me of everything that’s unique and wonderful about Queens. You often see immigrants not just buying from their countries’ aisles but also from the aisles of other cultures, because this supermarket allowed them to try and fall in love with food that they never would have been exposed to otherwise. Man, I love Queens.
The aisles are owned by the big brands. That's how it is at most grocery stores. I'm surprised the aisles aren't called Nabisco, Frito Lay, Kraft, etc. When I want Indian products I go to my local Indian store. Same if I want Asian products or Latin or Middle Eastern. The variety at your typical "American" grocery store for ethnic foods is laughable. But yet, you can find 57 varieties of Oreos, or an entire aisle dedicated to soda where only 2 brands are in competition (Coke vs Pepsi).
Sad but true. I do go back to where I used to live to visit people etc (two hours away) and almost always have time to go to the small but packed Indian grocery there to stock up. There may be something somewhat closer, but if I am going to be in that area anyway....
This is the answer here. I live in a 3rd tier city - well under 1 million metro - and we have ethnic stores from southern North America (Mexico and Central America), east Asia (Chinese, Korean, Japanese), south Asia (India) and east Asia (Middle East) all within a 15-20 minute drive from my house.
The grocery store I frequent in Chicago consists of a beautiful mix of international and local products: Indian spices, Mexican dried peppers, Bulgarian honey, Korean candies, Polish drinks, Lebanese breads, Greek cheeses…nothing is really categorized by ethnicity. The aisles are simply numbered and there are general categories like “canned tomatoes” or “rice and dried beans”. Food is food. Like any other grocery store, mine caters to its customers, in this case, a diverse clientele, and doesn’t bother much with categorization. At the end of the day, they care only about profit and are willing to stock whatever products sell.
I like the ones that are a little more 'segregated' by section. I like the authentic foods and it's easier to find the right 'go withs'. Exceptions would be produce, bakery and dairy, in my mind. Does bug me when I go into an ethnic store and it has a ton of starchy foods (rice and noodles) and less of the spices, veggies, etc that add the real flavor.
What's the name of the store?
What store is this? I go to Whole Foods in Lakeview and the ethnic aisle is pretty standard.
Jerry’s Fruit and Garden in Niles!
Ahh Chicago is great! Always find mix of variety and food is lovely 🔆
I get what Jolene Tolbert meant, but it is kind of annoying when people say American cuisine is different than other ethnic cuisines. People of all ethnicities are American lol
I was wondering the same 🤔. What does she mean by American cuisine? World food should be called as American cuisine.
Yeah, that was a weird thing to say since most American cuisine is adapted from other cuisines. If you want real American cuisine, you’d have to look at Native American cuisine in the pre-ocean exploration era.
Except THIS IS AMERICA! Our country has its own unique culture and heritage. Why would we change that because someone thinks we should?
Do other countries have American food isles?
💯
really interesting, thought-provoking piece -- I'm currently living in France where the ethnic aisle is quite distilled (quarter of an aisle), and I might find half Asian ingredients, half Mexican, and not much else. That said, how else to organize these unique foods -- would tortillas be better placed with breads? where to put nori (seaweed sheets)? Honestly I hope one day more supermarkets (around the world) eventually look like the one in Brooklyn!
Do like H-Mart and have an entire aisle dedicated to seaweed :P
I think the problem mentioned wasn't just about having aisles for ethnic foods, but having them all together intermixed. If you subdivide it into a section of the aisle as Southeast Asian, South Asian, East Asian, Latin American, Eastern European, Western European, West African, Ethiopian, Caribbean, etc. At the very least, it serves a purpose of being able to find each type of cuisine.
There are two general major approaches to categorizing things, what's similar in nature, and what goes together. For instance, toilet paper, writing paper, and tissue paper are all paper, made of wood, so you could group them. Or you could group toilet paper with bathroom supplies, writing paper with writing supplies, etc. That's like the difference between grouping ingredients that go together, pasta by the pasta sauces, Thai ingredients together, etc. vs by similarity like breads, cakes, and tortillas together, or fermented ingredients like soy sauce, fish sauce, wine.
But grouping say Indian dal by Japanese nori doesn't serve a purpose other than saying you don't think they belong elsewhere. People aren't more likely to need those next to one other, while grouping South Asian ingredients together does give a centralized place to find things that are used together more easily.
Yea , but you need to be able to move a stocked item within a week , the more exotic the item means more dead inventory (cash) sitting on a shelf.
i think it truly depends on the area, i grew up in a suburb next to paris where the grocery stores have quite an extensive east asian selection because they're a significant minority, in another area a shop might have north african ingredients present in all the shelves bc of the populations there. i think grocery stores are quite fascinating in that way bc they really reflect the patterns of immigration of some french areas. i now live in paris intra muros and find less diversity in my local store(the small ethnic shelf you mentioned), but i also have more access to specialized stores, that also comes into the equation :^)
In UK they actually do that, there’s tortilla with bread and nori with the crisps but these are usually British/western brands. The international aisle has all the authentic imported brands
I think it's very helpful to me to have these types of aisles for the same reason Priya said. It teaches me that "this thing" is from "that country"! And I appreciate that cultural information/learning.
I love this style of reporting Priya! I love seeing you evolve as a food writer and the opportunities you are taking at the NYT. I personally can’t wait for your next cookbook to be delivered to my house.
I would prefer more regional ethnic aisles like where you are at. My family tries to eat as diverse as possible because that’s what we prefer, and I would love to have easy access to all of the spices and legumes that store had.
I like the ethnic isles because if I want Gochugang, I know exactly where to go. The same goes for any specific item. I don't want to search the whole store or several isles looking for a specific item. The way I cook/shop, I, sometimes have to shop two or three grocery stores to find what I want. It is very frustrating.
I do understand this and I'm not criticizing, but I do wonder: if you go to the grocery store and you need non ethnic-aisle items, you are searching the whole store, right? Like, you're going to the appropriate aisles for sauces and noodles and spices and canned items and dried goods and produce. Again, I promise I'm not criticizing or attacking, I'm just genuinely curious about what about it feels different to you?
@@laceyh Yes, I generally know where everything is in the stores, I shop. If I'm "isle shopping," I just wonder most of the isles and look at everything. I try to stick to a grocery list, but usually doesn't happen.
I think so
I have yet to see Gochugang in any of the supermarkets I've ever visited, ethnic / international aisle or not. But I get your point!
@@laceyh Exactly! It seems to be a condiment, so it would be in the condiment aisle. Unless you don't really know what it is, it wouldn't be any harder to find than say mayo.
Also they seem it sell it in at least one of the major grocery store chains here in Finland.
The grocery store you're in looks amazing! I'm from small-town Kansas, where the small section on the aisle is just called ethnic food. I would love to have a broader option that pinpoints the location from which it came from. I think it might be a lot to ask for transportation of more items from around the world. I also think mixing the things with American name brands doesn't let that product shine and give background to its origin.
I've wondered this for a while too. Especially as we "globalize" cooking more and "ethnic" cuisine becomes more and more normalized for white households, it really starts losing its meaning. Why are some of the lentils shelved with the rice, quinoa, and other grains, while some of them are in the Ethnic aisle because their labels say "dal" instead of "lentils"? Why are tortillas and salsas not in the Ethnic aisle when masa harina or achiote still are? It's all just food, and it makes no sense to jam the entirety of so many different cuisines (that are each diverse and expansive in their own right) all together next to each other when we have an entire aisle just for peanut butter and jelly.
I'd just mention that this distinction is not necessarily for white sensibilities. I'm in Toronto and as a Pakistani, my family and even I am probably much more likely to buy lentils which say "dal", flour which is labelled "atta" and specific types of rice from the Indian subcontinent (such as Sella) rather than a generic "long-grain basmati". I'm not sure if there's an actual difference in taste but I must admit that I haven't really tried the generic versions.
I think it just becomes easy if you know you’re making a curry to go to the Indian section (this is a thing in Australia.)
Probably because 95% of the people who shop at any particular grocery store don't know what "dal" is? Many stores also seem to use the ethnic food aisle more for foreign _brands_ than foreign foods. So Goya beans may be in the Mexican aisle while other brand beans are in a separate aisle.
Where I used to live, the Indian and Mexican lane had the same dry and canned bean brands as the generic Americanized bean lane. They just faced the Spanish side of the bean can out forward in the "ethnic" area, and the English side out in the "American" area. And put a lot more of the dry beans into the Mexican or Indian locales of the store. Same with salsas, but which were far and few in the Mexican section.
I know - entire aisles for junk cereals, another for chips and cookies... Sad.
Reading this as a Texan, hearing that masa harina isn't in the normal baking/flour section was really odd!
It's super frustrating to have to check the international aisle, then the baking aisle, then organic aisle, and lastly the gluten free aisle just to find out my grocery store doesn't carry corn masa
That's bad. Masa is pretty basic. I sometimes find the reverse is true, at least in the way of starches...
I have completely been there although I did at least find the Masa at last. In one of the stores I shop in they have it both in the international aisle and then in the baking section as well (a different brand).
I ended up having to order it online...
As much as I love having the representation of the different countries, cultures & cuisines available & spotlighted in my local grocery stores, this is my only real issue I have with it. There are some products that crossover & it may sound privileged or whatever you want to call it, but when you just want to run in & grab something & have to look in 3-5 different aisles (or bother someone who is working 10 jobs at once right now to look it up), it's frustrating. Especially considering how hard it is to get those products in the store to begin with -- to have them either be overlooked or missed entirely due to where they end up -- isn't fair to the consumer or the business/supplier, really.
Your life is so hard
I live in a big city and we don't have anything like this! I wish for something like this. I live in a diverse city and our Safeways are nothing like this. It has a condiment aisle with 20 different ketchups, ranch, and Mayo, but two brands of soy sauce (neither of which are dark soy sauce). I go to more than 5 different markets for grocery shopping (latin market, middle eastern market, Korean market, Indian market, and Greek market). I feel many chains don't recognize food trends have changed and there's a demand to carry more diverse foods. Most chains have an outdated mindset - who needs 10 different types of ranch?
Exactly. It sucks, and often the 'ethnic' foods are overpriced. Part of the problem is who is buying space on the shelves. 20 bad mac and cheese mixes would be better served by say best taste, rather than store greed...
Thought provoking certainly. Here's another angle: thankfully, we have a couple very large international grocery stores, along with a bunch of smaller region-specific markets as well. In the larger stores, all the like products from various regions are stocked together, i.e. all the rice is together, all the fish sauces are together. It's difficult to discern one region's fish sauce from another. Of course, many shoppers can, but it would be great to have labels or even isles that differentiate by the region/country.
In my view the ethnic aisle is still useful depending on where you are and who is doing the shopping. I can imagine that someone from a specific cultural background will find it odd that a small portion of products of his or hers local cuisine are crammed together on a limited shelve. On the other hand, for someone that doesn't belong to that demographic and wants to try out something new, this is more convenient as they are likely to find all the items they need to get going in cooking outside of their comfort zone. Also, in my case, the fact that I live in a small but dense populated country makes that the limited size of our supermarkets would never be able to properly store the full range of all the different cuisines of all the different cultures present here. For me it's fairly easy as I live in the city centre in an area that has a big mix of cultures. So for anything specific I can go to local Indian, Afghani, Portuguese, Turkish, Moroccan, Polish etc, store. And the staff is usually very helpful in helping you out when faced with all those different brands and variations. So let's say that where I live, a small "ethnic food aisle" is almost pointless. On the other hand, when meeting my friends in the village, this aisle is the only place where you can find some more exotic products without driving into another city. And they do listen to their customers and adapt their selection. These villages are also far more "white" then the city so the abundance of different foodstores will not really develop there. So there, an adaptive, potentially expanding aisle servs its purpose. Next to that, I think it's also a generational thing. For my parents fried rice and even spaghetti Bolognese was exotic. For our daughter (a student) that grew up in a time with a bigger variety of cuisines available, it's the most normal thing to just hop from one taste palet to the other. That fluidity amongst the population to sway from one cuisine to another might gradually make the ethnic aisle redundant.
One of the stores near me has an ethnic isle that’s basically just tortillas/tacos, instant ramen, and matzoh lol. Waiting for them to catch up with the rest
This is my dream grocery store.
💚🔪 I must travel to several smaller “ethnic” grocery stores to stock my pantries and freezer with this kind of selection. I’m with in a 10 mile radius (+/-) of specialty ethnic cuisine beyond the growing isles of my local Kroger
I love Priya so much! So nice to see her in a video talking about something important rather than just cooking! You go, NYT Cooking!
I wonder why call it "ethnic" aisle, though. "Mexican" or "Asian" are not ethnicities, they are words that speak of geographic origin. We have the same format in Brazil and although I agree it may seem dismissive at first, it actually speaks of how integrated a particular cuisine is to local culture. When Japanese products first started to appear in my local grocery shop they had a specific section. Before, you actually had to go to a neighbourhood of Japanese majority to have access to decent soy sauce or misso paste. Same thing happened to "healthy" products or imported grains. Now they are more often than not blended into the regular grocery shops shelves
Well, it does seem as if, by some definitions, nationalities and ethnicities are not unrelated. Merriam-Webster lists both "race" and "nationality" as synonyms, which I suppose kind of speaks to the ambiguity of the term. Personally, I have generally heard people using ethnicity to refer precisely to geographic origin, as opposed when people talk about race, where they generally are talking about the geographic origin of one's ancestors.
Although I also wonder whether the term "ethnic" (not ethnicity itself) might not be somewhat problematic in itself, at least as it is commonly applied. Conceptually, it's a bit like the concept of "genre" fiction: all fiction has a genre, but people use the term to refer to works that they do not view as serious, "default" literature. The word "ethnic" gets used the same way. For instance, in my copy of GarageBand, there is a whole section labeled "etnica", although I am not sure whether it might be something different in English, which contains a variety of instrument sounds from around the world. But how is the guitar, with its roots in European folk instruments such as the lute and the oud, considered a supposedly regular instrument, whereas the sitar, say, which is also an updated form of a medieval instrument, is considered "ethnic"?
@@jonahscher-zagier8196 I completely agree. I don't think the word "ethnic" should be used as descriptive term, ie. "ethnic food" or "ethnic music", as you mentioned. This gives out the impression (to me at least) that there is the "default", which here can be more traditional food items and "ethnic" is anything outside that. And I don't think it's necessarily eurocentric either, otherwise, foods stereotypically associated with black populations in the US would fall within the "ethnic" categories.
But again, I think that assigning a particular ethnicity to a nationality is a very outdated way of looking at populations. Sure, there will be ethnic minorities and majorities everywhere but western countries, specially in the Americas are naturally diverse. So local cultures are not necessarily split between ethnicities.
A question I have never asked myself or thought about - thank you for making me think about it. Here in the UK the ethnic aisle is a thing but in bigger towns and cities so are entire shops that are the ethnic aisle - full of Middle Eastern, Indian, Chinese and Thai ingredients. I use both types of shop and both give me good food and inspiration. Can we do better - probably, is it great that I can buy Thai curry paste or Turkish pepper puree - definitely.
I think the "ethnic" aile is dope. It could definitely be updated to the "international" aisle. But having those instructions about dumplings like you showed in the beginning of the video just help introduce and broaden people's appreciation of different cultural foods. I do definitely think they should introduce more European food in the "International " aisle too... so that we're not making any culture feel like they're being single out in any way. But yea. Interesting topic to bring to light
Great thought provoking video! Whenever I travel somewhere, whether is the US or abroad, I love visiting grocery stores! They give me a sense of the local culture. For stores in the US, seeing the variety in the ethnic/international aisle gives me a sense of the diversity in the area. For stores abroad, I enjoy seeing what produce they carry!
I'm jealous that people who live in the US have so much access to other culture's food! I live in a town in Catalunya, Spain, and I have to drive an hour to Barcelona to go to an asian market to get sesame oil. I think it's great, it makes cultural food more widely available to people of those cultures, and might spark interest in other people who have never tried those foods. The only thing that's a bit iffy is the name, like why ethnic? It feels othering, and kinda feels like it only applies to non-white cultural foods (bc americans don't consider non-american white people ethnic), so is indian food "ethnic"? To who? Is Spanish food ethnic? Italian? Jamaican? Where's the line between ethnic and not-ethnic. I would call the aisle "Cultural foods" or better "Wordly Foods" bc that just implies foods from elsewhere than the US.
I hear what you're saying. Nevertheless, classic British foods like golden syrup and digestive biscuits are on the ethnic aisle where I shop, as well as foods particular to European cuisines.
Yeah, the variety of international food in the United States is amazing. You have to have lived in other countries to appreciate it. I lived in Sicily and Egypt in the past and in both places it was exceptionally difficult to find a restaurant with remotely authentic food from the Far East, much less a mom-and-pop grocery (or H-Mart!) selling all the ingredients.
You make a great point, Marthe. We spent a couple of months in Portugal last year, preparing for our upcoming move from the US, and foods from other countries were noticeably more difficult to find. We know we’ll have to let go of being able to easily make our favorite foods from other parts of the world. Here in the US we are lucky to be able to find such a wide array of ingredients from other cultures.
I like knowing that most of the items needed to make a particular cuisine, are in the same area. The ethnic aisles in my area are dependent on the neighborhood in which they reside.
The grocery store near me switched their aisle to international foods, and it seems to contain products that are imported. This includes everything from Japanese snacks, to Jamaican soda, to English style tomato baked beans in the teal can. Some things that people might consider "ethnic" such as spices or dried lentils or soy sauce also show up in the non international aisles as well. If you have a bigger store like the one in this segment, I like the concept of dividing up aisles by cooking region. It's difficult for me to find certain Southeast Asian ingredients (tamarind, curry pastes, pandan, etc.), even at my local Asian markets.
When I lived in Chicago, the Big Chain near us also did this. So, for example, the imported canned tomatoes from Italy were in the same aisle as the imported foods from Mexico, Korea, Greece, India, etc., and then the US brand canned tomatoes were with the other American canned goods. In some cases, the a brand of a popular items might be in both places. But then some things were very weird, like all the types of rice were only in the international aisle.
I love it!! As a whiter-than-white-bread beyotch, I wasn't raised knowing these recipes and foods. I go to the "ethnic aisle" for inspiration, and I usually throw more unfamiliar, exciting ingredients in my cart than I would if I had to go looking for them, simply because I wouldn't even know TO look for them in the first place. A lot of "ethnic aisle" foods have made it into my weekly rotation because I found them featured in this magical little nook.
I appreciate this report, but have a very hard time connecting with it. I live in a small city with one grocery store; people from surrounding cities drive 20-30 minutes to shop at our one grocery store, because their small city doesn’t have one.
There are a couple of chain groceries in the larger city about an hour from here that have “ethnic” food isles. The thought of getting rid of the ethnic food aisles in those gave me so much anxiety! I hit them up whenever I’m in town. If they were replaced by something like the store that Priya was in that would be incredible, but it’s hard to see that as a likely move where I live. Then again, maybe this video isn’t for me.
I get what you're saying. I used to have a similar problem where I live. You used to have to drive 70 miles to get much diversity. Now we have two great ethnic food stores locally, the second one opened a great produce department.
Very intriguing. I don't know that I consciously think of the ethnic food aisles. On the one hand, I appreciate the convenience of getting my typical groceries while being able to explore a few new recipes, as I do find the thought of going into a specialized grocery store alone intimidating. On the other hand, depending on which store and which city I'm in, it can be incredibly limited. Like another commenter said, the items in the ethnic aisle are sometimes not authentic.
As a black American, I also find it interesting that I may find canned soul food sides like greens or seasoned beans in the ethnic aisle or the canned veggie aisle. Soul food is American food, so intriguing when you think of it as ethnic, which is different than international. Then again, so is Tex Mex, which is often found in the ethnic aisles. I wonder how those items sell when placed in the veggie/sauce aisles vs the ethnic aisles.
One thing I do think about more often are stores like Target and Walmart and the ethnic hair care aisles. Very similar but also very different. I don't always feel great about that section being tiny and separate, but hair is more specialized. Anyone can eat a different cuisine. Not everyone has hair that requires specific products. I don't have many deep thoughts. I'd just be curious to hear the perspective of maybe an African or Caribbean cook on the ethnic food aisle experience and the ethnic hair care aisle.
Where I live (Ontario, Canada) the average chain stores have a SECTION of an aisle for "international" foods, not even an entire aisle! In the more rural parts of the province (I'm a couple hours from Toronto) we don't have access to specialty stores as much, but the bigger chain grocery stores aimed at low income families have the best 'ethnic aisles' because they are stocking them to cater to the immigrant populations. FreshCo and No Frills are the better ones in my experience!
I prefer to shop those places because I love cooking cuisine from other countries. I would love it if the small town grocery stores had better items, but in the tiny town where I lived previously, the most recent owners really started to cater to who was shopping there, and I started seeing better international products as well as more gluten free and vegan stuff too.
The grocery store I shop at the most often has a section of short aisles that are the ethnic section. And it was strange when the pandemic panic caused stores to introduce one-way aisles, the setup there ended up in this weird situation where you could either shop the Italian section OR the Asian section, but it was difficult to go to both. You had to loop around in a super inconvenient way, and it felt like the store felt that customers would NOT want both Italian and Asian food in the same shopping trip.
I don't ever go to non-ethnic grocery stores anymore. They NEVER have what I need to cook. If they don't serve me, why would I ever give them my money.
I would love to see a grocery store near me like the one you're at. I think if American grocery stores offered a wider variety of ethnic food, I would probably start shopping there again. But plenty of the ethnic centered grocery stores SELL the american items I usually want to buy too, so, again, why would I ever go somewhere else?
The ethnic stores are better.
@@b_uppy the produce is fresher, cheaper and more diverse too!
@@lorassorkin
Totally agree. Instead of just 10 varieties of apples and oranges you get persimmons, prickly pear, etc. It's definitely better for you.
Agreed, and y9u are lucky to have such stores presumably less than an hour from your home?
I think it is a question worth contemplating. If we don't look at why we do what we do and if it is the best practice we will never evolve.
I love strolling down an international aisle or section. Not only is it fun and practical, It's led me to discover new products that I would have otherwise missed.
I recently moved to a big city with an ethnic grocery store. I can spend hours in there. I also like the ethnic aisle in regular grocery stores. I feel that specialty items will get in lost in a supermarket, if placed with like ingredients. Great article In The NYTimes.
My feelings are definitely complicated.
I think that, if we consider the space a "typical" grocery store will have available for non-Americanized ingredients - and I don't mean in NYC, either - the ethnic aisle is a great way to centralize ingredients for many shoppers who want to shop for those ingredients. I know I appreciate being able to go to those types of aisles or sections, as it is ultimately where I end up doing a lot of my shopping.
That said, I also know that shoving it all into one space is restricting variety for the many kinds of food represented there. And that might be especially frustrating for those whose native cuisines are represented by those sections, and may not have a specialized food store in their area or close to them. And for those who are wanting and trying to eat new and/or more diverse types of cuisine, it is probably a disservice to them to have a limited and condensed selection.
But I don't know that a store with, for example, Peruvian vs. Pakistani vs. Mexican vs. Chinese vs. Ethiopian etc. etc. is remotely feasible in 98% of America. And that's a challenge for decentralizing the ethnic aisle. But regardless of that, I love that you broached this topic - I've thought about it many times! And this is why, when possible, I try to explore and support specialized grocery stores.
I enjoy the ethnic aisles, and like the one lady you interviewed, I appreciate cuisines from all around the world. Different cuisines have a more proscribed set of ingredients, and I appreciate finding them all in close proximity to one another. Other almost universal ingredients, such as mayonnaise or mustard, could be all put together. Who knows, you may find a new favorite brand of something because it was found near your tried-and-true one!
I'd be really interested to see how other countries deal with 'the ethnic aisle'. I see some descriptions in the comments, and it makes me wonder how other countries organize their stores, and what they give shelf space to. America seems fairly unique in that you can get truly almost any food you want here. Between physical stores and mail order, almost anything can be bought here.
Such a seemingly trivial but actually important question!
Even the woman who actually loves "ethnic" food inadvertently other-ed those groups. For example, what exactly is "American cuisine"?? Is there such a thing? French cuisine? Italian cuisine? Southern cuisine which is heavily influenced by various African cuisines?? And are other types of cuisines not "American"?
I currently live in Canada, and used to have a professor from the states, who actually implied that ethnic stores are not Canadian, my god...
100%. One of the best things about food is the journey it makes through different cultures. Pizza is so American, but was once considered quite Italian by American consumers, but of course tomatoes are not European, but American...
In middle, rural America, it's not about where in the store ethnic foods are displayed. It's about IF they are available at all.
If you are new to a country, or even a region in the US, and perhaps your English isn't that great yet, making it hard to ask for things, being able to find some familiar products in one area of the store is super helpful!
Every country has an "international" aisle in their supermarkets and I don't think it's necessarily "ethnic". Here in Chile, for example, we have a lot of American or German as well as Indian and Arab foods and snacks there.
It would be nice for grocery stores to expand on their "international foods" aisles, just for pure accessibility. If they can spare enough space to have a dedicated aisles depending on the demographics of the neighborhood, that would be nice.
Beyond that, I guess it's important to support small local businesses that are part of their specific community rather than big generic grocery stores that typically only cater to "American cuisine"
The grocery store and other routine, mundane places are really the most powerful in terms of their ability to shape our thinking. An “ethnic aisle” reinforces that there are mainstream, in-group foods vs exotic, ethnic, and/or out group foods. And the power of the grocery store is that it does this subtlety.
The many commentators discussing how much they appreciate the ethnic aisle because it means they don’t have to look all over the store for a specific item reveals this impact, to me. We look all over the store for everything-that’s the very nature of a grocery or department store, it is designed so you meander and buy more. The in-group is not challenged to engage with what the diverse offerings are (ie if dal is only an Indian dish and not another word for lentil, then one is lost outside the ethnic aisle). The separation communicates that ethnic foods are too impossible to learn or engage with on their own terms, these groups and their foods too foreign outside of the managed encounter of what the grocery store deemed worthy of highlighting in the few inches of shelf space for a particular culture.
This isn’t an indictment of anyone, just a comment on the taken for granted aspects of our social and cultural spaces like grocery stores. (This topic also highlights the issues of suburban sprawl-if the grocery stores of the predominant ethnic group in your community is impossibly far away, that too is an issue). We desperately need more open-ended reporting like this that raises a taken-for-granted social arrangement and pokes at it at bit.
This is something I never thought about and it's interesting to think about it. I've always been someone curious, who love diversity and to learn about other cultures and i am a foodie, i'd love to travel literally only to try food. So i love having an international/ethic aisle in my grocery stores, because it gives me the opportunity to make something i haven't made before and open my horizon. Tose aisle helps me get what i need sometimes, rarely tho cuz the problem i have with the ethic/ international aisle is that it is such a mix of everywhere else in the world in such a small aisle that there's not that many options in what they have. Like it was said about sesame oil in the video, that's literally it for me! only one brand, one size and one type. I really love asian cuisine and there is no asian grocery store in my city, i can't even find dark soy sauce, kimchi and gochujang here which is like super basic stuff for Korean cuisine. I really wish that small aisle would extend so we could have more and have actual diversity. That store in the video with all those aisle for each country/region is literally the dream grocery store for me! To me our food (white french canadian here) is so basic, boring, we don't have that much culture wise(outside of religion and i don't count culture that was stolen from other people) and that reflects in our food imo. International cuisine is so much more appetizing to me and to most of my friends too. Every time we go to the nearest "big" city that is more diverse (which is at 2h30 from where we live) we try to find those ethnic grocers and we literally hoard and pack the car full of pantry items we can't find in our usual grocery stores. We need more international aisle!!!!
Some grocery stores here in Africa that do not have ethic aisles. The problem is that shelf stocking team don’t know what the special imported products are. So, rose water is in the water aisle next to coconut water. SMH.
This is a GREAT VIDEO ! I would LOVE to shop at this supermarket! Thank you for the video
I like having that ethnic aisle for the same reason Jolene mentioned. It's good to have all these diverse foods in one spot, so I can explore different options in one place :) It's so inspiring!
Growing up in white suburban America, the ethnic aisle felt like such a breath of fresh air and access to new ingredients. Looking back, it feels like the grocery store was exoticsizing these foods for profit. Now living in Los Angeles, I see more integration of Hispanic foods into supermarkets. But other cuisines are given limited shelf-space and only stock a few products that are way overpriced.
Hate when they treat it like a boutique item.
I LOVE the cooking instructions for dumplings. I feel often people are intimidated by international cuisines because they think it’s harder or that they are going to mess up when in reality, you just have to know the basics. I bet more people would try new things if they had tips on how to cook them.
Ethnicity aisles also exist because not everyone has access to Chinese, Mexican, Ethiopian, etc. stores. Some communities don’t even have a real grocery store.
Also ease plays a huge part of my choices. Gas prices are up and it’s inconvenient to go across town to the only(?) Indian store in my city that is decently diverse with ~300k people. I stop by specific ethnic stores as a “field trip” and buy a few things and stock up as a bit of a foodie but sadly Amazon was more convient when I was living in a small city of 30k during college last year.
A fascinating, original idea for a UA-cam video. I would love to see a much longer video about the problems ethnic food producers face and not being able to put things on sale in grocery stores that feature ethnic aisles.
1st generation American/New Yorker, of Indo-Caribbean descent who enjoys international cuisine. I find grouping foods/ingredients by region/culture/ethnicity to be incredibly convenient, and informative for thinking about what flavors/ingredients go together. 90+ percent of the time when I am using sesame oil, I will also need/want, Rice Wine Vinegar, and Soy Sauce. It makes sense to have those ingredients together than having to go look through the oil aisle, the vinegar aisle, and the sauce aisle, it teaches consumers that those flavors work well together. This method of organization isn’t totally unique to “ethnic” food either. Ketchup and mustard are usually located next to hot dog buns. Canned Southern biscuits are located next to the eggs and bacon and sausage.
In my opinion there’s nothing wrong with associating certain ingredients with certain ethnicities. Prior to globalization, certain ingredients were only available in certain geographic areas, and the people who happened to live there experimented over hundreds of years to determine which combination of those ingredients tasted good together and created techniques for utilizing those ingredients that most people still use as a blueprint to this day.
I love that you said it was complicated and explained the complications instead feeling you needed to give a "one right solution" and be done with it.
I'm lucky in that I have Indian, Mexican, Chinese and Filipino markets all within 10 minutes of my house (and there's probably more I don't know about). I've gone from shopping the "ethnic" aisle in the traditional supermarket, to going to specific markets because I assume I'm getting a better, more authentic product. For the traditional mart, the change might be evolutionary instead of revolutionary since big stores are likely more hesitant to change, as are customers. A good start would be asking stores to more clearly demarcate/identify each country's products in the aisle - it could be very graphic/visually impactful and a win for both shoppers looking for their native foods and the novice.
If you want to cringe, my hometown used to have an annual food and culture event called the "Ethnic Festival" (fortuinately, they've renamed it).
I think the ethnic/international foods aisle is really convenient. Everything I need all in one place, I don't have to walk all over the whole store to find all the things I cook with from my native cuisine! I can understand how it may have different implications for the sellers of the products who are trying to get the prime spots. This is a really cool concept to research and a thought-provoking video! Thank you!
This is such a great topic! Thanks for tackling it Priya.
I love how HEB does this in TX. They have a lot more Mexican and Hispanic stuff generally, and I was stunned by how good the Asian section was. They also have a whole aisle of Goya, which is labelled as such! I don’t miss a lot about TX, but I miss my favorite grocery store.
I’ve noticed a lot of grocery stores with distinct Goya sections. They must be competing really well. Good for them!
In southern Ohio we have the two jungle Jim’s stores. They are large world grocery stores separated out by the country that primarily uses it or sells it. It’s one of my favorite places to go. We also go to small grocery stores. Jungle Jim’s is the biggest and widest selection though.
…to answer the question, I think it’s for organization. I know I appreciate not having to go all over, up and down aisles. My neighborhood market is huge; but, convenient. I am grateful they do that.
I just love Priya. Whenever I see her in a thumbnail, it's an instant click and thumbs up. 🥰
I also think it's interesting to look at how ethnic aisles change over time and based on location. When I was growing up in Minnesota, Italian foods like pasta and tomato sauce, were still found in the ethnic aisle. Now it's part of the main grocery store and in the ethnic aisle there's a lot larger variety of cultures represented. Then when I was living in New York, the foods in the ethnic aisle changed significantly based on the neighborhoods I lived in. Now I'm living in Italy and find myself shopping in the 'international' section (one shelf at my local store) when I want some peanut butter or black beans.
I really appreciate the care and nuance Priya uses when reporting on this subject. I also really appreciate that she went to a grocery store with all these beautiful cuisines and yet my eye kept getting drawn to the mayonnaise in the upper left corner 🤣
They exist so people can find what they're looking for.
I’ve seriously thought A LOT about this one over the years: the “Asian aisle, the “Latin shelf”, the “ethnic section.” How much does it reinforce ideas of what is normal/what is the norm/what is the default (versus what is not) in our society, how much does it represent or support cultural segregation and othering, etc.
It’s definitely not a perfect set of labels. Maybe these names do not equally value all people. Perhaps we can say that this system is not equally kind to all people.
But at the end of the day, I _do_ think it is extremely functional and convenient for all people.
I’m somewhat wary of using utilitarian ethics to uphold a flawed status quo; we could get used to _any_ new system of organization, after all. However, for numerous reasons good and bad, the current system presents an extremely high degree of practicality based on cultural norms (in turn based on cultural history) that everyone who already lives in this society already understands. In other words, the only people who wouldn’t understand it are people who are brand new to our society, which I would argue is the best result you can reasonably expect from any communication system.
I love people from everywhere and I love food from everywhere. Deeply. And when I walk into a general supermarket or large grocery store, usually I just want to grab what I want and get out!
I think that in practice, sometimes the most respectful design choice you can make is to give your users the most functional solution you can, in order to maximally empower them to get what THEY want out of their interaction with your system. Everything else might just be impedance and fluff.
One last anecdote, for whatever it’s worth: My current city of residence is probably 90% Caucasian. There is a significant British ex-pat presence in the older generation here. Every major grocery store has a small area dedicated to UK import items, and I would say it’s demarked in the same way as all the other “world” sections. (I’m actually loanwording the term “world” from how western music stores typically present their non-western offerings.)
Not that it matters, but I’m half-Japanese, half-Scottish, born and raised and living in western Canada.
I’ve already written way too much, but I feel compelled to add that while general grocers are extremely convenient, specialty grocers are f***ing awesome.
I live in a small city (approx 50k) and in regard to ethnic food (to use the term under discussion) we're very lucky to have multiple small ethnic grocery stores accessible by convenient drives or walks. As a rainy day activity today we went to one of our eastern European stores. My partner helped me read Cyrillic labels and we came out with tamarosalata and mulberry preserves. When Samin Nosrat adapted Hrishikesh Hirway's mom's kichidi recipe the Indian store had everything I needed. The Korean grocery helped me find gochukaru when I experimented with homemade kimchi. I've never seen any of these products in a supermarket where I've lived (so are they really that super?). I realize most communities aren't organized this way and I do feel like I spend more on groceries than the average person (and can afford to do so). I'm very grateful that I have locally owned businesses where these ingredients are available. If I didn't, I probably would find the ethnic aisle convenient and would be more likely to procure items there than shop for ingredients online.
The ability to translate language instantly with a photo has really broken down some barriers to buying items I otherwise would not be comfortable with. I love markets and stores with multiple culinary disciplines within it but not everything had English instructions so I would hesitate as I didn't have the skill set before to know when it was done or ready. Been great for expanding my cooking skills.
I like having ethnic food aisles. I like having them labeled by country or type of food (Italian or Italy). Many neighborhood stores are smaller, perhaps like yours in Brooklyn that you mention carries only one brand of fish sauce. Perhaps it has limited space and not a high demand for fish sauce, and can't afford to displace other commodities that are regular sellers in order to introduce many different brands of fish sauce, which are not particularly big sellers or in demand by your neighborhood.
America is large. There is a concept of American food, which is why there are ethnic aisles for other countries and the foods of those countries. I loved the store that had aisles for foods of different countries. I wish there were giant stores able to devote space to such aisles. We could all sample foods from countries we've never visited, or learn about new foods and tastes, or, for some, have a taste of home.
I love the system with different countries that have their own shelves. I also like that this was not presented as black and white, but in a more thoughtful and humble manner. We don't get a lot of that from media these days.
I was in SaveALot, which is aimed at Latinx shoppers, but has pure teff in big bags for local Ethiopians.
One aisle was, indeed, “ethnic.”
It had Americanized Chinese condiments. And Italian origin pesto in a shelf-stable jar.
Now, within 1000 feet are two kosher restaurants. So there was a single can of matzah meal.
Thanks Priya for this thoughtful video, I will look up the article. I am in Toronto, one of the world's most diverse cities, and have definitely thought about this. It's a complex issue. It's great when you can go to a specific store that specializes in the cuisine of a region, especially when it's not a chain, but we don't often have that luxury in our day to day lives. I notice that the chains in Toronto often do have larger selections when there is a population that is more concentrated in an area, which makes sense but also am often stymied but what is missing. (I don't personally think of Miso as an obscure item.). I am also glad you brought up how chains actually charge brands for shelf space and promotion. It's really an unsettling practice when you realize how difficult it is for smaller food companies to get their products on the shelf. The fees are onerous and quite literally can bankrupt a smaller company who is trying to break through. Plus the time the grocer's will allow to "pilot" a product is short. If it's not adopted by customers quickly, it can just disappear. If the company doesn't have deep pockets to advertise and promote, plus pay for shelf real estate... I guess this is a reason that it's often the smaller stores are the most fun for discovering new foods or traditional ingredients, "ethnic" or otherwise. I really thought that the store you featured with all the aisles by country was cool. That would be an amazing place to shop.
Interesting topic that I've never thought of , but honestly, I love the ethnic/international aisle. I can find haitian products all in one place, and as someone enjoys dishes from other countries, I can also browse their products, try them out, or even incorporate them in my dishes.
And that's because it's sitting all in one aisle :)
I love going down the ethnic isle because I like looking for different foods That I probably would over look if it was mixed together. Ask them to bring in what you want, I do!
One thing should be mentioned: it's also an opportunity to charge more for something than you would normally pay. Case in point: I noticed one day that the "Mexican” section had Quik chocolate milk mix. The packaging was in Spanish. The price for the same amount of mix was much higher than the English packaging in the non-ethnic aisle.
Think it's because it's imported. I noticed that too occasionally. Sometimes one finds a great bargains however if you shop stores with more ethnic products...
the nesquik hits harder in spanish!
@@moochydacat ¡Olé!
Such hard hitting, important issues you continue to tackle. Thanks NYT.
I love those aisles, the name is 'whatever'. They are some of the few aisles I love to shop.
BTW grocery stores that do provide more in the way of ethnic foods have the BEST produce sections.
EXACTLY their produce and meat tend to be so much better than their american counterparts
@@Slimebiter
My favorite grocery stores specialize in several ethnic foods and the diversity is GLORIOUS! I am not a fan of the 30 brands of tomato-based spaghetti sauces, 21 brands of grape jellies, and 17 brands of long grain rice, etc- business model. It's annoying.
I need those aisles... It helps me find things I wouldn't otherwise know where to find certain items... please keep international food products together...
The Ecuadorian guy with the Manicho chocolate bars in minute 5:17 made my day! all Ecuadorian people I know told me that i should really go grocery shopping Food Bazaar any time I felt home sick… thank you for this awesome video Priya! I do believe it’s easier to find some stuff for special recipes, so I definitely am
#ethnicislesupporter
I’m from India, we don’t have a western isle or something equivalent. There is a section for pasta, section for rice, section for flour and other stuff- organised by product category. I think it works pretty well- I discover something new all the time- without going to a different isle.
Interestingly in few grocery stores we now have international section
Walmart stashes the canned pumpkin in the baking isle instead of the canned vegetable isle. Perhaps we
can address that too.
It took me forever to find canned pumpkin at the Walmart near me lol. I’m not used to shopping there and it turned out the canned pumpkin was at the very bottom of a floating isles with seasonal cake mixes/sprinkles/candies/frostings. And the shelf was empty, which definitely didn’t help. I knew it was supposed to be there though because it was next to evaporated milk and there was a label for it. Hopefully they’ve stocked up and found a better shelf for it, but I was able to find it at my grocery store. I will say, I personally do look in the baking isle first before the veggie isle, but I live somewhere where probably 99% of people are using canned pumpkin for pie/other baked goods and nothing else
@@ohrats731 Same here! Botton shelf with cake mixes, sprinkles and evaporated milk. Makes as much
sense as placing the beans with the weenies or the popcorn with the butter. I would have never found
it if I had not asked an employee, who looked at me like "What?", "Why would it be on the vegetable isle"?.
That was a defining moment. I knew instantly why I rarely visit Walmart.
I like that it offers more options within a mainstream setting (a perfect example is hot sauces), but I also find that there are a lot of shortcomings within the "ethnic aisle." For example, overall homogeneity where there would normally be larger contrast in flavors/options.
The foods offered are also usually not the most needed of a specific regional cuisine. The food products in this aisle in the midwest are the American "accessable" options.
Like you said, it always comes down to the money. I find specialty stores and farmers markets the best options for depth and diversity in my diet.
I end up shopping at a lot of farms and I'm lucky to be near multiple small grocers for various cuisines. But I would probably shop more at generic american grocery stores if they have varied options like your store, even regardless of organization.
Canadian here in a smaller city, but our local grocer has a fairly good international food aisle. There's a range of your Americanized Asian food, some imported Asian/Indian ingredients, along with some Caribbean, Middle Eastern, and a small assortment of European and British imports (often candy). It is often one of the big aisles I pop down to see if there are any new products or interesting ingredients I haven't seen before.
I love this video format!
I love the international aisle. It makes it so much easier for me to find groceries and I feel like it also helps me in my recipe development because I can see other ingredients that are used in a given cuisine
Also I dont see the harm in having an international section. They ARE international foods after all. They're not foods that a majority of the US cooks with regularly. Theres nothing bad about food being in the international section. We have Asian grocery stores, Mexican grocery stores, indian etc. and people dont have problems with those
I live in Santa Cruz, CA. The Safeway on the east side carries token variety of ethnic foodstuffs, sorted by ethnicity. The Safeway on the west side serves UCSC, and has significant choice in ethnic foodstuffs, some of which are grouped, but others integrated. I make a special trip to shop at Patel Brothers Indian grocery store in Santa Clara when i'm in Silicon Valley. Instead of being an aisle, it's a whole store.
i'm from the UK and i really love the ethnic aisle. It is my favourite part of any supermarket. I love being able to discover foods/ingredients from other cultures, including my own. I love that it tells me what comes from where and that products aren't randomly dispersed by the type of item. If anything I wish that there were more ethnic aisles, so that we can have even more cultures represented. That's just my opinion though. I also understand the problems with having an ethnic aisle and why its not always helpful.
Im grateful to live in Atlanta and to have access to a ethnic aisle in most stores, some are larger than others. So many stores ethnic aisle is literally Tex Mex or not present.
I have 2 large international grocery stores around the corner then a third about 20 min away that’s the largest in the city. They split aisles by region /ethnicity.