Asian food wins over the USA: from trend to a new consumption habit.

Article by: Lucrezia Scopelliti, COO of Eccellenze d'Impresa.

For many years, sushi, ramen, dumplings and other Asian food products were considered in the United States to be a predominantly ethnic or specialist offering, but today the landscape is changing rapidly.

Asian cuisine is becoming increasingly embedded in the everyday habits of American consumers, and the phenomenon is now reaching one of the channels most strongly oriented toward convenience and immediate consumption: convenience stores, small retail outlets designed for quick purchases and immediate consumption, often located at gas stations. But this is not simply about a greater presence of sushi.

Between 2023 and 2026, the presence of pot stickers and Asian dumplings increased by 10 percentage points in convenience stores. Among retailers already selling them, sales increased by 57%. The evolution of Asian noodle bowlsis even more evident: in 2023 they were included in the offering of only 5% of convenience stores; by 2026, the percentage had risen to 15%. Sushi probably represented the gateway through which Asian cuisine entered mainstream American consumption. Growing consumer familiarity with Asian flavours and preparations is now encouraging openness toward a much broader and more diversified offering.

Why Asian cuisine works particularly well

Many Asian dishes have characteristics that are perfectly compatible with the consumption occasions typical of convenience retail:

• they are easy to portion;
• they can be consumed quickly;
• they are well suited to grab-and-go;
• they are easy to transport;
• they combine variety, flavour and convenience.

Dumplings, spring rolls, sushi, rice bowls, noodle bowls and boba therefore fit naturally into a channel built around speed and convenience. In foodservice, in fact, it is not enough for a product to be appealing: it must also be compatible with the consumption occasion and with the channel’s operating model. The growth of prepared food is even changing packaging requirements in convenience stores, pushing toward solutions capable of preserving freshness and quality, extending shelf life and at the same time maintaining the channel’s fundamental characteristic: convenience.

New generations are changing the concept of “ethnic food”

However, there is a second transformation underway, probably even more important. Younger consumers have grown up with much broader culinary exposure than previous generations. Korean barbecue, ramen, pho, boba and other Asian products are not necessarily perceived as “exotic”. For many consumers, they are simply one of the available alternatives. This phenomenon is also supported by the strong spread of South Korean culture, which in recent years has won over younger generations in particular through K-pop, K-beauty, television series and, increasingly, food. This exposure makes Korean products, flavours and formats better known and more accessible, encouraging their entry into everyday consumption habits. The change therefore concerns not only assortment, but is changing the consumer’s cultural frame of reference. What one generation might have considered “international food” may simply become food for the next.

The phenomenon goes far beyond convenience stores

Looking at the American market as a whole, the signals become even clearer. The National Restaurant Association's What's Hot Culinary Forecast 2025 ranked Korean cuisine third among the main American culinary trends, while Vietnamese cuisine ranked fifth. The same Association points out that more than 70% of U.S. counties have at least one Asian restaurant and that, alongside the more established Chinese, Japanese and Thai cuisines, interest in Korean, Vietnamese and Filipino cuisine is increasing.

Data on Korean restaurants also confirm the trend. In 2024, the number of Korean restaurants in the United States grew by 10%, while fast-food chains offering Korean fried chicken and Korean corn dogs increased by around 15%.

Korean cuisine is in fact now among the fastest-growing cuisines in the United States, confirming that this phenomenon is no longer confined to a few specialist restaurants in major cities, but is progressively entering Americans’ everyday consumption habits.

From gochujang to yuzu: flavours are becoming mainstream too

The spread of Asian food in the United States no longer concerns only dishes, but increasingly involves ingredients and flavours typical of Asian cuisines, which have now entered the eating habits of American consumers.

Gochujang, kimchi, miso, yuzu, chili crisp and Korean barbecue are being used increasingly often even outside strictly Asian restaurants.

A significant example of the growing spread of Asian flavours is yuzu, a citrus fruit widely used in Japanese cuisine: its presence on American menus has increased by almost 30% in four years. Within this broader growth of Asian food, the case of Korean cuisine is particularly interesting, as it simultaneously taps into several consumption trends: fermentation, umami, spiciness and sweet & spicy combinations.

It is therefore unsurprising that gochujang, a spicy and flavourful Korean fermented paste, is also beginning to be used as an ingredient to bring new influences into dishes that are more familiar to American consumers. We are therefore witnessing the typical transition through which a cuisine moves from niche to mainstream: first certain dishes are adopted, then certain ingredients, and finally those flavours are incorporated into completely different categories.

A market that could continue to grow

Some estimates indicate a significant growth trajectory for the market as a whole. The Asian food market in the United States is estimated to grow from $37.2 billion in 2024 to $51.3 billion in 2031, equivalent to a CAGR of 4.7%.

The definition includes both foodservice and retail and packaged food, from sauces to ready meals, and should therefore be interpreted as an indication of the overall size of the phenomenon, not just convenience retail. The same analysis highlights the growth of categories such as dumplings, bao, noodles, rice dishes, Asian condiments and sauces.

The key point is that this expansion is now taking place simultaneously across multiple channels: restaurants, fast casual, quick service, grocery and convenience retail.

From niche to necessity: the real lesson for businesses

The case of Asian food in American convenience stores tells us something broader than the evolution of U.S. foodservice. It shows how a new mainstream market emerges.

Many consumption innovations follow a similar path. Initially, they attract a small niche of consumers. They then spread among more curious consumers and, above all, among younger generations, enter specialist restaurants and gradually become more familiar. Distribution increases, and what was once perceived as alternative enters the standard assortment.

It is precisely during this transition that one of the most important strategic capabilities for food companies comes into play. It is not enough to observe which products are growing today; companies need to understand which apparently niche behaviours are becoming tomorrow’s consumption habits.

In this sense, observing younger generations becomes essential for anticipating market evolution. Younger consumers grow up with cultural references, tastes and eating habits that differ from those of previous generations. Products such as ramen, boba or Korean barbecue, which in the past might have been perceived as exotic or specialist, are already part of everyday normality for many younger consumers. What is normal today for younger generations can anticipate what will become mainstream tomorrow for the entire market. Understanding their tastes, the cultural references that influence them and the way their consumption occasions are changing can therefore help companies identify shifts in demand in advance. The growth of sushi, dumplings, noodle bowls, boba, gochujang and Korean barbecue in the United States seems to indicate that, at least for a significant portion of Asian food, this transition is already underway.

But there is another important element for food companies: knowing how to innovate with flavours and ingredients can become a genuine growth lever. Identifying a new trend does not necessarily mean creating new products or entering new categories. Often, the most interesting opportunity lies in reinterpreting familiar categories and products through new ingredients, flavours and combinations, making them more contemporary and better able to attract new consumers and new consumption occasions. The growing spread of miso, yuzu, gochujang and chili crisp demonstrates precisely this: an ingredient initially associated with a specific culinary tradition can move beyond its original category and be used to innovate very different products.

For a food company, therefore, innovating with flavours does not simply mean expanding the offering, but increasing the ability to capture emerging demand. Companies that are able to understand changes in consumer tastes earlier than others and translate them into new formulations, variants and consumption occasions can strengthen the relevance of their categories and create new growth opportunities.

The real challenge, therefore, is not to chase the next trend, but to recognize in advance which changes in tastes, culture and lifestyles are destined to become new consumption habits and transform them, through product, flavour and ingredient innovation, into concrete growth opportunities.

Sources

• C-Store Dive, Christine Blank, The rise of gas station sushi: How c-stores can capitalize on the growing popularity of Asian foods, August 4, 2026.
• Datassential, 2026 Convenience Store Foodservice Trends.
• Datassential, 2026 C-Store Trends: How Convenience Stores Are Transforming Into Food Destinations.
• C-Store Dive, Amanda Baltazar, Asian-inspired c-stores see growing popularity, May 6, 2026.
• National Restaurant Association, State of the Restaurant Industry 2025 / What's Hot Culinary Forecast.
• Axios, Korean food seems to be everywhere in the U.S., June 2025; Circana data.
• Food Business News, Foodservice flavor trends, July 22, 2026; Datassential data.
• Flavor & The Menu, Add a Bit of Seoul to the Menu, March 2026; Datassential data.
• C-Store Dive, Prepared food surge in c-stores brings packaging innovations, May 2026.
• BDA Partners, Cooking Up Growth: Asian Food's Rise in North America, August 2025.
• Bar & Restaurant / Monin, 2025 Flavor of the Year is Announced, January 2025; Datassential data on yuzu.