Kitchen capers

Ethnic food brand owners have been rubbing their hands with glee during the recession. That's because just as restaurant goers have been down-trading to takeaways, so takeaway consumers have been returning to their kitchens to knock up a curry or stir fry at home.

Andy Foweather, sales director at General Mills (manufacturer of Old El Paso and Wanchai Ferry) is adamant that cash-strapped consumers want to replicate their favourite restaurant meals at home.

"As a sociable brand, Old El Paso is perfectly placed to capitalise on this trend and lead the charge for the Mexican category. The dinner kit is particularly relevant at a time when consumers are looking to create quick, delicious meals at home. And the advantage dinner kits have over ready meals is that they allow consumers to include fresh ingredients and actually engage in the cooking experience, which has a positive impact on the end result."

While dinner kits have been the main driving force behind Mexican growth, other cuisines have been slower to catch on. General Mills plans to change this with media investment behind its Wanchai Ferry Chinese recipe kit range. Adverts, which will run throughout the year, feature a taste guarantee: 'Better than your favourite Chinese or your money back'.

In Indian food, the popular Patak's brand has just undergone a £7m relaunch, which has included the launch of several new products. These include Oven Bake Biryani cooking sauces, a Butter Chicken Cooking sauce and single-use Easy Paste sachets. Also new is a range of restaurant-quality Easy side dishes, including Saag Aloo, Mushroom Bhaji and Bombay Potato.

Nielsen data reveals that Patak's accounts for £1 in every £4 spent on ambient Indian food, and the brand is the market leader in the Indian sauces segment, however the company reckons there is still a real opportunity for category growth. A spokesperson for Patak's explains: "With the new products, our aim is not only to increase household penetration and frequency of purchase for the brand, but to also introduce new consumers to ambient Indian foods to grow the total category.

"We know that British consumers love to eat curry, it's one of the nation's favourite ethnic foods, however only 54% of UK consumers actually cook Indian food at home, so there is clearly a great opportunity for category growth. One of the ways we are looking to do this is with the new restaurant-quality side dishes."

Of course, there is more to ethnic food than Chinese, Indian and Mexican.

Blue Dragon has just launched a Japanese range which the company's consumer and trade marketing controller, Tracy Hughes, says "demystifies what is perceived as a challenging cuisine". The new range comprises eight products: three noodles, three yaki sauces, a katsu curry sauce jar, and a katsu curry meal kit. The launch will be supported by PR, in-store promotions and coupons.

Meanwhile, the cash and carry and delivered wholesale channels are crucial to Caribbean food company Wanis as they account for approximately 90% of its business. The company reports that its hot sauces and its barbecue range are selling really well.

Marketing manager Adejare Adesanya says: "The success of the Reggae Reggae sauce in particular has opened mainstream audiences up to Caribbean ingredients. And our Tropical Sun products have seen strong double digit year-on-year sales growth."

The company is keen to tell people about its products so organises training sessions with retailers, so they are knowledgeable about the products and can advise their customers accordingly. In depots the company has invested in increasing visibility through the use of tower end advertising.

Adesanya adds: "In 2010, we will expand our visibility programme so more customers can see our brands in different locations. Our aim is to take Caribbean products to the masses and demonstrate that Caribbean food is an alternative to the usual Indian and Oriental choices."

He says the most famous event to boost Caribbean food sales so far is the Notting Hill Carnival. "It's Europe's largest street festival with up to two million revellers and that certainly has an impact on our sales. Other key events for us include Beers Exposed and South London's Jerk Cook Out, which have proved very successful not only at generating sales but also in the area of raising consumer awareness and brand profile."