Supermarkets selling Asian food are expanding rapidly in New Zealand, becoming bigger competitors to the two mainstream operators.
Coriolis Research, a retail analysis group, estimates Asian supermarkets have cornered at least 5% of the market in New Zealand.
Based on its latest data, that means those supermarkets are turning over between $500 million and $800 million a year.
One of them, Taiping Trading Group, is the third largest supermarket chain in the country, following Foodstuffs and Progressive.
It has seven stores in Auckland and chief executive Wayne Chan says he's looking to expand further in the city.
Coriolis managing director Tim Morris says the two largest supermarket operators are unlikely to succeed in attracting Asian customers who want to buy products from home - but they may look to take over one of the Asian supermarket chains in the future, as the latter expand their range to Western products.
Mr Morris says there's still room for Asian supermarkets to grow in New Zealand, as the population expands and they begin to compete with the two mainstream operators for non-Asian customers.
