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Strong Population Scale - According to the latest census figure for 2004, the Asian population has reached 14 million, up 3.4% from 2003
Successful Businesses - Between 1997 and 2004, businesses owned by Asian-American and Native American women each grew 69 percent, according to the Center for Women's Business Research. This growth is higher than firms owned by Latinas and black women which grew, 64 percent and 33 percent, respectively, during the same time period

Business Magazine Readership - Asian American's readership of most of the major business magazines indexed at more than twice that of the general population (Source: MRI Spring 2004)

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Wal-Mart Launches Its First-Ever Asian-Language Advertising Campaign
In April, Walmart launched the first ever-Asian language advertising campaign targeting Asian Americans. The campaign include television, print and radio in Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese and English which will run in select U.S. cities including Los Angeles, Houston, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose. Read more

NCM EXPO 2005
NCM Expo 2005 was the First National EXPO of Ethnic Media, Convenes in New York City on June 9, 2005. More info

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Angry Little Asian Girl!
A weekly comic strip about a girls who are disenchanted, crazy, gloomy, fresh and all around angry. Read more

Ethnic Flavors on Menu
As more Americans develop a taste for fare available in other countries, gourmet stores are proliferating and sales are surging. But as Americans develop global palates and become more willing to pay a premium for specialty foods, that's changed. Read more


Angry Little Asian Girl!
Excerpt from PBS.org

Episode 3 in the series profiles Lela Lee, a Korean American actress struggling to make it in Hollywood and a cartoonist unleashing anger through pen and paper. A graduate of UC Berkeley, Lela is the creator of "Angry Little Asian Girl," a series of short films about a cute but acidly funny Asian American girl who tackles racism and gender issues with a surly attitude sprinkled with some choice foul language. Launched in 1996, the short films struck a massive cultural nerve, not only with Asians, but with women everywhere. The series' unexpected success led to dreams of an empire. Today, the initial short films have expanded to a web comic series called "Angry Little Girls," which averages roughly 750,000 hits a month. Lela Lee's story puts a personal spin on Asian Americans in the media and the challenges of being an Asian American woman. For more information, you can visit www.angrylittlegirls.com.

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TRENDS: SPECIALTY FOODS
Ethnic Flavors on Menu

By John Schmeltzer, Tribune staff reporter
Published May 23, 2005

As more Americans develop a taste for fare available in other countries, gourmet stores are proliferating and sales are surging.

There wasn't much demand 20 years ago for fancy, authentic Italian foods when John Nitti shuttered his small grocery on Chicago's Near West Side.

But as Americans develop global palates and become more willing to pay a premium for specialty foods, that's changed.

Now Nitti, who 10 years ago began importing food from Italy, is operating Isola Imports Inc., a business that is growing so rapidly that it recently moved to a massive warehouse formerly occupied by the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

"Twenty years ago the only gourmet food store in Chicago was Treasure Island," said Edward Chen, banquet manager for the Hilton Chicago hotel, noting that the grocery chain has been joined by a host of gourmet stores, including Whole Foods Market and Fox & Obel Food Market.

"We are witnessing a major food explosion," said Chen. "High-end is definitely the way people are going. The younger generation have found out what is quality food and they are demanding it."

It's a trend that the National Restaurant Association show, which opened Saturday at McCormick Place, is hoping to capitalize on.

"What once seemed foreign is now becoming mainstream, and the craving for more and different foods continues to grow as the palates of American diners become more sophisticated," said Steven Anderson, president and chief executive of the restaurant association.

In addition to the normal array of food suppliers that will be demonstrating their latest products at the four-day show, food suppliers from Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China, El Salvador, Nigeria, Mexico and nearly a dozen other countries will for the first time be attending the show.

"Everyone in the restaurant industry is looking for ways to stand apart, while providing the quality dishes their guests want," said Anderson.

Specialty food sales are the biggest growth segment in the nation's food industry, according to the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade.

Sales of specialty foods rose 16 percent between 2002 and 2004, to $24.7 billion, according to the association.

At the same time, sales of those foods increasingly are shifting away from supermarkets to specialty and natural food stores. Sales at specialty food stores rose nearly 20 percent between 2002 and 2004, while sales at natural food stores rose more than 35 percent during the two-year period.

The changing tastes can most easily be seen at the nation's restaurants.

"Many purchases of specialty foods for home use are influenced by purchasers' experiences in restaurants," according to the association. "A consumer may purchase a specialty sauce or dressing after having sampled a food with a similar flavor profile in a restaurant."

While so-called American restaurants remain the dominant choice for many people in this country--76 percent in a survey told the association that they visited one of those restaurants in the past six months--increasingly consumers say they are visiting other restaurants.

According to the association, 57 percent of those surveyed said they had also eaten at a Chinese restaurant in the past six months. The survey also showed that 56 percent said they visited an Italian restaurant, 53 percent ate in a Mexican restaurant and 27 percent dined at an Asian restaurant.

As a result of the rapidly shifting American tastes the Hilton's Chen said small importers increasingly are being used to supply the growing need for high-quality specialty foods that large food distributors don't want to invest the time or money to stock.

Hilton and other large food operations, which for years relied upon large suppliers for ingredients, now are turning to the smaller boutique importers to meet the growing demand.

Among them are Isola for Italian specialties, Patel Brothers for Indian and Pakistani foods, Mexicali Food Products Inc. for Mexican and other Hispanic foods, and Krinos Food for Greek ingredients.

"We import from India, Pakistan, Turkey, Britain, Mexico and South America," said Mafat Patel, an owner of Patel Brothers, which has a retail store on Chicago's Devon Avenue.

Patel says he can document the rapid increase in business.

Ten years ago Patel Brothers was importing about 1,000 items. Now the firm said it is importing 2,000 items, including many spices that are difficult to find in normal supermarkets.

Nitti said his firm, which is distributing food products to Detroit, Minnesota, St. Louis and Denver, is experiencing similar growth due to the changing tastes.

"Fifteen to 20 years ago Italian food in the U.S. was pasta and meatballs," Nitti said. "Americans had never tasted fresh mozzarella. Now American people want the high-end gourmet foods, such as truffles, that we and only five or six other importers across the country are bringing in."

 
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The Asian-Indian segment is one of the most affluent ethnic markets in the U.S. today. Asian Indians have the fastest growth rate, surpassing that of the Filipino population, and now this group is the second largest Asian group in volume following Chinese. interTrend recently conducted a survey among Asian Indians and here are some findings:

• Asian Indians have relatively high ownership of Financial products, especially Life insurance:


• Top of mind insurance companies are Met Life, followed by Geico and AAA

Note: For information, please contact Knowledge Center at kc@intertrend.com


Nearly half of minorities prefer ethnic media
A recent study by Bendixen and Associates indicated that 64 million people are reached by ethnic media. Among Asians, 80 percent of all Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese and 50 percent of Filipinos, South Asians and Japanese in the U.S. read ethnic newspapers on a regular basis

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Robertson Blvd in West Hollywood has always been the hot spot for great restaurants like the Ivy, Newsroom, and Mortons. So it's no wonder that we can add Fat Fish to the list. Owner James Han (of the famed Wasabi restaurant in Seattle) has had lots of experience in fusing Asian delicacies with Western flair. The menu is eclectic and ever changing - but always confident and bold (how many places boast Akami sashimi with lime creme frache or Snow Crab and Scallops with Chili Aoli arranged inside a Tuna Sashimi then call it Stuffed Tomato).

The atmosphere is Hollywood hip and casual (especially during Happy Hour) leaving the pretentious attitudes to those other places down the street. And the staff . . . well after one visit to the Fat Lounge to enjoy one of their famous signature drinks and you can bet that you will feel like you're among friends.

Fat Fish
616 N. Robertson Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA  90069
Phone: 310-659-3882
http://www.fatfishla.com

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