Food retailing in New Zealand: The case of moderated Chinese food

Ethnic food has become very popular in New Zealand. One of the first ethnic foods to come to New Zealand in the 1860s was Chinese food and this has become part of the mainstream diet for most New Zealanders. However, there is a substantial amount of moderated Chinese food in the marketplace. Moderated Chinese food is defined as food that is not authentic Chinese food but is perceived as being authentic. This study looks at the attirudes and perceptions of three ethnic groups, New Zealand Europeans, New Zealand Chinese and overseas Chinese towards moderated Chinese food. The three groups were investigated to see whether there were significant differences in their views towards moderated Chinese food. A significant difference was found in tenns of the groups' views towards the food being moderated Chinese food. The implications of this research are that moderated Chinese food is being produced and sold to three different segments of people. TI1e food industry needs to address this issue to be able to grow the segment for moderated food in New Zealand.