Asian Food Markets

What Asian Food Markets does

Asian Food Markets (legal entity Asian Food Markets, Inc., operating under the Chinese name 美东超市) is a privately held, traditional Asian grocery retail chain founded in 1992 by W.K. Chan, originally as Asian Food Center. The company operates seven brick-and-mortar supermarkets across New Jersey (East Brunswick, Jersey City, Marlboro, North Plainfield, Piscataway, and Plainsboro) and Staten Island, New York, having expanded from a single ~10,000 square foot store to over 17 times its original footprint. Each store carries a multi-department assortment including frozen foods, dry goods, dairy, fresh vegetables, instant meals, and seafood, alongside a hot-food counter with BBQ, bakery, and prepared meals. Select locations host in-store tenant operators — Gong Cha bubble tea, Fenglin Home Szechuan cuisine, M Thai Gourmet, Solo Pot hot pot, and Han Herbs traditional Chinese medicine/acupuncture — converting the grocery into a food and wellness destination.

The company's go-to-market is primarily direct-to-consumer through physical retail, complemented by an exclusive home delivery partnership with Instacart that handles all online orders and after-sale service. There is no proprietary technology platform, no first-party mobile app, no public API, and no in-house ecommerce infrastructure beyond a trilingual WordPress-based website (English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese). Marketing is conducted through organic social channels (Facebook, Instagram, WeChat) and weekly/seasonal specials on the website. The customer base is horizontal — Asian-American consumers and Asian-food enthusiasts across the NJ/NY corridor seeking one-stop convenience, familiar brands, fresh ingredients, and a family-oriented shopping environment that historically required visits to multiple specialty retailers.

The business model is transaction-based grocery retail (in-store purchases plus Instacart delivery) supplemented by rental income from in-store tenant operators. Pricing is item-level with no publicly disclosed tiers. Asian Food Markets is privately held with no institutional investors, funding rounds, parent company, or acquisitions evidenced; the founder W.K. Chan remains associated with the business and growth has been entirely organic and self-funded since 1992.

Name

Asian Food Markets

Legal name

Asian Food Markets, Inc.

Website

https://asianfoodmarkets.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Asian Food Markets is a privately held Asian-American grocery chain founded in 1992, operating seven supermarkets across New Jersey and Staten Island, NY with on-site hot food counters, restaurant and wellness tenants, and Instacart home delivery.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Asian Grocery Retail

NAICS

Supermarkets and Other Grocery Retailers (except Convenience Retailers) (44511), Food and Beverage Retailers (445), All Other Specialty Food Retailers (445298)

SIC

Retail-Grocery Stores (5411), Retail-Food Stores (5400), Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090)

akta.pro primary industry

East Asian (Chinese/Japanese/Korean) Grocery Stores (CRAHAFAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

In-Store Sushi & Asian Prepared Foods (CRAHAKAD), Asian Fast Casual (Pan-Asian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean) (THAFABAE), Grocery & Specialty Food Marketplaces (CRAFABAE)

Keywords

• Asian grocery retail
• Fresh produce sales
• Specialty food retail
• Hot food counter
• Grocery home delivery

Headquarters

HQ city

Piscataway

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Grocery Retail Sales: Traditional brick-and-mortar grocery retail revenue through in-store purchases of Asian food products, hot foods, fresh produce, seafood, and specialty items. Additional revenue from in-store tenant operators (Gong Cha, restaurants, healthcare services).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Asian Food Markets operates a chain of physical Asian grocery stores selling Asian groceries, fresh produce, seafood, dairy, dry goods, frozen products, instant meals, and freshly prepared hot food. The retailer also offers home delivery through Instacart and hosts in-store tenant-operated food and wellness concepts.

Product overview

Asian Food Markets is a traditional Asian grocery retail chain offering a one-stop shopping experience. The core offering consists of grocery retail across multiple product categories (frozen, dry goods, dairy, vegetables, instant meals, seafood, and hot prepared foods) available at seven physical store locations in New Jersey and New York. Additional tenant services including Gong Cha bubble tea, Fenglin Home Szechuan cuisine, M Thai Gourmet, Solo Pot hot pot, and Han Herbs acupuncture operate within select store locations. Home delivery is available through an Instacart partnership.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Asian Food Markets (Grocery Retail) Core retail offering of Asian grocery products including frozen items, dry goods, dairy, fresh vegetables, instant meals, and seafood, sold to individual consumers across seven physical store locations in New Jersey and Staten Island.
• Hot Food Counter Add-on service at Asian Food Markets locations offering freshly prepared Asian hot food meals to grocery shoppers.
• Grocery Delivery (via Instacart) Home delivery service for Asian Food Markets' grocery assortment, fulfilled through the Instacart platform for consumer convenience.
• Gong Cha Bubble Tea In-store tenant-operated bubble tea counter serving beverages to Asian Food Markets shoppers.
• Fenglin Home (Szechuan Cuisine) In-store tenant-operated Szechuan Chinese restaurant serving prepared meals to Asian Food Markets shoppers.
• M Thai Gourmet In-store tenant-operated Thai restaurant serving prepared Thai meals to Asian Food Markets shoppers.
• Solo Pot (Hot Pot) In-store tenant-operated hot pot restaurant serving prepared hot pot meals to Asian Food Markets shoppers.
• Han Herbs Inc (Acupuncture & Chinese Physician) In-store tenant-operated Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture service offered to Asian Food Markets shoppers.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• InstacartcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInstacart serves as the exclusive home delivery partner for Asian Food Markets. All delivery orders and after-sale services are handled through Instacart's platform and logistics network.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/asianfoodmarkets
• Instagraminstagram.com/asianfoodmarkets
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/asian-food-markets

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Asian Food Markets