Appreciation or Appropriation?

Asian rice porridge congee billed as “improved” to fit “your modern palate” by Oregon-based Breakfast Cure. Marks & Spencer’s vegan “biryani wrap” made with sweet potatoes and no meat or fish ingredients. Trader Joe’s West African jollof rice mix that eschews the dish’s traditional flavor.

All three launches faced a social media backlash with accusations of cultural appropriation during the past few years. The companies’ experiences also serve as cautionary tales for food product developers looking to capitalize on the burgeoning global flavors trend, say food industry observers.

“In the past year, food writers and smaller entrepreneurs have been [calling it out] when mistakes are made,” says Mallika Basu, a UK cookbook author and communications consultant to food and beverage companies, who is originally from Kolkata, India. “Social media can escalate situations and challenges [involving] cultural appropriation and insensitivity. It very quickly can become a very public dressing down for a CPG company. Reputationally, it doesn’t look good in this world where we’re now thinking about moral and social responsibility.” 

Each situation is different, of course, says Abena Opokua Foli, a native of Ghana and a food scientist who founded POKS Spices in Texas to bring West African flavors to U.S. supermarkets. But by and large, the food industry is still playing catch-up with some consumers’ expectations that social issues around emerging cuisines will be acknowledged and acted upon.

“It’s not a willful ignorance,” says Foli. “[But] right now there is a disconnect, especially in the United States, between those trying to formulate globally inspired flavors and those from the culture. It’s still pretty rare to have both the cultural background and the food science background.”

Right now there is a disconnect, especially in the United States, between those trying to formulate globally inspired flavors and those from the culture.

In addition to generating unwanted controversy, brands that don’t do their homework risk creating new products that miss the mark among consumers who know how traditional dishes from emerging cuisines are supposed to look and taste. Technomic 2018 data suggest that among the 87% of diners who ever order ethnic fare or food with ethnic flavors, 44% always prefer completely authentic fare, and 32% would be willing to pay extra for authentic fare. In addition, 67% of consumers say they buy and engage more with a brand that they feel represented by, according to data cited on the website for Founders Heritage, a new community of more than 50 food company founders whose brands and products represent their founders’ heritage. (See sidebar below.)

“We often see a product develop in such a way that the [cultural] community itself doesn’t like it, and obvious mistakes have been made [because] no member of the actual community was involved in the product development,” says Basu. “It’s not just a marketing problem—a lot of challenges start with the product development. By the time you get to marketing, you’ve gone through a whole process. [Cultural appropriation considerations] should start at the very outset of new product development.”

What Is Cultural Appropriation?

The differences between appreciating and appropriating a cuisine are important, but the issue sometimes may be confusing to food industry professionals who aren’t used to considering it as part of product development, says Amy Trubek, chair and professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences at the University of Vermont, who teaches courses on food and culture.

“Cultural appropriation comes from privilege—I get to do what I want. These foodways are not attached to any particular people for which I have to be somehow respectful,” Trubek says. “In the food industry, people haven’t had to think about this as deeply as they have to now.”

Foli agrees that understanding the differences between appropriation and appreciation hinges on respect. “Appreciation is when there’s a recognition of a culture to a cuisine, and both are represented in a way that honors the cuisine and the culture,” says Foli. “With appropriation, however, someone takes from elements of a cuisine or culture without honoring either of them.”

“Appropriation is a very negative word, and it usually implies a dominant culture—normally with a colonial past—taking by force without proper due diligence,” says Basu.

The concept of cultural appropriation also can engender nuanced interpretations, says Fila Manila founder Jake Deleon, a first-generation Filipino American immigrant who helped start Founders Heritage. “There are different trains of thought among the [Founders Heritage] members,” he says. “Some people didn’t feel right [that] other folks who weren’t from the culture were bringing [global] flavors to life. Others feel that a rising tide lifts all boats.”

While it’s not mandatory for food creators to be from the culture that is inspiring them, contends The Good Bean founder and CEO Sarah Wallace, it is critical to have a substantive understanding of the history, context, and foodways of the food. “Then they can highlight and honor that heritage, as well as remain true to its origin, even if specifics [of the product] may be adapted to the current moment,” says Wallace, an India native who also is a founding member of (included), a membership collective for BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and people of color) top executives at CPG companies.

It Starts With Understanding

Foli says she sees cultural appropriation issues applying primarily to emerging global cuisines rather than cuisines that are already well-established and understood in Western consumer markets, such as French or Italian fare.

“Emerging cuisines are typically from parts of the world [that aren’t well-understood] and where there are sometimes negative stereotypes of cultures associated with the cuisines,” Foli says. “When there’s already more general awareness of [an established] cuisine, and then you adapt that cuisine in a way that’s not traditional, consumers know that it is fusion cuisine or that it has been Americanized.”

With emerging cuisines, product developers may need to think outside the box to educate themselves about specific dishes, says Foli. “In most non-Western cultures, there are social and cultural aspects associated with food, such as festivals and family gatherings, and usually the knowledge of this has been passed on orally,” she says. “Expertise in emerging cuisines does not necessarily come from a degree—it can be from someone who has lived that culture. With knowledge that is passed down orally, you need to expand the scope of who an expert is.”

If that cultural knowledge isn’t available in-house, says Foli, one option is seeking out smaller brands created by people from the culture with which you can partner. “Or do a co-branding project along with a smaller brand, which helps to amplify the small brand,” she says. “It becomes a win-win, and you learn [about the cuisine] from the experience.”

Decolonize your palate and think about how you treat food.

Great Adaptations

Formulating any type of food product for mass commercial production may involve trade-offs, but especially so for traditional emerging cuisine dishes, says Foli. An in-depth understanding of both the culture and the cuisine can help food product development remain as true as possible to a dish’s origins no matter why recipe revisions are made.

“As you begin to formulate, you may not have traditional ingredients available. You have to be mindful of the substitutions you use,” says Foli. When formulating POKS Spices’ Green Chili seasoning, for example, Foli says she wasn’t able to use the traditional petite bell chili pepper ingredient that adds a fruity note with medium-level heat. “So I used a jalapeño for substitution, which was close enough to the petite bell chili pepper,” she says.  “I had grown up with [petite bell chili] pepper and understood the flavor profile it was supposed to evoke. It wasn’t something I learned overnight—it was firsthand learned, lived experience of cuisines that pepper is used in,” she continues.

With traditional cuisines, the way our parents and grandparents enjoyed it, the foods were almost inherently organic and natural.

“While there is meaningful need for serving the needs of consumers with dietary or lifestyle restrictions, it is important that the end product bear as much sensory and experiential resemblance to the original [as possible],” agrees Wallace, such as almond flour tortillas made by Siete Family Foods that deliver a traditional tortilla experience without corn or wheat.

More precise product naming and labeling can also help clarify that a product was inspired by a traditional dish but has been adapted. “There are ingredients that traditionally go into a dish,” says Foli. “If the dish doesn’t meet that definition, then you have to look for creative ways to name the product. ‘Indian-inspired simmer sauce,’ for example, is better than calling a product ‘tikka masala’ when it doesn’t use the ingredients that traditionally go into [tikka masala].”

Some emerging cuisine products, however, have a natural advantage because they traditionally have been made with the kinds of ingredients that appeal to consumers looking for free-from labels, says Deleon.

“With traditional cuisines, the way our parents and grandparents enjoyed it, the foods were almost inherently organic and natural,” Deleon observes.

“When I started Fila Manila, it was with the lens of being a better alternative to the market, and my products are all gluten-free and vegan, with no artificial colors.”

Looking to the Future

The food industry is just beginning to learn and understand how to avoid the pitfalls of cultural appropriation in product development, says Basu, who has trained more than 800 food industry professionals about cultural appropriation issues. “Ignorance is a big part of the problem,” she says. “And the [cultural] communities themselves often don’t speak out publicly. They want to work with retailers, and they don’t want to be negative and critical and affect their own opportunities.” But acknowledging the importance of cultural appropriation issues to consumers—and making an effort to examine these issues during the new product planning process—is a vital step for food companies that want to stay ahead of the curve.

“Decolonize your palate and think about how you treat food,” says Basu. “You don’t automatically have the right to take something that other people hold dear and trample all over it. [When companies want] to commercialize these world cuisines, they’re not always accorded the respect we would normally give white, Northern European cuisines.

“Treat all cuisines with respect,” Basu adds. “They are all established cuisines.”ft