WEST ALLIS, Wis. — May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and TMJ4 is dedicated to telling stories that shine a spotlight on members of the AAPI community.
As part of our coverage, we decided to take a look at the impacts of inflation on locally-owned Asian supermarkets and grocery stores.
From live seafood to unique teas and sauces, local Asian grocers can offer a space to buy ingredients needed to cook cultural and traditional meals.
"This is a very special store," one customer at Mei Hua in West Allis told TMJ4's Ryan Jenkins. "Authentic Chinese cooking materials, and the food materials. Not all the stores carry them and you can only find them here."
Mei Mo owns the store with her husband. They immigrated to the United States after moving from China to Central America. She tells TMJ4 News that her customers often come with traditional recipes, looking for ingredients you'll likely have a tough time finding in traditional American supermarkets.
Over the past few years, Mo said she has noticed customers being asked to pay more in the checkout line.
"This are much more expensive this couple years. Before I saw the customer, they push the shopping cart and only like paying less than $100," said Mo. "But, right now, it has to be like along $150."
Mo said it's not just the goods that are more expensive, the price for delivery has nearly doubled.
"We have to pay by pallet. Before we only paid $90 from New York to here. But, right now, we have to pay $225 per pallet," said Mo. "From the West side, like California, we was paying only $270 for a pallet. But, right now we have to pay $450."
Brandon Scholz, President of the Wisconsin Grocers Association, says small markets, like Mei Hua, are "important staples" in the community.
"They do offer more things than you'd find in a traditional grocery store and that's part of the strength of these small niche stores," said Scholz.
He said the best way to support those stores is by shopping at them.
"For a small store, certainty increased customer traffic, more sales, are going to help them meet their weekly obligations because like everybody else they've got bills to pay," he said.
Something to keep in mind, as Mei says she won't give up on keeping her market alive.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
