Immigration slows, but America’s appetite for ethnic groceries keeps growing

Weee, an online grocer specialising in Asian and Latino goods, is betting that America’s appetite for ethnic food and grocery delivery will outlast a sharp drop in immigration, with its founder forecasting years of double-digit growth even as the Trump administration tightens border controls.The San Francisco-based company has seen its annual revenue grow at about 30 to 40 per cent from 2023 to 2025, and is expecting to expand at the same pace in the next five to 10 years, founder and CEO Larry Liu said in an interview with the South China Morning Post last week.Valued at US$4.1 billion from its previous private funding round in 2022, Weee saw its annualised revenue recently surpass US$1 billion and is a year away from being profitable, the Chinese-American founder said.“This is our eleventh year, and we are barely scratching the surface,” Liu said.Liu is optimistic about growing Weee’s user base even as US President Donald Trump’s administration launched an unprecedented clampdown on immigrants in the country that has been marked by arrests, detentions and deportations.The US has seen “a historic decline” in net international migration, which peaked at 2.7 million in 2024 but dropped to 1.3 million as of July 1, 2025, the US Census Bureau said in January. The number is projected to further decline to around 321,000 in 2026 if current trends continue, the bureau said.08:08Widespread anti-immigrant operations spark fear in Asian communities across the USWidespread anti-immigrant operations spark fear in Asian communities across the US