Havant and Fareham Asda stores to open new Asian street food concessions

The partnership with Panku will see pan-Asian favourites like katsu curry and hand-rolled sushi freshly prepared on site and ready to eat.

Korean bulgogi, chicken yakitori skewers, vegan tofu Thai curry, plant-based options, noodles and sushi burritos will also be served up.

Asda said the initiative with Panku, part of the Yo! Sushi group, will from from now until May.

It is part of the retail giant’s focus on ‘test and learn' partnerships in 2020, which include food-to-go trials with Greggs, JustEat, Sushi Daily.

Richard Dent, vice president of Asda’s fresh food arm, said: ‘As well as ensuring we’ve got great prices for our customers and make their shopping experience with us as easy as possible, we’re also investing in growing areas of our business that we know customers are really passionate about.

‘In areas such as food to go, we want to make sure we’re offering our customers a great combination of groceries and ready to eat options.

‘Panku is a great fit – it’s an innovative brand offering great value and quality food, with a bit of personality.

‘We’re really excited to be working with them.'

Panku, which is Japanese for punk, was set up by friends Neil Nugent and Andy Upton to combine flavours of Japan, Korea and Thailand.

Mr Upton said: ‘Neil is a great chef with an almost incomparable experience of food culture through the job he does.

‘We had been talking about our joint passion for experiential cooking and this was really the catalyst for Panku.

‘We want to offer something fresh and delicious, which supports a number of lifestyle choices and emerging food trends, such as veganism and gut health.

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‘Yes, you are going to see traditional things such as our crowd pleaser chicken katsu curry, but you will also see our sushi burritos which will put a smile on your face.

‘We’ve got a great team helping to make Panku a success and bring great tasting street food to Asda customers.

‘We couldn’t have done it without the support of Asda and everyone at Taiko, part of the YO! Group.’

The other 18 Asda stores set to get the concessions are Aintree, Trafford Park, Harrogate, Killingbeck, Hounslow, Stevenage, Cardiff, Swindon Haydon, Cape Hill, Totton, Eastgate, Sutton in Ashfield, Donnington Wood, Kingswood, Pudsey, Walton, Longwell Green and Ashton.