~239,000 speakers · Fastest growing language (+80% since 2016)

Pulse relevance: Dal, chana masala, and rajma are daily staples. Desi chickpeas, red lentils, black gram, and mung beans are non-negotiable pantry items.

Language context: Punjabi-language grocery stores, Gurdwara networks, and social media commerce are thriving. Many recent first-generation arrivals with limited English, especially older family members via reunion pathways.

~133,000 speakers · One of Australia’s newest large communities

Pulse relevance: Dal bhat (lentil soup with rice) is the national dish, eaten twice daily. Red lentils, toor dal, black gram, and mung beans are consumed at very high per-capita rates.

Language context: Overwhelmingly first-generation. Community commerce, Facebook groups, and word-of-mouth networks operate heavily in Nepali.

~68,000+ speakers · Rapidly growing

Pulse relevance: Red lentils, split chickpeas, mung beans, and pigeon peas are daily essentials. Bangladesh is Australia’s second-largest chickpea export destination.

Language context: Growing Bangla-language grocery and restaurant ecosystem. Strong in-language social networks. Recent migration wave via skilled and student pathways.

~367,000 speakers · Continuously refreshed community

Pulse relevance: Hummus, falafel, ful medames, and lentil soup are kitchen staples. Kabuli chickpeas and broad beans are the primary products. Arabic-speaking customers almost exclusively use Kabuli (not Desi) chickpeas.

Language context: Arabic-language media, grocery signage, and business operations are extensive. Established Lebanese base continuously refreshed by Iraqi and Syrian humanitarian arrivals with lower English proficiency.

~321,000 speakers · Exceptionally strong language retention

Pulse relevance: Mung beans are the primary pulse — used extensively in bánh, chè desserts, and savoury dishes. Some black-eyed peas, soybeans, and red beans.

Language context: Established since the 1970s but maintains extraordinary language retention. Entire shopping precincts (Footscray, Cabramatta, Springvale) operate primarily in Vietnamese. Even second-generation speakers often transact in Vietnamese within community.

~685,000 speakers · Largest non-English language community

Pulse relevance: Mung beans, red beans (adzuki), soybeans, and broad beans. China receives 72% of Australian mung bean exports. Less daily dal-type consumption but significant use in soups, desserts, and snacks.

Language context: Mandarin-language commerce operates as a parallel economy — WeChat-based ordering, Mandarin-language signage, Chinese supermarket networks. Many recent migrants and older family members have limited English.

~295,000 speakers · Refreshed by recent Hong Kong arrivals

Pulse relevance: Similar to Mandarin — mung beans, red beans, soybeans. Sweet soup (tong sui) preparations are a major use case.

Language context: Older base than Mandarin but very strong retention. Post-2020 Hong Kong arrivals have refreshed the community. Cantonese-medium businesses remain prominent.

~95,000 speakers · Growing skilled migrant community

Pulse relevance: South Indian cuisine features sambar (toor dal), rasam, and kootu. Very high per-capita pulse consumption with distinct preferences — more toor dal and urad dal than North Indian communities.

Language context: Tamil-language temples, community organisations, and grocery stores operate in-language. Strong cultural and language retention across generations.

~110,000 speakers

Pulse relevance: Pakistani cuisine is deeply pulse-reliant. Desi chickpeas, red lentils, black gram, and mung beans. Pakistan is Australia’s largest chickpea export destination at 54% by value.

Language context: Urdu is maintained strongly for social, religious, and commercial purposes. Mosque networks, community events, and family commerce operate in Urdu. Continuous migration keeps the language active.

~72,000 speakers

Pulse relevance: Iranian cuisine uses chickpeas, lentils, split peas, broad beans, and kidney beans extensively. Ash reshteh, ghormeh sabzi, and adasi are pulse-heavy staples.

Language context: Iranian and Afghan communities maintain Farsi/Dari strongly. Many arrived through humanitarian pathways with lower initial English proficiency. In-language media and businesses are well-established.

~100,000 speakers

Pulse relevance: Red beans, black beans, and mung beans used in traditional dishes and desserts. Moderate overall consumption.

Language context: Strong community retention. Korean-language precincts in parts of Sydney and Melbourne. Student population refreshes the base continuously.

~150,000 speakers

Pulse relevance: Mung bean soup (monggo) is a traditional dish. Moderate consumption, mainly mung beans and some kidney beans.

Language context: Filipinos generally have high English proficiency, but Tagalog remains the social and family language — the “trust language” for community engagement.

~70,000 speakers

Pulse relevance: Lentil soup (mercimek çorbası) is a national staple. Chickpeas in stews. Solid pulse consumer community.

Language context: Established community (post-1960s) with strong language retention due to community cohesion. Turkish-language businesses and social infrastructure well-maintained, particularly in northern Melbourne.

~60,000 speakers

Pulse relevance: Sri Lankan cuisine uses parippu (red lentil dal) daily, plus chickpeas and mung beans.

Language context: Generally high English proficiency due to Sri Lanka’s education system, but Sinhalese remains important for community trust and social commerce.

~170,000 speakers

Pulse relevance: Latin American communities consume black beans, pinto beans, and lentils in stews. Mediterranean Spanish communities also use chickpeas and lentils.

Language context: Diverse community (Chilean, Colombian, Uruguayan, Spanish). Generally good English proficiency but Spanish-language networks are active among more recent Latin American arrivals.

~73,000 speakers

Pulse relevance: Tempeh (soy-based), some mung bean use. Lower pulse consumption compared to South Asian communities.

Language context: Most Indonesian speakers have high English proficiency (many came as students). Language used within family and community but commercial dependency is low.

~196,000 speakers

Pulse relevance: Very high — identical dal culture to Punjabi. Toor dal, masoor dal, chana dal, moong dal consumed daily. However, Hindi speakers report 95.9% high English proficiency, the highest among major South Asian languages.

Language context: The outlier from the Indian subcontinent. Hindi is used for family, Bollywood, and social settings, but commerce is almost entirely in English. Still heavy pulse consumers — they just don’t need Hindi-language marketing to reach them.

~230,000 speakers · 61.7% over 50 years of age

Pulse relevance: Fava (split pea purée), fasolada (bean soup), and chickpea dishes are traditional staples. The older generation — which is the most language-dependent cohort — is also the cohort most likely to be buying traditional pulses.

Language context: Greek-language grocers, bakeries, and social clubs still operate in Greek for the older generation. Second and third generations are English-dominant. Language dependency is concentrated in the elderly cohort.

~228,000 speakers · Ageing community profile

Pulse relevance: Pasta e fagioli, lentil soup, and chickpea dishes in southern Italian cuisine. Like Greek, the pulse-buying cohort overlaps with the language-dependent (older) cohort.

Language context: Very similar to Greek. Postwar generation still shops and socialises in Italian, but younger generations have shifted to English. Italian delis and grocers still operate with Italian-language interaction, though declining.

~68,000 speakers

Pulse relevance: Lentil stew (Linsensuppe) is a traditional dish but pulse consumption is generally low. Minimal commercial relevance for the pulse supply chain.

Language context: Almost entirely English-proficient. Language dependency is negligible for commercial purposes.