New Delhi, May 5 -- During a study abroad programme in India in 2010, Bert Mueller spent part of his time living with a host family in Jaipur. Alongside fellow international students, he brought along some food from the United States to share with his host family - but the reception wasn't quite what he hoped.

"They didn't like it very much," Mueller was quoted as saying by CNBC. In contrast, one of his classmates had a much more enthusiastic response to the food she offered.

"One of my friends was of Mexican origin and she would make chips and salsa and beans and tortillas," he explains. "One day I came over to her house and I saw she'd made this food for her family she was living with and they were loving the food."

At the time, Muel...