You won’t find spotted dick pudding and you can search in vain for a tub of Marmite, but Tesco’s stores in the United States do a nice line in patas de puerco – pigs trotters.

The Mexican delicacy, costing $1.49 per lb (72p), sits on the top shelf of a Fresh & Easy chilled section, just along from beef tripe and turkey bacon. Take a quick walk down the aisle and there’s a whole catfish in a clear-topped plastic box. Among the fruit and vegetables sit prepacked cactus leaves.

It’s not exactly your local high street Tesco, but Britain’s top supermarket chain is looking at the bigger picture.

Simon Uwins, marketing director of Fresh & Easy, said: “We are building an American business for people who live here.”

Fresh & Easy is the result of three years of research by the team that launched convenience foods in Tesco two decades ago, and it believes that the chain can exploit a big gap in the market.

Tesco went to extraordinary lengths in Los Angeles to study how Americans shop and eat as it fine-tuned the concept. Consultants lived with families and a secret mock store was set up to test shoppers’ reactions. The end product is British-style supermarket convenience aimed at local American (often Hispanic) taste buds.

Most Americans shop at several stores, but Fresh & Easy intends to provide everything, from fresh food and ready meals to staple brands and necessities, under one 10,000 sq ft roof. Each store has 3,500 product lines. A “kitchen table” section allows customers to sample one of six highlighted meals.

Tesco hopes that the emphasis on no added preservatives or trans-fats will play to concerns over health and obesity levels in the United States. The signs are that the concept is working. The demand for Fresh & Easy-branded ready meals has been so strong the group has run into stock issues. Tim Mason, chief executive of Fresh & Easy, said: “It’s gone like a train.”

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