Growth-hungry global food companies target worldly Chinese consumers, CIIE attendees say

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CIIE participants say Chinese consumers want high-quality milk and additive-free food products

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Mia Castagnone

Published: 9:00pm, 6 Nov 2024

International food companies are seeking to stay competitive in China by targeting well-travelled consumers who value healthy food and have a growing appetite for Western products, exhibitors said at the world’s largest trade show.

Chinese consumers believe in the quality of milk from Australia and New Zealand, said Stacy Tang, export sales and brand manager at Sydney based consumer goods company Goodman Fielder.

“[Chinese] consumers particularly enjoy products like high-protein milk beverages,” she said, speaking at the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai on Wednesday. The CIIE has drawn 3,500 exhibitors from more than 150 countries and regions, including major multinationals like carmaker Volkswagen Group and cosmetics giant L’Oreal.

Goodman Fielder is especially interested in younger Chinese people who go abroad for study, travel or work and upon their return home, they crave the flavours they experienced in the West. Tang said consumers from first-tier Chinese cities travel abroad and develop tastes for ciabatta and sourdough breads, for example, and are interested finding them when they get home.

Global food companies like Goodman Fielder will find that consumers in China are still in belt-tightening mode, despite recent economic support measures from Beijing, as they have weak expectations for income growth. In August, retail sales in China rose 2.1 per cent from a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, which was lower than the 3.4 per cent growth clocked in the first eight months of the year.

Armed with conclusions drawn from its market research, Goodman Fielder has added La Famiglia frozen garlic bread and a pancake premix to its product offerings for China.

Theland, a New Zealand dairy firm, is another company that is launching new products – like milk mixed with honey – to stay competitive in China, according to its Asia-Pacific CEO Sheng Wenhao. He said despite the economic malaise, there are pockets of growth.