CIIE 2019 Serves Up Veritable Smorgasbord of Global Delicacies to Chinese Food Buyers

It takes only 3 days to transport a 300kg bluefin tuna from Spain to China, a product which was warmly greeted by Chinese buyers and consumers alike during CIIE 2019. Many infant milk powder brands displayed new products in CIIE. Organic infant formula featured heavily as manufacturers try to align themselves with new drivers of consumer preference in China’s IF sector. Ferrero Group aims to double its sales in the Chinese market in the next 5 years.

On November 10th, the 2nd China International Import Expo (CIIE) closed, as too did hall 8.1, which again occupied the largest area in terms of floor space and hosted exhibitors from the food and agricultural sector ^[1].

"The food exhibition area once again had the largest number of participating countries and enterprises, including numerous of the world's top 500 companies and leading enterprises, as well as enterprises from countries along the 'One Belt, One Road' and developing nations," said Ying Jian, head of the food and agricultural products exhibition area.

Fresh Food: Aquatic & Meat Products are the Most Popular Food

According to CIIE’s import food industry report, the top five categories of imports in 2018 were aquatic products, meat products, dairy foods, fruits, and grain products.
The "superstar" of the food and agricultural products hall this year was one giant bluefin tuna, which weighed approximately 300kg. On Nov. 7th, this bluefin tuna which was transported from the Mediterranean just 3 days previously was offered to consumers fresh at CIIE. It is said that, this whole fish costs 150,000RMB (≈21,429USD), and was caught in Spain. Thanks to new trade facilitation measures and China's fast customs clearance policy^[2]and cold chain logistics technology, it only took 3 days to transport from Europe to China and it arrived in extremely good condition.

Foods for Infants and Young Children: Organic is the Key Word

This year, many infant formula companies, such as BiosTime, Danone, Fonterra and Ausnutria, developed new products targeting the Chinese market and launched during CIIE. For example, H&H had 2 boothsand four brands on display, including BiosTime, Swisse, Healthy Times (organic infant formula) and GOOD GOT (a French organic children's food brand).
In addition, Danone had more than 120 items on display this year, up 50% from last year. Including nearly 10 new product and product categories focused on special nutrition, basic dairy products, etc. Besides Aptamil, Nutrilon and Evian, an organic baby food brand called Happy Baby was also displayed in CIIE.

Leisure Food: Focused on Specific Categories

Mars, Mondelēz and other foreign food head players remain focused on chocolate, candy, biscuits and other traditional categories in China’s snack sector.
Italy's Ferrero Group, the world's third-largest chocolate candy manufacturer, made its first appearance at CIIE this year, showcasing its new biscuit product (Happy Hippo Biscuit as shown above). Ma Rucheng, the general manager of Ferrero's China, pledged that^[3], the group will accelerate the expansion in China with an aim of doubling its China sales in the next 5 years.

Agricultural Products: Positive Policy Brings New Opportunity

Agricultural products from Madagascar even featured at CIIE this year, highlighting the growing geographical diversity on offer at the event. During the food show, local Madagascan specialties such as lobster, cashew nuts, pepper and vanilla were displayed. Chen Lin, a trader of Madagascan agricultural products, indicated that favorable tariffs policy on Madagascan agricultural products has attracted many e-commerce platforms and offline distributors in China in recent months.

Disclaimer: Some photos are from website.