Food Exhibition in China
Food is traditionally an important part of Chinese culture. Middle class families usually have 4-5 different meals for lunch and 7-9 for dinner, so each member can taste the whole range of dishes. This love and interest for food and the fast growing economy of China lead to increasing number of food import. As recent market research statistics suggests, food market is booming in China growing at 30% annually, while food import is increasing by 15% each year. This leads to introduction of numerous foreign food brands in the market including Tesco, Metro and Carrefour, which present high-quality international food to Chinese consumers. One of the key driver to enter China food market is Food exhibition in China.
Exhibition as a distribution channel for foreign food producers
Apart from franchising, there are many others distributional channels, used by foreign companies, to reach local customers. Recently, online shopping and exhibitions have gained popularity. Online shopping is very secure and convenient to make purchases although a lot of restaurants, individual customers and food stores prefer to attend food exhibitions as well to see all the range of food and have a closer look at quality. This leads to a lot of exhibitions being held in China. The recent and upcoming fairs include The 9th China (Shanghai) International Meat Industry Exhibition 2014, Hong Kong Food Expo 2014, Hong Kong International Tea Fair 2014, 2014 China International Food and Beverage & Import Food Exposition, Guangzhou Food Expo 2014 and many others.
SIAL China
One of the most influential and world largest food exhibitions, SIAL China, has recently held a fair in Shanghai. It is originally a French company, which organizes food exhibition in China and all around the world. Gradually moving its exhibitions towards emerging markets, SIAL aims to introduce foreign food suppliers to potential Chinese customers. Presence of Chinese food-makers is substantial as well, but the main target is foreign import.
International Food Exhibition in China
Due to popularity and variety of food exhibition in China, it is difficult to highlight the largest one, because all of them are trying to compete and offer only the best European and domestic food. International Food Exhibition (IFE), being one of the largest food fair in the country, introduces both foreign and domestic food suppliers though it is more focused on import. One of the main goals of exhibition is to present foreign producers into Chinese market and help them to find potential customers or distributors. Exhibition hosts over 50 different countries, the majority of whose are from the US, Canada and Europe.
FHC China
FHC China exhibition is another channel for foreign producers, who wish to enter the market. This is because almost 90% of visitors are local consumers looking for food suppliers for personal and commercial purposes. The exhibition is supposed to be one of the largest hosts of foreign producers, which count for approximately 35% of all exhibitors. The range of products presented is various including bakery, fruits, meat, pasta, seafood and drinks. Apart from food, hospitality sector is also presented including restaurant equipment, security, leisure and many others.
For further reference, go to:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackperkowski/2013/04/25/feeding-chinas-population/
https://www.asiaperspective.net/chinas-increasing-appetite-imported-food-beverage/
