Xinhua News Agency, Shanghai, November 2 (Reporter Chen Yunfu, Zhou Rui) Mediterranean olive oil, Iberian ham, Canadian ice wine, Chilean cherries … … With the gradual expansion and opening up of the market, China foodies are no strangers to these high-quality products from all over the world.
What is the taste of canned cactus? What about poultry meat and convenient ready-to-eat grains fed with vegetable feed? Three days later, these global selected foods and agricultural products will gather in Shanghai.
Food is the most important thing for the people. With the development of economy, the demand of domestic consumers has changed from "eating well" to "eating healthily".
The booths of food and agricultural products in this Import Expo are extremely popular, and it is one of the exhibition areas with the largest number of exhibitors from countries and regions. Some enterprises have even made an appointment to apply for the booths in the second Import Expo.
Alafoz, a well-known Danish organic dairy manufacturer, plans to launch a variety of organic dairy products in China at the Import Expo. "In Denmark, up to 50% of infant food is organic." Fred Jolson, head of global milk powder division of Alafoz, said that the proportion of organic baby food in China market is not high, but the growth rate is gratifying.
New Zealand is an important import source of high-quality milk, honey and other foods in China. According to the New Zealand Trade Development Council, about 90 New Zealand enterprises will "group" to appear at the Import Expo to display high-quality food and agricultural products such as avocado, kiwifruit and honey.
"Now is the beginning of the New Zealand avocado planting season. The China market is still relatively unfamiliar with avocados produced in New Zealand. I hope that delicious New Zealand avocados can enter the China market." Pandiwen, Commercial Consul of New Zealand Trade Development Council, said.
Chen Lu, Shanghai regional chairman of the Mexican Chamber of Commerce in China, said that Mexico’s agricultural products have excellent growth environment and excellent quality, but there are not many foods on the table of China residents. "I hope to promote food and agricultural products such as tortillas, raspberries, coffee, beer and special Chili sauce through the import Expo to meet the demand of China market for consumption upgrading." Chen Lu said.
Dozens of Mexican enterprises will also bring many foods and agricultural products that are still "new things" in the domestic market, such as canned cactus, avocado puree and avocado oil.
As a world-famous "grain merchant", Cargill decided to participate in the exhibition very early, and will display its Canadian 3A-class grain-fed steak, as well as chocolate, edible oil and a series of natural and healthy high-quality imported products and raw materials.
Brazilian multinational food processing giant JBS said that during its stay in China International Import Expo(CIIE), it will introduce the leading brand of Brazilian beef market "Friboi" to China consumers, and display its series of fresh products, including poultry meat related products fed with vegetable feed that will be introduced to the market in 2019.
According to Fengyi International, the parent company of Arowana, many products of all industries of the Group will be displayed at the Import Expo, including local brand products produced with high-quality imported raw materials, a wide range of original imported products and bulk agricultural products.
For global food and agricultural products enterprises, the growth of total consumption in China market and the improvement of food quality mean huge business opportunities, and it is also likely to bring great changes to the global food and agricultural products industry. The data shows that in 2017, the amount of food imported by China was close to 60 billion US dollars, and the import value of the entire agricultural product market exceeded 120 billion US dollars. The upgraded consumption of "eating goods" is still driving this figure to grow at a double-digit rate.
As a heavyweight buyer, Dai Wei, vice president of Carrefour China District, said that the Import Expo brought together enterprises from all over the world, and it was able to purchase without leaving Shanghai, saving time and energy, and being more high-quality and efficient.
"We will seize the opportunity of opening wider to the outside world and further expand investment and trade cooperation in China. We will also continue to take advantage of the global layout to transport high-quality products to China to meet the people’s demand for imported food." Guo Kongfeng, Chairman and CEO of Wilmar International, has a firm belief in the China market, which is also the aspiration of many exhibitors.
According to Liu Jun, president of Cargill China, the Import Expo not only provides opportunities for enterprises to display high-quality products, but also creates a platform for enterprises to connect with the government, customers and consumers.