Chinese develop taste for foreign food
Print Edition
SHE is Chinese, but that is not going to stop Zhang Yuan, 33, having a Western-style Christmas feast with her family this year.
Her menu includes Australian steak, Italian spaghetti, salad, creamy mushroom soup, imported wine and French souffle as dessert.
“I will bake the cake myself, with flour, cream, butter and milk‚ all imported,” said Zhang, who lives in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China’s Hebei Province. “Now that ordering online is so convenient, foreign food is no longer rare.”
Due to online shopping services, Chinese now have much better and faster access to food from around the world, prompting changes in the local food industry.
This is not the first time for Zhang to buy imported food. She has always bought baby formula and fruit juice from foreign brands, as she does not think domestic brands are safe enough for her 8-month-old son.
“Considering contaminated farmland plus questionable production, I won’t risk my baby’s health,” she said.
Zhang’s concerns may sound extreme, but they are not groundless.
According to the ministries concerned, about 16 percent of all land surveyed and about a fifth of arable land is polluted by heavy metals such as cadmium, lead and mercury. About 3.33 million hectares of arable land, an area the size of Belgium, are not suitable for growing crops.
China’s most notorious food safety scandal occurred in 2008, when six babies were killed and thousands became seriously ill as infant formula produced by Sanlu Group, then a leading dairy company in Zhang’s hometown of Hebei, was found to contain the chemical melamine.
“Better quality, more choice and different taste, these are why I choose imported food,” Zhang said.
Consumer demand for imported food is spurred by online shopping. With a few simple clicks, people can get almost anything from around the world delivered to their doorstep.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, there are more than 5,000 cross-border shopping websites, with total trade value estimated at 6.5 trillion yuan (US$945 billion) in 2016. Annual growth of over 30 percent is expected in the next few years, and food is a major category on these websites. Although retailers in physical stores are facing difficulties due to online shopping, imported food sales are on the rise. Data released by a chain store research institute in Shanghai shows sales of imported food surged to US$54.8 billion in 2015, up 70 percent year-on-year. Up to 60,000 types of food from 143 countries and regions were imported to China last year.
The Association of Food Industries of the US estimates China will become the largest consumer of imported food in 2018, with a total market value up to 480 billion yuan on China’s mainland.
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