WARC, 17 March 2014
SHANGHAI: Foreign food brands have good growth opportunities
in China, according to a new survey that revealed a clear preference among
affluent and middle-income consumers for imported food.
Over three-quarters (80%) of high earners agreed that
"foreign food brands are better", an opinion shared by 70% of
middle-income respondents, according to a poll of 500 Shanghai residents by
consultancy Data Driven Marketing Asia (DDMA), Jing Daily reported.
As Chinese consumers have become acutely aware of inadequacies
in the domestic food chain – a total of 1,090 food scandals have been reported
in the Chinese media over the last three years – and the DDMA survey appeared
to confirm their concerns.
In all, 94% blamed "dishonest companies" for the
food scandals, 92% said companies are not strictly supervised and 69% thought
food is unsafe because of pollution.
With that in mind, foreign countries that were perceived as
having a clean and healthy environment, strict supervision of the food
industry, good governance and advanced food technology emerged as clear
favourites for Shanghai's food shoppers.
New Zealand and Australia, in particular, were the two
countries most-favoured, polling 73% and 72% respectively for the question,
"which country are you most comfortable buying food from?"
Germany and the US were next in the national rankings, not
so much because of their environmental reputation (unlike their Antipodean
counterparts) but because of Chinese perceptions of their strong regulation and
advanced technology.
Japan, at fifth, was cited by almost half (48%) of
respondents while the UK, France, Sweden, Norway and South Korea rounded out
the top ten.
The survey also found that 71% of high-income respondents
"strongly" preferred restaurants that serve foreign food, 63%
actively research foreign food brands before purchase and 59% seek out foreign
food brands when shopping.
Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported that Tate &
Lyle, the UK specialist food group, plans to extend its presence in China with
the acquisition of Winway Biotechnology Nantong, a producer of a dietary fibre
that is used as a low-calorie bulking agent. It is the company's second investment
in China in the past year.
Data sourced from Jing Daily, Financial Times; additional
content by Warc staff
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