Asia's leading food & hospitality tradeshow -- HOFEX 2019 opened at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from
May 7th to 10th, 2019. At HOFEX 2019, Austrian Consulate General Guangzhou, The Advantage Austria and Austrian Federal
Economic Chamber and dozens of Austrian businesses exhibited a variety of Austrian food and wine, including intoxicating
wine, refreshing sparkling water, crisp crackers and sweet candies. These Austrian food has attracted a number of purchasers
with their unique charm. FOOD2CHINA and Guangdong Imported Food Association (IFA) also led nearly 100 professional
buyers to visit the Austrian Pavilion and had business matching. Fabian Gems, Consul (Commercial Affairs) and Head of
Austrian Consulate General Guangzhou and Austrian exhibitors introduced Austrian food to the purchasers with enthusiasm.
Food2China also took the opportunity to interview Franz Ernstbrunner, Project Manager International Trade Fairs of
Advantage Austria and Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, about the characteristics of Austrian food and his views on the
Chinese market.
FOOD2CHINA: What are the characteristics of Austrian food? Which food is the most popular with Chinese consumers? Franz Ernstbrunner: Austria is very successful in organic food, and China has very large market demand for organic food, so we also export a lot of products to China, like organic pork and so on. In addition to pork, Austrian wines are favored by many consumers because of their high quality but low production. Among them, Austrian white wine is more suitable for serving with seafood because of its light taste; while red wine is mellower and perfectly paired with meat such as beef. Gruner Veltliner, one of Austria's well-known wines, is also popular among Chinese consumers. This wine is mainly served in high-end restaurants and is also very suitable for Chinese food. In Austria, our wine is produced in different regions, and the wine produced in each region has its own characteristics.
In addition, Austrian mineral water is also a favorite of many people. Austria's mineral water comes from snow-covered mountains with 1,700 meters high. When the snow melts into water, the water is flowing through stones in the foothills of the Austrian Alps. The filtered water is rich in minerals that the human body needs. Its natural antioxidant features keep mineral water fresh all the time. Due to Austria's strict protection of water sources, the water flowing down from the mountains is so clean that people can bottle it and drink directly. The Austrians also inject carbon dioxide into the water to turn it into sparkling water, which tastes cold and refreshing. You may feel the coolness and freshness of the snow.
FOOD2CHINA: What do you think of the current imported food market in China? Franz Ernstbrunner: China is a huge food market, and Chinese consumers are very concerned about food safety. When Chinese people travel to Europe, they can taste European food and feel that European countries attach great importance to food safety. When they return to China, they would like to enjoy the same high-quality and safe food. Austria's organic food is not only grown in organic soil, but also contains no other chemical additives, such as our organic red wine, organic chocolate and so on. For Chinese consumers, they can enjoy safe organic food, and for Austrian food, entering the Chinese market will be a huge opportunity
FOOD2CHINA: How do you plan to promote Austrian food in China in the future? Franz Ernstbrunner: We think exhibition is a good platform. A good exhibition is very important for promoting Austrian food to many Chinese consumers, so we participate in HOFEX, FHC/ProWine China Shanghai and so on. In addition to participating in exhibitions, we will also hold some wine events such as tasting meeting to communicate with some Chinese importers, distributors and other food enterprises. At present, the main markets of Austrian food are in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. In the future, we want to develop into the inland market of China. Therefore, we hope to find some right partners to promote Austrian organic food to all over China, so that all Chinese consumers can enjoy delicious Austrian food. As is known to all, Austrian wine is famous in the world, so Austria is also known as the Country of Wine in Europe and one of the best wine producing countries in the world. Franz Ernstbrunner introduced Helene Scheidl, head of the Department Markets East of Austrian Wine Marketing Board, to FOOD2CHINA. She described the characteristics of Austrian wines more detailedly.
FOOD2CHINA: What are the specialties of Austrian wine? Helene Scheidl: The uniqueness of Austrian wine depends on the Austrian grapes. Austria has a short summer and a long winter, and the intense temperature changes provides great conditions to Austria so we can produce particularly high-quality grapes. The grapes provide us with the conditions for the production of fine wines. Due to the different grapes in each region, Austrian wine in different regions are with different advantages. The best grape variety in Austria is Grüner Veltliner, which is the most widely planted white grape variety, accounting for 30% of the total grape planting area in Austria. This grape can almost be described as "all-round". The grape can be made into many kinds of wines, from dry wine to sweet wine. The wine made from Grüner Veltliner is easy to drink and can be greatly paired with many dishes. It is also one of the most popular Austrian wines in China.
In addition, Austria is a small wine producing country, and our wine is not in industrial production, basically family-run, so the production is smaller than other countries, but Austrian wine is of great quality. In order to give foreign consumers a more systematic and clear understanding of Austrian wines, now we also adopt the DAC (Districtus Austriae Controllatus) wine grading system. DAC refers to a fine wine from a particular region. If there is a bottle of wine labeled with DAC on the back of its producing area (e.g.Eisenberg DAC), it is a bottle of quality wine from Eisenberg. There are now 10 special DAC certified producing areas in Austria. All the front tags of DAC wines should be marked with the producer, the name of the wine and the regulatory certificate of origin producing area.
FOOD2CHINA: How do you promote Austrian wine and wine culture in the Chinese market? Helene Scheidl: Austrian wines today cannot be produced on a large scale, and therefore they cannot be sold in large quantities on China's online platforms and large supermarkets. They are still mainly provided for Chinese restaurants. And as China has a very profound food culture with a variety of dishes, we will recommend different Austrian wine to Chinese consumers when dinning according to their eating habits. In addition, since many people don’t know much about Austrian wine, we will try to teach students in catering schools about Austrian wine. Although China is a huge market for Austrian wines, there are many obstacles, such as language barriers. Many Austrian wine producers today do not speak English or Chinese. And China has higher tariffs. When Austrian wine is exported to China, the price will be greatly increased. However, we are still looking forward to exporting more wines to the Chinese market in the future and bringing Austrian wines to more Chinese consumers.
