MILAN, Aug 30 (Class Editori) - The Italian Pavilion is online on the portal Food2China.com (www.food2china.com/nation/399.html), an e-commerce project designed to promote Italian food products through the portal managed by the Guangdong Imported Food Association (IFA).
According to the latest data, the import of food products to China from the rest of the world has recorded an annual increase of 15% per year over the last ten years and an estimated value of 77 billion dollars for 2018. Italian agri-food exports have grown steadily from 2016 to 2018, with a variation of +7.8% between 2017 and 2018.
Today, Italy is the second exporter to China for cocoa, olive oil and meat products, as well as the third supplier country for the categories of pasta (also cooked or stuffed), coffee and vinegar.
Food2China is an online B2B showcase both in English and in Chinese for companies to show their products with the aim of directly reaching interested Chinese importers and distributors and thus facilitating their entrance into the market.
The agreement between the ICE Agency of Guangzhou (Canton), directed by Cecilia Costantino and Guangdong Imported Food Association (IFA) provides for the activation on the Food2China Portal of an Italian Pavilion open to a total of 60 Italian companies divided into two semesters.
Each company will be able to join the project for a period of 6 months during which it will benefit from an online showcase in which to promote its products.
The first group of Italian companies is already online and the promoted products include pasta, coffee, preserves, fruit, sauces, olive oil. Each company is included with a brief description of its activity.
For example, in the bakery and cereal category, you can see the Sps from Vercelli, which produces Carnaroli rice, or De Matteis Agroalimentare pasta factory in the province of Avellino, specialized in durum wheat. As for the fruit and vegetables category, the Consortium Origine Group stands out, which proposes kiwis. And again, as for the category of canned products, the Sac spa of Carmagnola, in Piedmont, which has been active in the sector of food preserves for 50 years, in particular tomatoes. Finally, Torrefazione Poli with its namesake coffee, whose package is offered for 16.5 dollars.
This further boost to the promotion of Italian food in China was decided through the assessment of the market potential indicated by the constant growth of Italian food exports (including drinks) on the Chinese market. In the last 10 years, according to ICE, it has grown at an average annual rate of +17%, a value over three times higher than that recorded in the same period by the total Italian export food & beverage.
In ten years time, according to Coldiretti, exports of Made in Italy food products to China have reached a value that has more than tripled (+254%) with the progressive opening of the Asian giant to Western lifestyles. Nomisma underlines that, despite this, the sustained growth rates, the role played by China for our export is however still marginal: in 2018 Italian companies exported 439 million euros to the Asian giant among wine, chocolate, olive oil and other food products, which means only 1.2% of total foreign sales of national food products.
Even the market share held by Italian companies in China is very low, representing just the 1.5% of Chinese food and drink imports, which corresponds to 6 times less than France, 3 less than the Netherlands and 2 less than Germany, if we limit the analysis to European competitors.
According to Coldiretti, it remains that 2018 was a record year for Italian food exports to China. And 2019 is expected to bring the same results. The wine is certainly the main driver to the export to China, whose value is going to grow by 11% in 2019, followed by cheese, which practically double exports (+95%), and by olive oil. The fruit segment is also performing well, especially after the opening to citrus fruit exports and desserts.
According to Coldiretti, an impulse can come from the new agreements with China on export in the agri-food industry, from oranges to frozen pork, which was signed in the framework of the Silk Road. The agreements can be an important way to remove the obstacles still present with the borders that have opened up in China for Italian alfalfa, but at the moment as far as fresh fruit is concerned, Italy can only export kiwis and citrus fruits while regarding apples and pears a specific negotiation is in progress.
(Source:Xinhua News Class Editori)
