UHT milks are popular in China
In China, the market demand for milk has always been steady. The memory about the tainted milk scandal remains in Chinese consumers’ mind. It has hit China-made dairy products and until nowadays, even with the improvement of the industry, some parents are still suspicious about milk and brands. The price for 1L of milk in China is around 30 yuan (about US$4.5) for the ones which are trusted and considered as good quality.
Chinese consumers have a huge appetite for foreign products as they are considered as more authentic, using good quality ingredient. This is due to a market education but also the fact that counterfeit products are too numerous and hard to control in China. So when they have to pay high price for something like milk, instead of choosing the one made in China, they prefer to rely on the imported one.
Yoghurt : the new preferred product of Chinese
Yogurt is promising in 2018, its consumption has increased a lot. Respondents pointed out that yoghurt is not only available in a wide range of new flavors and novel packaging, but also provides more nutrients for children. Hence, it has won the hearts of children and attracted more purchasers. This is not only a matter of taste but also because of its health virtues.
While much of the Chinese population still suffers from lactose intolerance, yogurt presents the advantage of being fermented, which makes it digestible. The most popular ones are soy milk and coconut milk, always due to the matter of health benefice. To succeed in the Chinese market, the brand Danone has chosen to highlight the calcium deficiency among Chinese population, arguing in favor of cow’s milk.
Milk powder : for babies and elderly people
Many Chinese parents choose milk powder for their babies. However, they won’t use a milk powder which they don’t know the origin. Actually, before the development of ecommerce in China, Chinese people don’t have a lot of channels to get products from abroad. They often ask to Daigou, Chinese people who live abroad, to buy then send the product to them. Nowadays, e-commerce platforms have become the channels of choices for Chinese shoppers looking to purchase such items.
As we said before, they rely on foreign product’s quality, even a lot of elderly people started to consume milk powder for adult (the one we can find on supermarkets and drug store) because it’s know to strengthen the body.
Honey : is becoming a staple food in China
If you shop at a supermarket you will almost find easer honey than sugar. The consumption exceeds 300 000 tonnes per year, three times the volume exported. The miffle kingdom is the world’s largest consumer of hive extract but also the world’s largest producer.
Manuka honey, a New Zealand honey in which Chinese trust, has become very successful in China. It is quite special since it comes from the juice of a tree that grows only in New Zealand or Australia, it has unique anti-bacterial properties. Chinese and even Hong Kong consumers, who take care of them and opt for quality products are constantly looking for this nectar, which has contributed to a growth of imports about 1500 tons (the equivalent of $ 121.5 million) in 2014.
Do you Want to sell in China ? Adopt the right marketing strategy
In fact a lot of products related to health care have their market in China. You have to take care of your branding. As we can see when Chinese are buying dairy products, the most important factor consumers take into consideration is brand / word-of-mouth recommendation.
Make sure your visibility on Baidu
Chinese people check about product and brand information before their purchase when it is about children food or health food product. In China, the most popular search engine is Baidu (no Google here), it is also the a reference for Chinese people. You have to put your brand’s information and let it be visible to consumers in order to reassure them, and so increase their faith on your brand.
It is better if you have your Chinese website, it will be better than only a presence on forums or blog on internet.
Set up your online retail shop
Chinese consumers are more willing to purchase online because of the convenience and the greater range of available items on e-commerce platforms. They even go online more than physical shops. In order to catch Chinese consumers you may need to go digital and adapt to their consumption.
Tmall and JD.com are the most used ecommerce platform in China. They collaborate with both local and foreign brand to set up their flagship online store, selling authentic products. Also they have already a huge users base, trusting in their products and services.
GMA is specialized in the digital marketing in the Chinese market. Our agency offers a complete range of service for e-commerce marketers from e-commerce consulting to digital marketing operations. We have also developed many successful e-commerce projects because we know how to effectively promote your e-commerce business in China by using the latest digital tools.
You have a project to develop in China ? Take a look on what services we can offer to your business here. Feel free to contact us for further discussions.
Read also :
Chinese Parents especially love imported Product…
40% of maternity product is imported in China
50% sold online.
HUGE HUGE Market