Visitors flock to the Hona Organic booth at the Biofach China trade fair in May 2015. (Photo : Biofach China)
Organic food is seeing increasingly high demand in China, as the country's middle class gains stronger purchasing power and awareness of healthy living and dietary concerns increase.
Chinese urbanites are seeking alternative options to purchase safe and healthy products, partly spurred by recent food scandal incidents, the China Daily newspaper said in a report on Friday.
"Even though imported organic food can be expensive, it's an investment I'm willing to make for my family's health," Liu Rui, a frequent shopper in Beijing's Ole supermarket, told China Daily. Consumers like Liu are propping up China as the world's fourth-biggest consumer of organic products.
"China is a market that attracts great attention from the world's organic traders," Wang Yunhao, director of China Green Food Development Center (CGFDC), said at an organic food fair on May 28.
The sales volume of organic products in China is around 20 to 30 billion yuan per year, said Wang.
Major industry players like Denmark, Germany and Australia are eyeing the potentially lucrative market in China and have recently showcased their dairy, meat, and wine products at the China International Organic Food Fair (Biofach China), the second largest organic food fair in the world, in Shanghai in May.
"We export nearly 80 million yuan worth of organic products to China every year since we got our certificate in 2013," Ejvind Pedersen, chief adviser of Danish Agriculture & Food Council, said, adding that organic milk and baby formula are the best-selling products in China.
All imported products have to be certified in China after audit and onsite inspection by a certification committee before they can get on Chinese supermarket shelves.
Soybeans and oil are also among the top demands in China, Ejvind added.
Local companies are also starting to tap into the country's hunger for healthy food. Hona Organic, a company specializing in organic condiments, believes that the desire to enjoy the original taste of food is what drives the demand.
"Eating organic is not just a lifestyle, it's also a choice to protect the environment and to respect [sic] the nature," said Kang Yanli, the marketing manager of Hona Organic. "By not using chemical fertilizer, we are protecting not only ourselves but also farmers and animals in ecosystem."
According to statistics, China has 731 certified organic food companies, with an annual output of 13.48 billion. An industry report says that the organic food sector is expected to grow by 1-1.5 percent in China by 2018.
