Austrade, the Australian Government's export development agency brought over 250 buyers from around the world to Fine Food Australia on 24 September-and the most interest has been from China, with over 70 buyers attending.
Austrade's Beijing-based Country Manager, Peter Osborne said the China buyers were exposed to a wide range of Australian food and beverage products with 800 businesses participating in Fine Food this year.
"The interest in Australia is partly driven by China's growing middle class and urbanisation including a massive expansion of the country's freeway and railway network," Mr Osborne said.
"The opening up of inland China is underway. By 2035, every city with a population of over 200,000 will be connected.
"And by 2020, over 60 per cent of the Chinese population will be living in urban centres which will be significant markets in their own right. Already there's a rapid expansion in wholesale markets and retail outlets-a good place for Australian companies to play.
"There are a range of foreign-funded retail outlets such as Wal-mart, Trust-Mart, Makro, Jusco, Carrefour, Park'N Shop, 7-Eleven, Watson's and major domestic chain store outlets all expanding into China with outstanding speed. These supermarkets offer local customers an increased range of imported foods and beverages," he said.
Austrade Business Development Managers from five different Austrade China offices (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Shanghai, Kunming) in Australia accompanied the Chinese buyers in Australia for Fine Food.
Mr Osborne said the buyers had been introduced to Australian exhibitors and exporters targeting the Chinese markets.
"Among the products in demand are Australian wine, seafood, dairy and dry grocery products such as snacks, confectionary, biscuits and cereals," he said.
Over the past 12 months there's been an increase of over 20 per cent in Australia's export trade to China. Mr Osborne said these figures prove China is an increasingly important market to target.
"It's imperative that Australian food and beverage producers get involved in trade events and get their business on the radar in China," he said.
"In addition to Fine Food Australia, Austrade's China team is working hard to bring an Australian showcase to China and is supporting an Australian National Pavilion at the Food Hospitality China (FHC) expo in Shanghai from 14-16 November 2007. Already more than 20 Australian food and wine companies have signed up to exhibit at FHC in the Australian stand.
"The FHC show is a reputable food and beverage event in China with a strong following amongst food service and retail customers. International exhibitors take advantage of FHC's trade visitors which come from all over China and the nearby regions to source new suppliers and products. For example, this year's FHC has over 100 Spanish exhibitors alone.
"Given the incredible rise in exports of Australian wine to China, Australian wine will be a feature at the Australian showcase at FHC. The Australian Wine Gold Card Day event at FHC Shanghai will showcase Australian premium wines, and Austrade and the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation will bring wine master classes featuring Jeremy Oliver. Jeremy Oliver will also launch Chinese names of the four wine categories," Mr Osborne said.