2016 Imported Food Report Data Source: First Financial Business Data Center
Main Categories of Imported Food: Snacks, Dairy, Nutrition and Health, Instant Drinks, etc. The main categories of imported food are: snacks, dairy products, beverages, nutrition and health products, kitchen foods, and tea and instant drinks.
Industry Status and Development: What are the advantages online? Rapid growth: Imported food is developing rapidly, with the scale of imports increasing year by year. After 2010, the growth of food imports accelerated, fundamentally due to rising per capita disposable income and growing demand for imported products. According to the American Association of Food Industries, China will become the largest importer of food by 2018, with a market size of up to 480 billion yuan.
Changes: What new changes are happening in the industry environment? Political factors: The newly revised food safety regulations took effect on October 1, 2015, making the imported food market more standardized; the China-South Korea Free Trade Agreement and the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement took effect on December 20, 2015, making the imported food market more open. Economic factors: Fluctuations in the RMB exchange rate; RMB depreciation will increase import costs; the new cross-border e-commerce tax reform policy, replacing the postal tax with value-added tax and consumption tax, will impact imported food prices. Social factors: More mainstream—consumers are more accepting of imported food, with post-80s, post-90s, and post-00s becoming the main consumer groups. Technological factors: E-commerce has expanded distribution channels, making imported food prices more transparent, forcing distributors and retailers to narrow profit margins.
E-commerce has clear online advantages, becoming an important channel for imported food. Advantages of imported food online: First, it simplifies the supply chain and reduces intermediate costs; second, it facilitates channel sinking, reaching areas that traditional high-end supermarkets cannot cover, and shopping is no longer limited by time and space; third, the rise of mobile devices makes shopping more convenient, and cross-border/overseas shopping has become a unique highlight online.
- Current State of the Online Imported Food Market: Who are the consumers? What are their preferences? Rapid development of online imported food Rapid increase in online import penetration The scale of online imported food transactions is growing rapidly, and the penetration rate of "imported" products is also rising quickly, meaning consumers are more likely to consider imported food categories when purchasing food.
Snacks are the most popular, dairy has the highest import ratio Among online imported foods, snacks account for the highest proportion, nearly 40%; followed by kitchen foods and nutrition and health products; although the absolute scale of dairy and beverages is relatively low, their import ratio is the highest, indicating that when customers buy dairy and beverages, they are most likely to choose imported products.
Of the 193 countries in the world, Tmall and Taobao currently source imported food from 112 countries, and the sources of online imported food are rapidly diversifying. Imported food from Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, and Australia is the most popular, with the fastest growth, and there is a trend of concentration in the sources of hot-selling products.
Southeast Asian and Japanese/Korean snacks have the greatest advantage Southeast Asia and Japan/Korea are the most popular sources of imported food because their snacks are widely popular; Japanese/Korean snacks and Southeast Asian kitchen foods are their respective highlights. In sub-categories, coffee and biscuits/puffed snacks from Southeast Asia, and biscuits/puffed snacks from Japan/Korea are the best sellers.
Branding of consumption structure, dairy has the highest brand concentration Imported food has moved from the previous situation of "mixed quality" and "imported = good product" to a branded market; consumers have increased awareness of imported products and trust big brands more, allowing good products to truly stand out. In sub-categories, dairy products have the highest brand concentration due to safety concerns, while snacks have lower brand concentration because there are more brands and faster taste changes, but this also means more opportunities.
Concentration of purchase channels, Tmall Global growing rapidly In terms of purchase channels, more consumers choose Tmall Mall, which has stronger merchant presence; Tmall Global is increasingly popular due to its unique advantages in overseas products, and has grown rapidly since its official launch in 2014.
Main buyers of imported food are young and middle-aged people in first- and second-tier cities Compared to overall online food sales, imported food is more favored by young and middle-aged people in first- and second-tier cities.
Huge potential in third- and fourth-tier cities and mobile consumers Although the sales volume of imported food in first- and second-tier cities is much higher than in third- and fourth-tier cities, third- and fourth-tier cities have faster online growth due to limited offline channels. Mobile penetration of imported food is growing rapidly, and young and middle-aged mobile users in third- and fourth-tier cities are key development groups.
Young people generally prefer snacks, middle-aged preferences vary For young consumers, whether from first- and second-tier cities or third- and fourth-tier cities, they prefer snacks; for middle-aged consumers, they generally pay more attention to health, with first- and second-tier city consumers buying more imported dairy products to maintain health, while third- and fourth-tier city consumers buy more nutrition and health products.
Consumers concentrated in coastal areas, but inland consumers are generous Imported food consumption is mainly concentrated in the eastern coastal areas, with Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Beijing, and Shanghai being the highest. However, the average order value is higher in central and western regions. Although central and western regions contribute less than coastal areas, they spend more generously. (Editor's note: Is it really not because the western region does not have free shipping, and shipping costs account for a major part?)
- Analysis of Key Online Categories: Contribution, Growth Drivers, Consumption Characteristics Snacks have absolute volume advantage, rapid growth on a high base Imported snacks grew at an average annual rate of over 80% from 2012 to 2015, which can be broken down into three aspects: 1. Sales season pull; 2. Highlight category growth; 3. Key customer group driving.
Growth factor 1: Peak season stimulates sales, driving annual growth Food sales are strongly affected by seasons and holidays, often entering a low season after the New Year, moving into the peak season in September and October, and reaching a high point at the end of the year. (Industry exhibition announcement: The 2016 China Candy and Snack Exhibition (Ningbo) will be held at the Ningbo International Convention and Exhibition Center from September 2-4.) This includes market factors, such as nuts being very suitable as New Year goods, and supply chain factors, such as chocolate being prone to melting and not suitable for storage and transportation in summer. Online snacks are particularly seasonal, with the peak season boosting annual sales, and from the sales trend, the growth of imported snacks also mainly comes from the peak season. (Note: The seasonal index was calculated based on 2011-2015 online sales, excluding the impact of growth trends.)
Growth factor 2: Highlight categories grow rapidly, star products drive In 2015, among imported snacks, biscuits/puffed snacks and chocolate had the highest share, while pastries/snacks had the fastest growth; combining both, biscuits/puffed snacks and candies/jellies maintained high growth on a high base, making them highlight categories in 2015; nearly half of these products came from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and Japan, producing many star products.
Growth factor 3: Post-90s women become key customer group In terms of buyers, women account for more than two-thirds of imported snack purchases, and this proportion has been rising slightly year by year. Combined with age distribution, post-90s women are a highlight in recent years, with their purchasing power starting to grow in 2013, surpassing the original second-largest group of post-70s women aged 35-50 in 2014, and very likely to surpass post-80s women aged 29-35 in 2016, becoming the largest customer group for imported snacks.
In terms of average order value, the purchase amount per transaction for post-90s women has not increased significantly, but the number of purchases has increased rapidly, and in 2014 they became the group with the highest purchase frequency for online imported snacks. Two important factors: 1. Post-90s women are gradually developing the habit of buying snacks online, as they are more accustomed to online shopping; 2. Post-90s are good at sharing shopping experiences, and snacks involve a lot of trial purchases, so positive reviews easily become others' shopping impulses.
- Analysis of Imported Snack Best-sellers: Online Trends, Distribution, and Leading Consumption? Early best-seller: Gilim Honey Butter Almonds In recent years, imported food best-sellers have frequently emerged, with explosive growth and unpredictability attracting industry attention. We selected nearly 30 best-selling snack products from 2014-2015 for case studies. For example, Gilim Honey Butter Almonds from South Korea were the snack best-seller in 2015, highly recommended by many internet celebrities and foodies, and major snack online stores featured them as homepage main recommendations.
Looking at Gilim's online sales distribution over the past three years, 2015 accounted for over 99%, while it was not well-known before 2014. We define products with a similar trend to Gilim, which just exploded in 2015, as early-stage best-sellers.
Explosive best-seller: Shiroi Koibito Chocolate Shiroi Koibito chocolate from Hokkaido, Japan, has been famous in Japan for a long time and is one of Hokkaido's specialties, but it was only officially introduced to China in recent years. Shiroi Koibito chocolate showed impressive sales in 2014, especially sought after by some fashion circles and foodies, leading to supply shortages.
In 2015, Shiroi Koibito chocolate sales experienced explosive growth. We define products with a similar trend to Shiroi Koibito, which emerged before 2015 and accelerated in 2015, as explosive-stage best-sellers.
Mature best-seller: 7D Dried Mango 7D is a famous dried mango brand from the Philippines (deleted due to political sensitivity), selling well worldwide. It entered China early and is now common in both online stores and physical stores. (It seems many listings have been removed recently.)
7D Dried Mango has long been a mainstream product in imported snacks, with stable sales, and continues to grow with the overall development of online imported food. We define products with a similar trend to 7D, which have been popular for a long time and are currently in a stable growth period, as mature-stage best-sellers.
Best-seller snacks have a product life cycle After observing the sales trends of the selected best-selling snacks, we found that online best-selling snacks basically follow the product curve. Products first go through an initial cultivation stage, not fully discovered by the market; in the early stage, they are accepted by some sensitive groups, then quickly enter the explosive stage with exponential sales growth; after entering the mature stage, growth slows, but because of good quality and the expansion of online shopping, growth does not stop.
Female customers are the absolute main customer group for best-seller snacks The main buyers of best-selling snacks are women, especially in the initial and early stages. After entering the explosive and mature stages, the acceptance range widens, and the gender ratio difference narrows, indicating that women pay much more attention to snack trends than men.
Different age groups are the main customers at different stages of best-seller snacks From the age distribution of female buyers, the first batch of acceptors in the initial stage are mostly middle-aged women (29-50 years old), as they have broader external resources and more opportunities to come into contact with overseas products; when the product enters the early stage and becomes a "trendy item," the proportion of young women (19-22 years old) increases, as they pay more attention to fashion and have stronger trend-setting ability; when the product enters the explosive stage and is widely accepted by the market, the proportion of middle-aged women rises again due to their strong purchasing power, while young women who pursue trends are attracted to newer products; when the product enters the mature stage, age differences narrow, and customers begin to buy based on their own preferences.
First- and second-tier cities are the main buyers and more sensitive to best-sellers First- and second-tier cities are the absolute main buyers of best-selling foods, especially in the initial and explosive stages, as people in these cities are more sensitive to new things and have stronger purchasing power. Among them, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shandong, Fujian, Shanghai, and Beijing have the highest purchase ratios.
Best-seller index by province and city at each stage Big data creates a four-step process for best-selling foods Discover best-sellers: Invite middle-aged women in first- and second-tier cities who understand overseas products to recommend or try new products, with Beijing, Shanghai, and Shandong being the best regions. Target marketing: Spread brand image among young women in first- and second-tier cities, as they not only pursue new trends but also lead trends. Concentrated effort: Concentrate promotion in high-spending first- and second-tier cities, using the product's existing popularity to reach a wider audience, with Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Anhui as core regions. Maintain growth: Sink channels to second-tier and below cities, with Zhejiang as a hot spot, and marketing can be partially tilted towards male customers.
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