---
title: "China's Imported Food Market May Reach 480 Billion Yuan in 2018, What Trends Are Emerging?"
description: "As China's globalization strategy advances, imported foods are flooding the consumer market, presenting huge opportunities. This article reviews key trends in the imported food market for 2016, including category composition, industry status, online advantages, consumer profiles, and hot product analysis."
author: "New Distribution"
publisher: "New Distribution"
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published: "2016-11-15"
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# China's Imported Food Market May Reach 480 Billion Yuan in 2018, What Trends Are Emerging?

> As China's globalization strategy advances, imported foods are flooding the consumer market, presenting huge opportunities. This article reviews key trends in the imported food market for 2016, including category composition, industry status, online advantages, consumer profiles, and hot product analysis.

With the further implementation of China's globalization strategy, imported foods have surged into the Chinese consumer market like bamboo shoots after rain, creating enormous business opportunities. Today, let's take a look at the major trends in imported foods for 2016.

1. Main Categories of Imported Foods: Snacks, Dairy, Nutrition & Health, Beverages, etc.
Imported foods mainly consist of six categories: snacks, dairy products, beverages, nutrition & health products, kitchen foods, and tea & instant drinks.

2. Industry Status and Online Advantages
Rapid Growth and Rising Import Scale
Since 2010, food import value has accelerated, driven by rising per capita disposable income and growing demand for imported goods. According to the American Food Industry Association, China will become the largest imported food consumer by 2018, with a market size of 480 billion yuan.

Changing 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 FTA and China-Australia FTA took effect on December 20, 2015, further opening the market.
Economic Factors: RMB exchange rate fluctuations and depreciation increase import costs; cross-border e-commerce tax reform, replacing parcel tax with VAT and consumption tax, impacts imported food prices.
Social Factors: Consumers are more receptive to imported foods, with post-80s, post-90s, and post-00s becoming the main consumer groups.
Technological Factors: E-commerce expands distribution channels, making prices more transparent and squeezing margins for distributors and retailers.

Online Advantages: E-commerce is a key channel for imported foods.
First, it simplifies the supply chain and reduces intermediate costs. Second, it facilitates channel expansion to areas not covered by traditional high-end supermarkets, removing time and space constraints. Third, mobile shopping is more convenient, with cross-border and overseas shopping as unique highlights.

3. Online Imported Food Market: Current Status, Consumers, and Preferences
Rapid Growth and Rising Penetration
Online imported food transactions are growing rapidly, and the penetration rate of imported foods is also rising, indicating that consumers are increasingly considering imported options.

Snacks Most Popular, Dairy Highest Import Ratio
Among online imported foods, snacks account for nearly 40%, followed by kitchen foods and nutrition & health products. Dairy and beverages have lower absolute sales but the highest import ratios, meaning consumers are most likely to choose imported options for these categories.

Source Countries: 112 out of 193 countries are represented on Tmall and Taobao. Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, and Australia are the most popular and fastest-growing sources, with a trend toward concentration.

Southeast Asia and Japan/Korea Lead in Snacks
Their snacks are widely popular; Japan/Korea excel in snacks, while Southeast Asia is strong in kitchen foods. Specifically, coffee and biscuits/puffed snacks from Southeast Asia, and biscuits/puffed snacks from Japan/Korea are top sellers.

Branding and Concentration: Dairy Highest
Imported foods are moving from a chaotic market to a branded one. Consumers are more knowledgeable and trust big brands, allowing quality products to stand out. Dairy has the highest brand concentration due to safety concerns, while snacks have lower concentration due to more brands and faster taste changes, but also more opportunities.

Channel Concentration: Tmall International Growing
Consumers prefer Tmall for its stronger platform, and Tmall International is gaining popularity for its unique overseas products since its launch in 2014.

Main Consumers: Young and Middle-Aged in First- and Second-Tier Cities
Compared to overall online food sales, imported foods are more popular among young and middle-aged consumers in first- and second-tier cities.

Potential in Third- and Fourth-Tier Cities and Mobile
Although first- and second-tier cities account for higher sales, third- and fourth-tier cities are growing faster online due to limited offline channels. Mobile penetration is rising, making mobile users in these cities a key target.

Young Prefer Snacks, Middle-Aged Vary
Young consumers, regardless of city tier, prefer snacks. Middle-aged consumers focus on health: those in first- and second-tier cities buy more imported dairy, while those in third- and fourth-tier cities buy more nutrition supplements.

Coastal Concentration, Inland Big Spenders
Imported food consumption is concentrated in eastern coastal areas, with Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Beijing, and Shanghai leading. However, per-order spending is higher in central and western regions, indicating more generous spending despite lower overall contribution. (Editor's note: Could it be because western regions don't get free shipping?)

4. Key Online Categories: Contribution, Growth Drivers, and Consumption Characteristics
Snacks: Absolute Advantage, Rapid Growth
Imported snack sales grew at an average annual rate of over 80% from 2012 to 2015, driven by: 1. Seasonal peaks; 2. Highlight categories; 3. Key consumer groups.

Growth Driver 1: Seasonal Peaks
Food sales are highly seasonal, with a low after Chinese New Year and a peak in September-October, culminating at year-end. (Industry announcement: 2016 China Candy and Snacks Expo (Ningbo) will be held September 2-4 at Ningbo International Convention Center.) This includes market factors (e.g., nuts as New Year gifts) and supply chain factors (e.g., chocolate melts in summer). Online snack sales are particularly seasonal, with peaks driving annual growth.

Growth Driver 2: Highlight Categories and Star Products
In 2015, biscuits/puffed snacks and chocolate had the highest shares, while pastries/snacks grew fastest. Biscuits/puffed snacks and candies/jellies maintained high growth from a high base, making them highlight categories. Nearly half of these products came from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Japan, generating many star products.

Growth Driver 3: Post-90s Women as Key Consumers
Women account for over two-thirds of imported snack purchases, with a slight annual increase. Post-90s women are a recent highlight: their purchasing power began growing in 2013, surpassed post-70s women (35-50) in 2014, and may surpass post-80s women (29-35) in 2016 to become the largest group. Their per-order spending hasn't increased much, but purchase frequency has risen rapidly, making them the highest-frequency buyers since 2014. Two reasons: they are accustomed to online shopping, and they share shopping experiences, driving impulse purchases.

5. Analysis of Hot Imported Snacks: Online Trends, Distribution, and Consumer Influence
Early-Stage Hot Product: Gilim Honey Butter Almonds
Recent years have seen frequent hot imported snacks, with explosive growth and unpredictability. We studied nearly 30 hot snacks from 2014-2015. For example, Gilim Honey Butter Almonds from South Korea were a 2015 hit, widely recommended by influencers and foodies, and featured prominently in online stores.

Gilim's online sales show over 99% occurred in 2015, with little awareness before 2014. We classify products with similar trajectories as early-stage hot products.

Growth-Stage Hot Product: Shiroi Koibito Chocolate
From Hokkaido, Japan, this chocolate has long been famous in Japan and a Hokkaido specialty, but was only formally introduced to China recently. It showed strong sales in 2014, especially among fashion circles and foodies, leading to supply shortages.

In 2015, sales exploded. We classify products with similar trajectories as growth-stage hot products.

Mature-Stage Hot Product: 7D Dried Mango
7D is a famous dried mango brand from the Philippines, popular worldwide. It entered China early and is now common in both online and physical stores. (Though recently delisted in some places.)

7D has been a stable mainstream product, growing with the overall online imported food market. We classify products with similar trajectories as mature-stage hot products.

Hot Snacks Follow a Product Lifecycle
Observing sales trends, online hot snacks generally follow a product curve: initial cultivation, early adoption by sensitive groups, explosive growth, then slower growth in maturity, but continued growth due to quality and expanding online shopping.

Women Are the Absolute Main Consumer Group
Women are the primary buyers of hot snacks, especially in early stages. As products mature, the gender gap narrows, indicating women are more attuned to snack trends.

Different Age Groups at Different Stages
In the initial stage, middle-aged women (29-50) are the first adopters due to broader external resources and more exposure to overseas products. In the early stage, young women (19-22) increase their share as trendsetters. In the explosive stage, middle-aged women's share rises again due to purchasing power, while young women move to newer products. In maturity, age differences narrow as purchases become preference-based.

First- and Second-Tier Cities Are Main Buyers and More Sensitive
They are the absolute main buyers, especially in early and explosive stages, due to sensitivity to new things and higher purchasing power. Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shandong, Fujian, Shanghai, and Beijing have the highest purchase ratios.

Hot Product Index by Province and Stage
Big Data Reveals Four Steps to Create a Hot Snack
Discover: Invite middle-aged women in first- and second-tier cities who know overseas products to recommend or try new items; Beijing, Shanghai, and Shandong are best.
Target Marketing: Spread brand image among young women in first- and second-tier cities; they pursue trends and lead fashion.
Concentrate Efforts: Build momentum in high-spending first- and second-tier cities, leveraging existing popularity to reach broader audiences; Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Anhui are core regions.
Sustain Growth: Expand to second-tier and below cities, with Zhejiang as a hotspot; marketing can partially target male customers.

> Data source: CBNData


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