INNOVATION OF TASTE, HEALTH AND SAFETY ARE THE KEYS TO THE CHINESE MARKET
Due to chinese huge market potential, many major overseas food brands enter the Chinese market one after another for competition. Therefore, a large number of unexpected "foreign" flavors have also shocked the imagination of Chinese consumers about snacks, such as sea salt and vinegar flavor potato chips, honey butter almonds and other unforgettable tastes.
The competition of diversified tastes undoubtedly brings more and more pressure to food manufacturers in product research and development. How to take the innovation of taste as a breakthrough without sacrificing the taste of original products? This requires food brands to spend more time on development, as well as consumer research. Many products have become hit snacks because of their novel tastes. Irvins salted egg potato chips from Singapore, for example, are a perfect combination of potato and salted egg flavors, whose rich and unique taste makes it unforgettable for people who have eaten it; and the 18 forbidden curry potato chips from Japan went viral on social media platforms for their fiery taste.
In addition to the development of new flavors, food brands are adjusting their products based on the tastes of Chinese consumers, which is also a trend that cannot be ignored. Due to the differences in food culture, many foreign food manufacturers find that Chinese consumers do not like their products when they enter the Chinese market. With the in-depth study of Chinese consumers’ taste, they begin to focus on the tastes that Chinese consumers like. A survey by Mintel shows that many international retailers are adding "Spicy flavors" to their products because of rising interest among Chinese consumers in Sichuan's spicy products. Snickers, for example, has made the spicy peanut filled chocolates. Oreo has launched the spicy chicken wing flavor, and M & M's has subverted the Chinese imagination about the taste of chocolate with the spicy peanut chocolate bean.
In addition to being obsessed with novel flavors, the health and nutritional attributes of snack products are also gaining increasing attention. According to the survey, 53% of Chinese consumers think the nutritional value and taste ofDue to chinese huge market potential, many major overseas food brands enter the Chinese market one after another for competition. Therefore, a large number of unexpected "foreign" flavors have also shocked the imagination of Chinese consumers about snacks, such as sea salt and vinegar flavor potato chips, honey butter almonds and other unforgettable tastes. The competition of diversified tastes undoubtedly brings more and more pressure to food manufacturers in product research and development. How to take the innovation of taste as a breakthrough without sacrificing the taste of original products? This requires food brands to spend more time on development, as well as consumer research. Many products have become hit snacks because of their novel tastes. Irvins salted egg potato chips from Singapore, for example, are a perfect combination of potato and salted egg flavors, whose rich and unique taste makes it unforgettable for people who have eaten it; and the 18 forbidden curry potato chips from Japan went viral on social media platforms for their fiery taste.
In addition to the development of new flavors, food brands are adjusting their products based on the tastes of Chinese consumers, which is also a trend that cannot be ignored. Due to the differences in food culture, many foreign food manufacturers find that Chinese consumers do not like their products when they enter the Chinese market. With the in-depth study of Chinese consumers’ taste, they begin to focus on the tastes that Chinese consumers like. A survey by Mintel shows that many international retailers are adding "Spicy flavors" to their products because of rising interest among Chinese consumers in Sichuan's spicy products. Snickers, for example, has made the spicy peanut filled chocolates. Oreo has launched the spicy chicken wing flavor, and M & M's has subverted the Chinese imagination about the taste of chocolate with the spicy peanut chocolate bean. In addition to being obsessed with novel flavors, the health and nutritional attributes of snack products are also gaining increasing attention. According to the survey, 53% of Chinese consumers think the nutritional value and taste of snacks are equally important. 63% of Chinese consumers choose fresh fruits and vegetables as snacks, 42% choose dairy products and 40% choose nuts and seeds as snacks. It can be seen that the current consumers have taken health and nutrition into consideration in the choice of snacks, thus many imported snacks with health feature have become more and more popular. At present, the entire imported snack market in China is also changing to produce natural, nutritional and healthy products. Large international food brands are positioning themselves in the healthy snack market with a range of healthy snacks. For example, Unilever acquired Graze, the healthy snack brand; Nestlé launched its high-end cereal wafer biscuits; Hershey’s launched Chocolate Paradise chocolate and nut mixed snack packs, etc. In addition to taste and health, there are also growing expectations about the quality and safety of imported snacks. Since the logistics and storage conditions of imported food are more complex than those of domestic food, imported snack manufacturers need to verify the quality and safety of products more strictly. In addition to improving the production standards of their own products, more and more imported food brands are also starting to work on packaging to improve the credibility of their products. For example, many imported snacks are labeled with QR codes, which allow consumers to scan them for detailed information about the products and verify their authenticity; and adding product traceability codes allows consumers to monitor product information at any time.
Industry experts believe that China’s snack industry will enter the new era of competition that meets the all-round demand of consumers for material consumption and spiritual pleasure. The main trends of snack consumption are healthy, safe and high-quality, and consumers are more concerned about taste and quality than about the price. Continuous innovation in catering to consumer tastes, health and high quality standards will be the next opportunity of imported snack market in the future.
Source: www.food2china.com
