China's demand for New Zealand dairy products has been strong over the last few months as its bakeries, pizza chains, and other food retailers stocked up for the country’s biggest festival of the year.
Global dairy commodity prices have climbed nearly five percent since October last year. Demand for foodservice ingredients has been strong over this period leading into the Chinese New Year.
Justin Dai, Fonterra’s Vice President for Foodservice Greater China, said the Chinese New Year has typically boosted New Zealand dairy exports. The Co-op’s foodservice sales in China have been expected to continue to grow rapidly.
“Every year, our Foodservice products like UHT cream and mozzarella cheese are used in millions of cakes and pizzas during the Chinese New Year festival,” said Dai.
“Chinese New Year is all about family gatherings and celebrating with loved ones. Chinese consumers love shopping and dining during this time, which is great for our Foodservice channel.”
Typical usage applications for Fonterra’s dairy have been dishes themed explicitly for the new year. Dai said that Chinese consumers loved red-theme food this time of year, as the colour has been associated with prosperity and good luck.
In addition to traditional dishes, there was a growing preference for dairy products and Western-style food. Applications like strawberry cream cake, for instance, have become more popular.
The growth in demand has also been driven by restaurants developing new dishes and tasty treats for the new year.
“Producing festive menus for Chinese New Year is a big part of the foodservice industry in China. Every year new dishes and other food products are specifically created for the new year period. For example, pistachio-crusted pizzas or salty-flavoured milk tea with cream topping using our cream cheese are on our customers’ festive menu this year.”
Some of these applications were developed at Fonterra’s six application centres in China. The Co-op has supplied over 500 cities in China, each with unique cuisines, trends and preferences.
“Our team of chefs at these application centres work closely with customers to co-create applications that cater to the local taste, which is crucial for our Foodservice growth in China.”
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