China: Many Barriers To Health Food Land Of Milk And Honey

Health food marketers may think of China as a sort of “promised land” of sales opportunities, if a Chinese food industry five-year plan is to be believed. By 2019, health food sales in the country are expected to reach $48 billion, for several reasons: a growing overall obesity rate (up 67 percent between 2002 and 2012), a doubling of the obesity rate for children and adolescents, severe vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and mounting high blood pressure and cancer rates. Though Chinese consumers want high-quality foreign health foods, it’s still a daunting procedure for multinationals to get their products to market. It can take two to three years, and up to $15,800, to get one health food product registered under China’s blue hat system. The new Food Safety Law, now in effective, adds other hurdles.

"Chinese New Regulation for Health Food Products", Natural Products Insider, October 20, 2015

Alibaba Sets New Sales Record On 2015 Singles' Day

Online retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. reported sales jumped 54 percent to $14.3 billion during the 2015 Singles’ Day, compared with sales recorded in the previous year. This highlights the resilience of consumer spending in China despite the current economic slowdown, the company said. It took just half a day for sales generated to overtake the previous year’s 24-hour total sales of $9.3 billion, the company also said.

"Alibaba Smashes Singles’ Day Record; Sales Hit $14.3 Billion", Wall Street Journal, November 11, 2015

Procter & Gamble Retains Crown As China's Most Popular Brand For Urban Households, Survey Shows

In China, there were 21 fast moving consumer goods companies reaching more than 100 million urban households during the year ending October 9, 2015, according to Kantar Worldpanel. Data from the market research firm revealed Procter & Gamble was able to keep its lead among all FMCG companies, reaching 153 million urban families, or 95.5 percent, during the past 12 months. China-based dairy companies Yili and Mengniu took the next two spots with 88.5 percent and 88.2 percent of urban households, respectively. In contrast, only 15 companies reached more than 100 million urban households in the country in 2012. Although P&G and Unilever kept their lead in the personal care and household care segments, Liby and Nice Group posted impressive gains of 5.4 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively, during the period.

"Who Are Winning More Chinese Consumers in 2015?", Kantar Worldpanel, November 25, 2015

Shiseido, Unicharm Join Other Japanese Personal Care Firms To Sell Online In China

Shiseido and Unicharm joined a group of Japanese personal care products companies that agreed to collaborate with each other and with online retailer Askul to sell products in China via the Alibaba Group online market. Under the collaboration deal, the companies will jointly develop toiletries and cosmetics for the China market and share sales data. Also, they may offer package deals combining products from different makers and brands based on what consumers buy together. Askul will sell the products on Alibaba’s Tmall Global site for foreign companies.

"Japanese toiletry makers team up to sell on Alibaba site", Nikkei, November 06, 2015