Companies cash in on the trend for Western cooking

Liu Nan plans to quit her job as a secretary at a public institution in the Jiangsu provincial capital of Nanjing and open a bakery business later this year.

The 35-year-old mother and budding entrepreneur has taken cooking courses, and has spent 70,000 yuan ($11,290) to deck out a professional kitchen with a state-of-the-art oven and mixer.

She will also use only imported ingredients from established local retailers.