Companies eager to cook up new ventures

Italian food producers are keen to work with more companies in China and are willing to share the secrets of their unique cuisine and preparation methods.

That was the message at the Italy-China Agriculture and Food Cooperation Forum in Milan on June 9, which brought together representatives from 300 businesses in the hope of finding potential partners.

"China is going through agricultural industrialization, taking on many new processes. We can greatly contribute toward this," says Carblo Lambro, president of New Holland, an agriculture machinery company. "For example, our planting and seeding machines can help Chinese farmers improve efficiency."

New Holland, headquartered in Turin, established a representative office in China in 1979, and a decade later opened the first technology partnership with a Chinese company to produce agricultural machinery. Last year, its sales in China were worth $1.98 million.

The company's main manufacturing plant is in Harbin, in northeast Heilongjiang province, covering 400,000 square meters, while it also has another two smaller plants.

Many other Chinese and Italian companies have already forged partnerships, such as Bright Food, which last year bought a majority stake in Italian olive oil maker Salov.

Dairy company Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group developed its PerfectLands milk in partnership with Italian company Sterilgarda, now a popular brand with Chinese shoppers. Both the British Retail Consortium and German Trade Association have certified PerfectLands products, showing they are in line with global quality standards.

Zhang Jianqiu, CEO of Yili, said his company is internationally minded and aims to utilize the best resources from around the world, evidenced by the fact it has opened research and development centers with many overseas universities, including the Netherlands' Wageningen University and Lincoln University in New Zealand.

While some companies have already gained international recognition, small and medium-sized food and agricultural companies in China are looking to Italy for advanced technology and food imports, while those in Italy are looking for ways to access the China market.

Gran Brianza, an Italian producer of processed meats, has finally gained a license to export to China after eight years of trying.

Export sales manager Giovanni Vismara says the company is one of only four Italian companies with the license, as exporting processed meat to China is still new, so it took a long time for the governments of China and Italy to establish guidelines.

"Over the eight years we have invested heavily in the application process, both time and resources, but we know it is worth the effort because China is potentially a huge market for us," he says.

Exporting raw meat to China is also difficult, according to Marzia Pe, whose family owns Co.Be.Ca, a meat processing company based in southern Italy. Her team has been working with the Italian government to understand the procedures for some time.

"At the moment the regulations do not allow us to export to China, but we see China as an important market, so we want to understand how we can overcome the barriers of exporting," she says.

Despite difficulties, industry insiders say there is a high demand for Italian food products in China.

Chinese government data show Italy's agri-food exports to China grew 38 percent in 2013; with animal products exports increasing 156 percent; and exports of fats, vegetables and animal oils growing 46 percent.

Maurizio Zhou, European purchasing manager for Shanghai Sunline Industrial Corp, buys pasta, wine and cheese from Italian suppliers for Sunline to sell in China under its own brand.

He says Italian food products are popular because Chinese shoppers recognize their safety and quality.

All production and packaging is done in Italy, he says, so Chinese consumers can be assured of safety. "In Italy, every stage of the production chain is monitored by industry regulators, so safety can be ensured at every stage and the end product is safe."

(China Daily European Weekly 06/12/2015 page14)