BEIJING - Wu Ying is determined to have a fancy Christmas in the southern city of Shenzhen this year, including a home-baked Christmas cake with ingredients imported from the United States. % L. q% k& \- T# Q4 C9 n5 Q
It has been a year since Wu graduated from Purdue University, so she plans to reinforce her memory about the "cheerful and romantic" time by baking a genuine American cake. ( S) S% D. Q. A
Wu, 25, is not the only person eager to pursue a Western lifestyle - or rather, food - in China. 6 j( _; F B# d6 e/ p; u
Ourtasty.com, the largest shopping website for imported food in China, has seen a 30 percent increase in orders since early December. * G6 B. `/ O% w
Grace Guo, chief operating officer with the Shanghai-based company, said Belgium chocolates and French wines are its top sellers over Christmas. ( ^ l" e" w% w O
The company is not only eyeing the booming Christmas market, but also the huge demand for imported food in China. 2 y o: S6 `# a9 ]8 s
"Imported food is getting more and more popular in China, with or without Christmas," she said. : F" w! t) m a! y
Guo said more young Chinese are willing to try exotic foods, as some have concerns about China's food safety record.
, l6 w- v, U x When the company began in December 2008, it could get only a dozen orders a day. "But the number of our daily orders has reached 1,000 and our daily turnover is about 250,000 yuan ($37,000)," Guo said. ( a/ c% E. a. ~$ D3 I# h+ }
The company sells about 3,000 kinds of imported foods, with 60 percent from the US. Compared with its European counterparts, food from the US can be relatively cheap. 6 A) Y9 x0 q6 I( B
Among its top sellers are nuts such as pistachio and sauces from the US, cookies and pasta from Europe and milk powder from New Zealand. 6 o5 f d7 C* n$ X) M5 w
"We plan to bring another 7,000 kinds of foreign food to the Chinese market. There is a lot of good stuff out there," Guo said, adding that her company's goal is to have a daily turnover of 600,000 yuan next year.
8 ?" W8 `, r1 w Lin Wei, founder of China's first imported wholesale food website, said he saw a two-fold growth every year in imported food sales since entering the industry in February 2007. 3 |$ U+ a8 y8 Z: m! S
"China's potential as a food-importing country is vast and it will continue to expand along with the rapid growth of China's middle class," Lin said. 0 K6 s0 t# a1 k# q. s3 k% D
"A 200g package of imported cookies can be priced at 40 yuan while domestic ones usually sell for less than 5 yuan. You can imagine the purchasing power I'm talking about." |