Firm pins hopes on premium soy sauce
By Emily Ford |
May 29, 2012, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AN Anglo-Chinese food company based in Shandong Province is pinning its hopes on premium grade soy sauce as it bids to capitalize on woes over food safety among China's middle classes.
China Food Co, a condiments maker listed on the London Stock Exchange, is staking its future on demand for Xaka, a naturally brewed soy sauce aimed at discerning Chinese consumers.
Rattled by repeated food scares and seeing increasing levels of disposable income, middle-class consumers are seeking international branded goods which they regard as safer.
China Food, which was founded in 1994, hopes that its British edge and adherence to Western quality standards will lead it to succeed in an already saturated market.
"The Chinese invented soy sauce but the Japanese perfected it. It's definitely a growing market - people want something more natural and healthy, they want brands they can trust," Chief Executive Rafael Tham Wai Mun explained.
Yesterday, China Food reported sales rose 12.1 percent to 40.2 million pounds (US$63.1 million) last year, with sales of soy sauce, including its better-known mass market brand Hao Tai Tai, soaring by 28.7 percent.
However, the company made an after-tax loss of 700,000 pounds, which it blamed on a 4.4-million-pound marketing drive to promote the new soy sauce.
China Food Co, a condiments maker listed on the London Stock Exchange, is staking its future on demand for Xaka, a naturally brewed soy sauce aimed at discerning Chinese consumers.
Rattled by repeated food scares and seeing increasing levels of disposable income, middle-class consumers are seeking international branded goods which they regard as safer.
China Food, which was founded in 1994, hopes that its British edge and adherence to Western quality standards will lead it to succeed in an already saturated market.
"The Chinese invented soy sauce but the Japanese perfected it. It's definitely a growing market - people want something more natural and healthy, they want brands they can trust," Chief Executive Rafael Tham Wai Mun explained.
Yesterday, China Food reported sales rose 12.1 percent to 40.2 million pounds (US$63.1 million) last year, with sales of soy sauce, including its better-known mass market brand Hao Tai Tai, soaring by 28.7 percent.
However, the company made an after-tax loss of 700,000 pounds, which it blamed on a 4.4-million-pound marketing drive to promote the new soy sauce.
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