Denmark’s food processing firm Danish Crown is planning to setup a processing and retail product facility in Shanghai, China as part of its 2021 strategy.
The company plans to invest about DKK300m ($43.9m) for the plant, which will be established in Shanghai.
Danish Crown said the sale of meat to Chinese consumers continues to a large extent to be from so-called wetmarkets where the pig is sold cut into large pieces, allowing the consumer to see and touch.
China’s consumer pattern is however rapidly changing.
Much of pork purchase now comes from fast food joints and restaurants, very similar to that that of Europe and US. Also, the buying patterns of people in China have changed. People are now visiting groceries and buying packaged food products.
Apart from this, there is also a large increase in buying groceries through e-commerce, which are being delivered home. This is particularly true in cities such as Shanghai, where in the near future it can transform into one of the largest and most advanced e-commerce markets in the world.
Danish Crown CEO Jais Valeur noted that the consumption pattern in China has now changed from what it used to be a few years back. Now, the characteristics of Chinese consumers and European consumers are almost similar.
In the present times, Chinese do not have the time to stay longer at home and prepare food from scratch. This is one of the major reasons why people are looking for products with high quality, convenience and thus, animal raising is increasing.
The CEO continues that this is where Denmark and Danish Crown can come and fill the gap. He says that the company needs to tap into this potential and try to get closer not only to customers but also move up the value chain.
