How to Sell Olive Oil in China ? Create A Strong Brand

China is considered as the main importer of olive oil in 2013. The Chinese market is expected to grow during the next forthcoming years. It has over 9.6 million square kilometers of land and over 1.3 billion people. Chinese people nowadays care much about their health. As a consequence, we can notice a significant increase of imported food for Chinese daily’s life.

Olive oil is favored because it is recognized for its great nutrition value.

250 Chinese Brands of Olive Oil and zero Western Sucessful Brand.

We can count approximately 250 brands of olive oil in the Chinese market.

This product comes from Greece, Spain , Turkey , Italy , Portugal and also sometimes from Australia and Argentina.

All these Brands are local… non of them are International Brands.

 

Characteristics of the market

According to statistics from 2015 to 2018, the average proportion of imported olive oil continued to by 30 % per year.

Chinese market knows a growth of 100% a year for olive oil market. The value of the market represents almost 4 million $. Olive oil starts to become a common product but few years ago it was seen as a luxury product.

China The Top Importer of Olive Oil in the World

China is buying record amounts of olive oil and stimulate global production according to China Xinhua

Chinese Market of olive oil increase by 17% during the first 7months of 2017 crop year, according to the World Olive Oil Exhibition (WOOE).

• Spain is a Top country : 32,100 tons of olive oil exported to China,  80% of China’s total imports.
• Italy  13 % of the total importation.
• Greece  2 % of Chinese imports, (high quality “virgin” or “extra-virgin” olive oil)

 

 

 

Consumption of olive oil in China

China has a semi-tropical climate. The country has some territories in which it is possible to cultivate olives.  Olive oil begins to be really appreciated by Chinese consumers. They really enjoy olive oil and have a  great knowledge about it. Actually fewer than 1 % of the population ignore how to use olive oil. They use this kind of oil to cook and to season salads or to fry aliments.

Olive oil is very good for health . It can be used in the kitchen but also in the bathroom to do some homemade skin care product. But for Chinese people it is often used in the kitchen but also for health purpose. They use it in order to prevent some diseases such as cholesterol, cancer or cardio vascular disease.

Olive oil can also serve as a gift which should represent some kind of respect for the person that receive the gift. Consequently, it might be a product of a very good quality and not a cheap one because it can be perceived as provocation. Most of the imported olive oil has a good presentation and beautiful package. We can notice a rise of selling during specific periods such as the Chinese new year. Olive oil industry according to statistics will continue to grow.

Chinese Consumers Buy Brands , not raw Material

This trend is confirmed by the fact that Chinese people start to feel conscious about the necessity to have good eating habits. As a matter of fact, they try to improve their living standard. So we have an increasing number of Chinese people who appreciate and buy olive oil. They are willing to pay a higher price in order to have good products.

Solutions to Adopt in China : Develop a Brand

In order to communicate about your olive oil products , the best strategy remains a solid plan on branding and marketing . Because the competition is very fierce you need to make the difference. You can make people buy your product by doing promotion or lead them to your website which need to be very well-designed website.

Sell via ECommerce in China

One easier way to sell your product is to get throughout an e-commerce platform.

You can sell your products throughout big distributors such as Tmall or JD.

 

Social media

Weibo

Today, the internet is the first place in which people get information and especially thanks to social networks.  They like to share information, make comments, etc. Most of Chinese people have a Weibo accounts. We can also notice that many companies create an official account especially food companies.

Wechat

The first use of we chat is chatting, but there are many other options that can serve your business. Frits you have the possibility to create an official account that allows you to make post and discuss with your followers.  This is a good way to create connection. It permits to create leads generation thanks to a good content. We can help you with a good strategy to reach the highest number of users. You need to work hard on your content because people may have a reason to follow you. You also can put ads on this app in some mini programs such as games.

Strong Branding

Having a good image is crucial if you want to succeed in this field. Indeed, olive oil maker is numerous such as international brands : Sol Dela Mancha, Colavita, Oro Tikalo, Hojiblanca. These brands have  already a significant share in the market  with different strategies.

Brand = Symbol of Quality

Like we said earlier, olive oil is a product of good quality . So you need to reflect in your communication this mindset. As a foreign brand, you can easily be considered as a premium brand that proposes a product of good qualities.

Work on Your Reputation

The website needs to be well designed because it belong to your reputation. The links you can use throughout advertisements that led to your site must lead to a good website, increase Awareness and get credibility …

 

GMA thanks to its expertise can help you to realise your project  For more information , please go to the contact section , our consultant in F&B will contact you back.