Research was conducted by Canadean to identify 15 attractive cities in China for red meat (beef, lamb, goat) export. Cities were assessed using criteria in the areas of market demographics, consumer preferences and market compliance ability, with data drawn from primary and secondary data sources.
A new project was initiated, to review the project findings, extract data from these databases relevant to beef export (rather than red meat in general) and synthesise the information to address the question of where and how to expand sales of beef into China, for both retail and food service sectors.
The project focused on four regions containing seven cities, which were identified as the most promising growth markets for Australian beef exporters. The regions analysed were:
• Beijing;
• Shanghai;
• Chengdu; and Chongqing which were combined into a single region for analysis referred to as the Western Region
• Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Xiamen, which were combined into a single region for analysis referred to as the Southern Region.
In response to the question of where Australian beef producers should expand beef sales in China, this projected has concluded that Shanghai should be a priority location for further consideration.
The reasons for this were:
• Shanghai is likely to have one of the largest total addressable markets of Australian beef consumers.
• Shanghai has the strongest projected growth in beef sales to 2020
• Shanghai performs better than other locations on most supply chain indicators.