Products Launched
Nestle's 10th FSMP and Wyeth's 1st FSMP were approved by SAMR. As of Nov. 12, 2019, 40 foods for special medical purposes have been registered of which 27 are overseas products.
China's domestic dairy company Junlebao (based in Hebei province) will target the fresh milk market with its new product line called Yuexianhuo.
Orion Group (South Korea) announced that it has reached an agreement with Luckin Coffee, and both parties have officially signed a trade contract for Jeju lava water (drinking water), Gaoxiaomei (biscuit) and other products. It means foods produced by Orion will be available in Luckin's online and offline stores in China's domestic market. The two plan to launch a Jeju lava water promotion at Luckin's national chain stores in the first half of 2020.
On Nov. 11th, Master Kong launched Turkey noodles (instant food), which is designed to provide consumers with an excellently spicy taste experience. However, many consumers argue that the packaging of this Master Kong's product obviously 'copies' that of South Korea's Samyang Turkey noodles.
Industry Focus
The 2nd China International Import Expo (CIIE) just concluded on Nov. 10 in Shanghai. CIIE 2019 attracted over 3000 exhibitors from more than 150 countries/regions. The contracts inked over the course of this year's CIIE totalled to some 713 billion US dollar, increasing 23% compared to 2018.
Double 11 Shopping Festival has once again exceeded all expectations, smashing last year's gross sales figures registering a scarcely believable gross sales figure of 410.1 billion RMB ($58 billion) in 2019, up 29% YOY compared to 2018. Tmall by Alibaba Group still dominated, but its market share was eroded by 2% while PDD (Pinduoduo) & Suning took up the slack and continued to grow.
According to a financial report released by 6 listed wine companies, their net profit in China's market in the third quarter all showed a significant decline. The revenue growth rate was lower than the same period last year. In general, both large multinationals and regional enterprises in China, were affected by a decline in sales and a slowdown in revenue growth in Q3 2019.
Company Dynamics
Nov. 8th, snack food manufacturer Oishi submitted its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, finally making its decision to go public after 26 years of trials and tribulations operating in China's snack food market.
On Nov. 13th, 2019, Feihe Limited, successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, recording an initial value that would make its shares the most valuable of all China's listed dairy companies.
The opening ceremony of Nestle's Gerber Puff Factory was held in Harbin, Heilongjiang province. Yan Kebin, Nestle's senior vice president for Greater China outlined Nestle's plans to make puree products for the Chinese market.
Fonterra Group (New Zealand) entered into several important ventures with Chinese companies which were sealed during the company's second trip to CIIE. The value of the contracts Fonterra signed during CIIE were 18.22 billion RMB (approx. $2.6 billion US dollars).
During CIIE, Fonterra’s consumer brands department signed an updated cooperation agreement with JD group and a 3-year strategic cooperation agreement with Alibaba.
Fonterra's NZMP raw materials department also signed purchase orders with Goldmax, New Hope Group and Zhejiang Commercial and Industrial Ltd. Co. which together translate to a value of over 1.12 billion RMB (approx. $160 million US dollars)
Regulatory Compliance
Since Nov. 2017, SAMR has made 3 different requests for tenders to conduct research on 70 health food active ingredients as the government seeks to expand the Directory of Health Food Raw Materials and ultimately increase the number of products subjects to filing.
Nov. 6th, 2019, China's SAMR publicized the List of Auxiliary Materials for Health Food Filing and Terms of Use (2019 edition). 17 new ingredients have been added to the list of auxiliary materials permitted in health foods. New standards for ingredients used as both foods and pharmaceutical drugs have also been released.
On Nov. 7th, 2019, Taiwan FDA announced the amendment to "Regulations on Nutrition Labeling for Prepackaged Vitamin and Mineral Tablets and Capsules", which applies to tablets and capsule food products containing vitamin and minerals as nutrient supplements.
Nov. 12th, China CNCA published new Organic Food Certification List and Rules, adding provisions on the certification of imported organic products.
On Nov. 12th, 2019, China SAMR promulgated “Health Food Naming Guidelines 2019”, which applies to all health food subject to registration or filing in China.
On Nov. 21st, 2019, China SAMR opened the draft version of “Food Labeling Supervision Administrative Measures” to public feedback. This regulation applies to the labelling of all the food manufactured and sold in China.
Disclaimer: All images used in this article are from the Internet.
