As the Chinese nut market becomes more and more promising, foreign investors have started to rush to the Chinese market.

Recently, the Australian Macadamia Society (AMS) released data showing that Australian nut exports to China have increased elevenfold over the past five years. The National Australia Bank research report predicts that China will become one of the largest import markets for quality nuts, which has also attracted Australia, South Africa and other countries to rush to the Chinese market.

In fact, in the 2017 Chinese New Year market, nuts have replaced candy as the number one New Year food. Jolyon Burnett (Burnett), CEO of the Australian Nut Association, said in an interview with the First Financial Reporter that the explosion of the Chinese nut market has caused several major nut-producing countries abroad to look to China, and the future development of the Chinese nut market is of great significance to the global nut industry.

The "strong" nuts

There is a saying in the nut industry that "the more recessionary the economy, the more snacks are needed to relieve the pressure". Indeed, with the global economic downturn in the past few years, the nut industry has held up.

During the 2017 food sales season, the Spring Festival, nut sales have "crushed" the traditional hot category of candy. In Ari's 2017 New Year's Eve data, traditional food items still account for the bulk of the New Year's Eve category. Among them, the largest proportion of consumption of snack nuts, sales accounted for 45% of the food items.

Several big nuts e-commerce also entered the fast track of development. Three Squirrels, Bacchus flavor and Liangpin store and other snack food e-commerce by nuts all the way, their average annual growth rate of online revenue were 177.48%, 82.09% and 216.23%. Among them, the three squirrels, which started with nuts, was established in 2012, only five years revenue has reached 4.4 billion yuan (2016), in April this year, three squirrels officially submitted a listing prospectus, intended to be listed on the GEM.

Bacchus flavor VP and CMO Wang Kang said to reporters that in 2015 Bacchus flavor nut sales 500 million, in 2016 Bacchus flavor nut sales exceeded 1.1 billion, an increase of 120%. And the ratio has been like this in recent years. The reason behind this is that with the promotion of consumption and the strengthening of health needs, high-end, healthy nuts are gradually accepted and loved by Fusi.

Weng Yang Yang, executive vice president of the Nut Association, said that in 2015, the national nut and fried food industry above-scale enterprise sales of about 120 billion yuan, an increase of 7.8%. Behind the explosion of the nut industry is the choice of leisure food consumers also showed a trend of health, candy chocolate and candied fruit two types of high sugar content of food fell significantly, while the proportion of biscuits and pastries and nuts fried relatively healthy categories rose, leisure food to a more healthy high-end direction of promotion.

Overseas nuts "rush" to China

The explosion of the Chinese nut market has also attracted overseas nut-producing countries.

According to information provided by the Australian Nut Association to Firstrade, between April 2012 and March 2017, the export volume of Australian nuts to China rose from 1,294 tons to 16,311 tons, an increase of 11.6 times. By the end of 2016, China accounted for 32% of the global export market for macadamia nuts, making it the largest importer of macadamia nuts in Asia and the world.

In addition to Australia, the United States also has high hopes for the Chinese market. At a recent nut fry show, U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai deputy consul of agricultural trade, Mr. K. M. Bai, said that the Chinese nut market demand is growing rapidly, and 15% of the U.S. nut export market share comes from China. "U.S. nut companies are placing great emphasis on expanding into the Chinese market. The number of associations and exporters participating in the show is also increasing year by year, such as this year's addition of dried cranberry products, and next year, we plan to bring Georgia's jacaranda." White said.

The Australian nut exports to China have also been growing steadily for four consecutive years, Bonnett told reporters, and this figure will continue to grow in 2017. In Bonnet's view, the continued development of the Chinese market is of great importance and positive significance to the Australian nut industry and the global nut industry. As Chinese consumers' demand for high-end health food continues to grow, overseas nut sales in China, such as Australia, are on the rise and the potential of the Chinese market is huge," said Bonnett. We will continue to cultivate the Chinese market and expand our products to third and fourth tier cities."

At present, Australia and South Africa are the main suppliers of macadamia nuts in the Chinese market. In order to better develop the Chinese market, Australia and other countries have even started to implement local planting strategies. Bonnett said, "We are vigorously promoting the cultivation of macadamia nuts in China, for example, in 2015, the Australian Nut Association signed a memorandum of understanding with the Yunnan Nut Association in China to promote the cultivation of macadamia fruit trees in Yunnan and to assist in the development of the industry."

In the face of the landing of overseas nut producers, local nut brands are not worried, a bit of local nut enterprises, said that overseas nut enterprises in China is mainly in the capacity of suppliers, they bring to China's products to complement the Chinese nut industry, enriching the categories, but also bring cash production technology and ideas, some products are more high-quality also meet the needs of Chinese consumers to upgrade, for overseas As for the entry of overseas nut enterprises, we are facing them with a win-win cooperation attitude rather than as a predator.

The development of China's nut market has indeed attracted a large number of domestic and foreign enterprises to enter the market, however, the executive vice president of the Nut Association Weng Yang Yang