biscuits

Biscuit consumption in China has soared in recent years, on the back of changing consumer lifestyles and a general growth in disposable incomes, according to a report published by Leatherhead Food International (LFI). The nation's biscuit sales have increased by 20.1 per cent in the past five years, making China the third largest market for the product after the US and India. This surge in sales is part of a general market boom that has led to an increase in demand for a variety of products, partly brought on by looser governmental controls on foreign investment and imports and exports, as well as growing levels of employment. Around 85-90 per cent of food and drink consumed in the country is currently produced locally, according to the report, although this figure is rapidly declining along with an increase in international trade. International food giants are prominent in China's biscuit market. Nabisco, which set up a Chinese holding company in 1995, is market leader, with a 24 per cent share. French company Danone started producing biscuits in Shanghai in 1994 and holds 15 per cent of the market, and United Biscuits, which entered China in 1989, now holds 14 per cent of the market.