butter

China’s consumer market for butter continues to grow, especially with the rise in the consumer catering trade. Retail sales remain strong, and there is increasing demand for a wider variety of products. This has been helped by a growing consumer interest in cooking a wider variety of new styles of cuisine, which is being fuelled by magazines articles and TV cookery programs. Manufacturing capacity in China is strong, and continues to be reorganised to serve the market better, with better distribution and marketing. Government involvement in the running of the butter industry is being gradually removed, replaced by market-led commercial enterprises, such as COFCO, which are responsible to their shareholders, and thus sustaining their profit margin, rather than meeting government quotas. The rationalisation of the processing industry, along market lines, is leading to better economies of scale in the butter industry, as larger groups come to dominate the industry, while non-performing companies are pushed out of the market. However, over capacity in the processing industry means there is a greater reliance on imports. But, greater future imports of butter will mean significant new opportunities for foreign companies to enter the market.