2024 food and beverage trends in China

Chinese consumers love their food. Most will tell you that they share the same passion for gastronomy as the Italians, French and Japanese. They take great pride in their diverse range of regional cuisines, each with its unique flavours, ingredients and cooking techniques. Similarly, food has long been a significant contributor into where Chinese decide to take overseas trips.

Chinese cuisine has a history spanning thousands of years, with many traditional recipes and culinary techniques having been passed down through generations. That historic significance is increasingly merging with contemporary China’s quest for novel and adventurous, forging a dynamic and fascinating food and beverage category.

That is why of all the tradeshows we visit in China, food & beverage-focused SIAL is one of the most interesting. Exhibitors showcase thousands of products localised for Chinese consumers.

The value of imported food into China has grown at 12.3% a year on average over the last decade, making China the world’s largest importer of food. This has been a driver for the vast array of foreign food vendors on display at SIAL. Together with domestic brands, they hope to tap into Chinese consumers’ passion and intrinsic drivers for purchasing foodstuffs.

Much like we did for Chinese beauty and skincare trends at the China Beauty Expo last month, China Skinny explored every exhibition hall at SIAL to identify the latest trends in the Chinese food and beverage category. 

Chinese consumers’ busy lives and craving for convenience has seen snacking playing an increasingly important part in their daily regimes. As a result, snacking featured prominently in two of the six big trends that we identified at the exhibition.

With young Chinese consumers increasingly struggling with life’s pressures and psychological challenges, many are seeking some escapism with the products and services that they consume. Similarly, growing awareness of mental health and emotional regulation has opened up new opportunities for brands to provide emotional comfort.

Many of the snack innovations we saw were straight out of Willy Wonka’s playbook. T'Chao from the Sugar Dynasty, has introduced an ice cream bubble gum to provide a soothing sensory distraction from life’s pressures. The gum’s multiple textures include light milk, sour bubbles, and colourful sweet ice cream.

If T’Chao’s textures aren’t tickling your senses, perhaps AMOS’ musical lollipops will. The lollipops from China’s tech-hub Shenzhen, use bone conduction technology to add music as another sensory experience when sucking on a lollipop.

Like seemingly every category in China these days, ‘IP collaborations’ are increasingly visible and innovative as brands tap into well-known characters to drive nostalgia, fun or even parent-child bonding. One example is the Xinqitian’s 3D peel-off gummies, where parents can play “guess what’s inside” with their kids, peeling away the candy’s outer layer to reveal co-branded gummies.

There are plenty more examples of snack innovation in our white paper 6 China Food Trends 2024. For those concerned that ice-cream tasting gum or musical lollipops will only fuel China’s growing obesity rates, there are many examples from trends pointing to more healthy eating and natural herbal ingredients in the whitepaper.

See firsthand examples of food and beverage innovations and positioning that tap into contemporary Chinese consumers’ emotional and functional needs in our whitepaper, which can be downloaded here. Or contact us so we can help you determine how best to tap into Chinese consumer trends and preferences to ensure your products are as relevant or resonant to your target audiences in China.

On the subject of trends, for our UK-based readers, China Skinny’s Andrew Atkinson will be sharing the latest trends in China’s retail sector at CBBC’s Consumer Masterclass - Navigating the Chinese Market: Strategies for Success on 25 June. In addition to trends and consumer preferences, he will be providing practical advice on how best to tap them. Click here for more information and to sign up.