How to Market Mexican F&B Brands to Chinese Consumers

November 25, 2019|Food & Beverage

Most Mexican companies are not successful in China. This article will explain to Mexican Businesses how to market a Food and beverage Brand to the Chinese Market.

Mexican Food in China

Mexican F&B is becoming very popular in China. Those days are the best to market Mexican food and beverage brands to Chinese consumers.

Liu Xiaoyi, the chief editor of a local food guide, said she believed Mexican food could take off in China because people are “willing to try new things. They are willing to listen to people telling them, ‘You have to look at it from a different angle to appreciate it, it’s not the same as a Chinese meal but it’s also delicious,’” she said after photographing her burrito.

All her friends tried enchiladas, adobo, arroz, frijoles, carnitas, machaca, various tacos, tortilla soup, and much more. And every single one of my Chinese friends loved it.

The other successful business story of a Chia seed producer Oswaldo Navarro, who decided to create a special product that can be marketed abroad. His rose brand Onavsa was marketed at the CIIE for the first time.
Within a few years, Oswaldo had to learn how to sell his product on e-commerce sites in order to gain popularity in the Chinese market. With many obstacles and difficulties, he had to go thru, this year, a total of 80 tons of his chia seeds have been sent to Shanghai. ” We already sent to China four containers of 20 tons each, to Shanghai, but in the medium to long term, we intend to send all our products to that country, which would be around 400 tons annually,” he said.

Mexican Beverages in China

There’s a tequila haven emerging across the globe, and it’s the most populous city in the world — Shanghai.

Mexican tequila distillers are looking to expand their exports in China, currently the alcohol’s second-largest market in the world where overall consumption has significant room to grow.

“The tequila market may not be very big in terms of the size of the Chinese population, but the Chinese population makes up a big percentage of the world,” said Tequila JG manager, Citlali Guizar, in an interview with Xinhua.

Tequila is an alcohol made from the agave plant that grows wild across Mexico’s western state of Jalisco and is currently enjoying a worldwide boom in popularity.

China is already the largest and fastest-growing market for alcohol of all kinds, but pure tequila was banned until June when Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a deal with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto that reconciled a decade-long tension between the two countries. They signed a deal on tequila, the latter of which opened up a promising new market.

According to data from the council, Chinese imports totaled 682,000 liters last year.

A Mexican company named Guizar is betting on the tequila boom continuing. If the company ships 18,000 bottles a week to China as hoped, it is brand –Tequila JG could triple its staff size from 50 to 150 employees.

Most Mexican firms agreed that their products may need an adjustment in their marketing after they have a better understanding of Chinese consumers

Of Washington, increasing trade barriers against its partners, many small- and medium-sized businesses in Mexico are aiming for better commercial cooperation with China, especially through events like the CIIE and e-commerce, where they can exhibit their products.

To sell your F&B products in China

you need to learn about Chinese consumers.
You have to understand their tastes/culture and adapt.
You also need to attach importance to your packaging
You have to get their trust.
Distribution in China is hard to enter
you need to think about e-commerce platforms
Then you have to get visibility in China

1 Learn and understand

It is a must to really understand this market and speak to experts to have a good approach.

2- Packaging

Having attractive packaging is the basis of your success in China.

3- Trust = eReputation in China

In China, all brands have to work on their eReputation… it is a must to succeed.

It can even destroy super powerful Brand like D&G source

How to have a good reputation in China?

Get positive Reviews from consumers
Work with Media to get a nice article
Work with Influencers to get testimonials

See our offer to get a good reputation, and ask for a quote

4- Distribution in China

It is hard to understand, and difficult to enter to big Supermarket without good Branding.
It is difficult to convince distributors and wholesalers without a Good Brand
It is very hard to sell to small distributors and resellers with a good brand

The key is to first work on your Brand and then, introduce yourself.

more discussion on Facebook

5. E-Commerce in China

Think e-Commerce to enter the Chinese market. It is usually a cost-effective way to sell your first thousand units.

source

6. Visibility = Brand Awareness

To increase your visibility, you have to invest in media, influencers, and an online Chinese big platform

Baidu Search engine
Social Media Weibo & WeChat
Vertical platform Dianping
Video Platforms: Douyin Kuaishou
influencers: KOL (key opinion leaders)

China is the land of huge opportunities for international F&B Brands. Food in China is a huge market, but why most International Food & Beverage Companies are not so successful? You can find it here, to prevent the mistakes you could make.

Distro

Distribute, sell & Promote Mexican Food in China, to sum up

The imported F&B market is a lucrative market full of opportunities for ambitious players. The Chinese market is totally different than the other market in the world. That’s why it’s so complicated for brands to develop their businesses in China. Devising the right digital marketing strategy for this market is, therefore, the key. Working with a local agency such as Gentlemen Marketing Agency can help you to avoid the traps of the Chinese market which are numerous. Our agency work with western food brands since 2012.

We help to export Food Brands to China, using the latest Marketing Strategies. We have a lot of imported food brand projects and our experts are here to help you develop your business in China. Send us a message to Receive our Case Studies.

we have a free Report about Step by Step Guide to Exporting in China