Analysis of the Organic Food Market in China After the Covid-19 Pandemic, Opportunities and Threats for Italian Companies

Abstract

Since the occurrence of several food safety incidents, Chinese consumers have been extremely careful about the food they purchase, creating a new health-food trend that is particularly emerging as the income of the young middle-upper class continues to rise. This trend has been accelerated by the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, which additionally emphasized the relation between food and health. These factors and a more environmental consciousness of the Chinese population have led to an increase in the consumption of organic products in China. The current study attempted to explore the state of the organic industry after the Covid-19 outbreak, first focusing on its impact worldwide, and then on the Chinese market and its consumers, investigating the drivers of the organic purchase intentions. Lastly, the study analyzed the role of Italian companies and of Made in Italy products on the Chinese market. Data were collected through analyses conducted by Nomisma for the ITA.BIO platform, in collaboration with ICE-ITA and Federbio, and through interviews with Italian companies exporting organic products to China. The results showed that, although the huge dimension, the Chinese organic market is still considered a niche, which means it has enormous development potential. Chinese consumers are mainly driven by safety and health motives, purchasing primarily baby food and dairy products. This represents a huge opportunity for Italian products whose origin plays a significant role as an assurance of quality, although the market still presents several factors of complexity that push many companies to give up exporting to China.