Chinese Food Retailers: Literature Analysis - Dissertation Example

? Chinese Food Retailers: Literature Review A look into Chinese food retail industry ‘Food Retailing in Asia’ d June 2009 by Ridely for Victoria Government Department of Primary Industries provides a vivid picture of the present day Chinese food retail market. Presently, China has an economy which is the third largest after USA and Japan. However, the surprising fact is that the retail food industry is still highly fragmented and dominated by small, independent, traditional family stores (3). The picture becomes clearer when one reads the ‘China’s Retail and consumer industry research report’ dated May 2011 from My Decker Capital. According to the report, though international brands have established successful retail outlets in major cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Beijing, the nation’s inland still remains untouched. In fact, one can see various forms of retail outlets in the Chinese market. They are supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores, and the traditional market which include wet markets, variety stores, and fruit stands. Out of them, the supermarket sector is entirely dominated by state-owned retailers, and they rarely sell imported food because they do not purchase products directly from an importer (“China’s Retail and consumer industry research report” 5). Here, it becomes evident that China is not a nation well-suited to foreign food retailers. According to Gale, there are various reasons; first of all, agricultural food products account for only 4% of China’s total imports, and most of the time, China exports more agricultural products than it imports (para. 3). However, as China liberalizes and as China enters the WTO, Gale identifies a better opportunity for foreign retailers as imports are rolled back. First of all, China has liberalized its economy, and import licensing requirements are eliminated (para. 8). The result of all these changes is a rise in the presence of foreign retailers and imported products in China. As there is a considerable rise in the income of people and as there is rising tourism in major cities, the demand for imported, frozen and processed food started rising. Admittedly, this change is also linked to ‘the rise of a new generation’ which is educated, working and busy; and the joining of women in the labor force too is a reason behind this trend (Gilmour and Gale 14). According to Gilmour and Gale, though the traditional stores and supermarkets with little import are mainly government-owned or local, there is the new format called hypermarkets which are dominated by the international sellers like Wal-Mart (15). They offer a variety of products and services at low prices and make products popular among the customers. Then, there are convenience stores which are aimed at the busy people or urban areas. Such stores too present imported products. As one reaches the inland china, there are the ‘traditional wet shops’ which offer fresh vegetables and meat, variety stores which offer a variety of products, and fruit stands which stock a few varieties of fruits without refrigeration(Gilmour and Gale15). It is followed by the study by Bin, Ni and Peng which provides an even better idea about the food culture of the Chinese. The scholars, quoting the IGD report, point out that between 2000 and 2005 the growth rate of food industry in China was 18.4%. So, it is calculated that China will be the world’s second largest food retail market after USA (ii). Admittedly, the writers notice a considerable change in the food habit of Chinese people as their income increases. It is pointed out that the Chinese people who are traditionally interested in fresh, healthy food are now getting more and more interested in frozen, processed food. However, this trend is only seen in cities, though the trend has gradually seeped into third tier cities also (6). Similarly, Gilmour and Gale point out that the Chinese food sector has matured considerably. The new world consumers, according to them, look for convenience and quality; and as a result, a new food retail sector has taken birth with supermarket chains and branded items (14). One can notice a sea change in Chinese retail sector. At this juncture, it becomes necessary to look into the work by Stanton, Emms and Sia that reports some food items which show significant import. The first one is soy beans and soy foods. Between 2007 and 2017, this is expected to rise between 5% and 10%. As per the information, in the year 2005, nearly 70% of the total soy bean consumption was imported. Similarly, there is soy sauce which will show a growth of 0% to 4% in the period. However, as of now, just 0.67% of the soy sauce is imported. It is seen that there is a considerable increase in the consumption of soy products in china as the income of people grows. However, the same trend is not visible in the case of soy sauce, which grows very slowly (Stanton, Emms and Sia, 72). Similarly, there is chocolate, 7% of which is imported. However, it will be a difficult task to improve its consumption in china because traditionally, Chinese people possess the belief that chocolate can unbalance human constitution. So, Chinese consumption of chocolate is highly unlikely to grow fast as there are cultural challenges, fads, and price issues to overcome (Stanton, Emms and Sia 73). The Chinese food retail sector changes since 1950s According to Gilmour and Gale, before 1970s, the entire procurement, and distribution of all agricultural commodities was in the hands of the government. As a result, the entire system was poorly maintained with less hygiene. However, the 1970s reform allowed privatization of the food retail sector, and hence, small food stores, kiosks, and restaurants sprang up showing an annual growth of nearly 15% (17). Thus, soon, the China food retail industry got flooded with small individual entrepreneurs, state-run companies and foreign investment ventures. There were various changes in the Chinese food retail sector during 1990s. A large number of supermarket chains opened in china. Some of the domestic giants in supermarket sector are Lianhua, Hualian, Nong-gang-Shang. (Gilmour and Gale 17). According to Gilmour and Gale, it was difficult for the international brands to compete with the domestic ones. The first reason is that the Chinese consumers are highly price-sensitive. As a result, the price margins are too thin for a large firm to run on profit. In addition, there are issues like unjustifiable discrimination. For example, bureaucracy often supports the local retailers with ‘soft’ loans and subsidized property rents as they are expected to offer job opportunities to local people. In addition, they had better relations with the local distributors (Gilmour and Gale 16). In more recent times, the supermarkets were upgraded to hypermarkets by foreign retailers in an effort to face the tough competition. These hypermarkets succeeded in attracting Chinese people against the predictions. In fact, the Chinese people are highly price-sensitive and they do not shop for large quantities. Still these hypermarkets managed to succeed because they offered not only low price, but also convenience and comfort. According to Gilmour and Gale, the food hypermarkets managed to offer lower prices because they had efficient supply chain management (15). Another significant change noticeable in Chinese food retail, according to GAIN Report dated 11 September 2007, is the growth in the number of convenience food stores. These convenience food stores are specializing in small purchase items like drinks, packaged foods, snacks, and ready-to-eat foods. Following the style of hypermarkets, the convenience stores too have their own distribution system and warehouses (GAIN Report, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service 22). However, according to the GAIN Report, the problem is that China is generally hostile to imported items. For example, in hypermarkets where imported items are substantially present, the percentage of imported items is less than 5% of the stock. The percentage is much less in other retail outlets. This is so because the local governments always encourage local procurement in order to protect local producers and manufacturers. Also, it becomes difficult for the foreign operators to engage in active procurement from the Chinese producers because of the complex system of distribution (GAIN Report 34). The work by Goldman, Krider, Ramaswami points out why the traditional food retailers have a competitive advantage in China. It is pointed out that only the traditional retailers and wet shops manage to meet the consumers’ shopping and consumption culture. In other words, it is their ability to meet the customer demands that enable traditional retailers to retain their superiority (5). However, one can see a considerable change in the nature of the farming sector in china. As there is considerable rise in demand, farmers are preparing to specialise in a particular commodity and retailers have started establishing direct link with the producers. Such new links are even stronger and long term. The formers have started commercialising operations which grow produce on contract basis for retailers. As Gilmour and Gale point out, this trend will be useful for the foreign retailers as the Chinese government is liberalising the activities of the foreign investors (15). The problem with the food distribution system According to Gale, the food distribution system in China is highly inefficient with many layers of distributors between the producer and the retailers. The hypermarkets reduced this distance and confusion by taking things directly from manufacturers. In addition, they introduced modern store management techniques and wider distribution networks (Gale, “China at a glance..” 5). Hypermarkets are able to reduce prices to meet the expectations of the Chinese people by charging suppliers who want to display their products in the advanced hypermarket stores. Thus, one gains the insight that to succeed in Chinese food retail sector, it is necessary to improve ones food distribution too. As the success of hypermarkets became obvious, even the domestic players started improving their customer service and distribution system. Also, domestic chains too have started converting themselves into hypermarkets with better supply chain management, wider variety of products and more fresh produce (Gilmour and Gale, “Transportation and Distribution..” 25). According to Stanton, Emms and Sia, there are various problems associated with the Chinese distribution, warehousing, and logistics companies. First of all, there are very few independent modern logistics and distribution companies in china. As a result, nearly 30% to 50% of shipments are likely to face damaged or poor quality products, delayed or missed deliveries, unexpected increase in supply costs, extended lead times, and supply capability constraints (96). The scholars point out that this happens because of the complex distribution system in China. Most local products firstly reach in-house distributors, major retailers or localised wholesalers. From there, the products reach large retailers with centralised distribution centers, and retailers with large outlets. Thereafter, the product reaches retailers with small outlets and individual outlets in supermarket chains. Thus, one gains the insight that in China, the local products are not distributed in a cost-effective manner, especially when they require widespread distribution because most of the suppliers are regional players (Gilmour and Gale 26). The various forces influencing Chinese food retail market As the problematic nature of Chinese food retail industry has become evident, it is necessary to see which are the various factors influencing the retail market. Stanton, Emms and Sia point out a number of factors as responsible for the volatile nature of the Chinese food retail industry. The factors are ‘distribution channel strategies, consumer demands, economic performance, politics and political evolution, economic development policy, regulatory environment, business strategy, local raw material supply, and imported raw material supply’ (Stanton, Emms and Sia 98). In fact, the Chinese food retail industry claims a growth which is enviable. According to repots, china will become a larger economy than the US by the year 2015. However, the international companies which operate in china claim that they do not experience the same trend in their business, and in fact, they prefer to call China ‘problematic’ as they witness loss year after year. Also, the scholars reveal that many retailers are forced to run discount shops in china because of the less spending power Chinese people and the generally weak demand for foreign items in Chinese cities (Gale, “China’s Statistics”). As of now, according to reports, the demand for imported processed food and drinks is less than even 1 million and in the case of locally produced higher processed branded items, the demand is between 20 million and 50 million people (qtd. Chung, para. 15). ‘The Case for China Retail: Issues and Opportunities’ dated March 2012 by Chin and Chow reports another issue of serious concern. That is, many companies face issues from their local partners. This either makes it necessary to look for another partner or makes it necessary to give up the Chinese operations altogether; a difficult task in either case (24). Yet another issue the writers point out is the intellectual property thefts with the active aid of authorities. In addition, there are price manipulations of raw products, issues in getting access to raw materials, to mention but a few (“Foreign Companies and Foreign Investment in China”). In the opinion of Stanton, Emms and Sia, the major influencing factors in the Chinese food retail industry are political power, Chinese stock market fluctuations, the influence of state-owned enterprises, central policy, state policy, the demands of both rural and urban areas, inflation, internal factors like retail price and the cost of production, domestic demand, trade disputes, and commodity prices. From the long list presented, it becomes evident that long term planning in China is a highly unlikely proposition (Stanton, Emms and Sia 112). Success story of a few foreign companies in China Unilever has been in China since 1986. The company has three divisions in China: home products, foods, and ice creams. First of all, as Frank pints out, the company has its global procurement management office in China and more surprisingly, 90% of its management team is Chinese citizens. Another feature of the company is that in China, it does not link its long term strategies with short term strategies. That means, the company takes the volatile nature of Chinese economy into consideration. In order to achieve this aim, the company has developed two management teams in China; one looks into the long term brand development and the other looks into promoting brands for profit in the immediate future (Frank, “Unilever China-Outpacing the market” 10-15). In addition, it becomes evident that the company has a streamlined distribution system that functions in a single channel. Thirdly, the company claims that its strategy of expansion is to expand slowly because fast expansion results in loss of control over existing brands and unnecessarily higher operating costs. Thirdly, the company manages to introduce such aggressive advertisements and promotional campaigns which take the Chinese culture well into consideration (Frank, Unilever China-Outpacing the market 13). Very similar is the case of Wrigley which deals with chewing gum. For example taking good notice of the Chinese culture, one of its advertisements read ‘give your face some exercise’, and the produce became an instant hit. In addition, the company prices its products at a rate which is considered as affordable to Chinas middle and upper income groups. Moreover, the company offers higher profit margins to its distributors and the retailers, which help create a product pull (“Wrigley chews through China.” para. 4). In order to understand the importance of price in Chinese market, one has to look into the history of Kikkoman, a soy sauce manufacturer with operations in European Union, America and China. The company produces the best soy sauce in China, but its products are sold at a rate five to six times higher than that of the local soy sauce makers. As a result, its products are purchased only by the upper class of the Chinese society. So, the company has adopted the strategy of focusing on the single demographic groups at present. As the income of people further goes up, the company believes situation will improve in the long term. So, the company too believes in expanding its presence in China at a slower pace. Points to be taken care of while launching a product in China The work of Suk Ching Ho makes clear that before launching a product or opening a retail store, one should check through detailed consumer research whether there are any cultural challenges with this product. A perfect example is the chocolate which is considered a health hazard by the Chinese mainstream. Another important point is the affinity of the Chinese towards food items which are fresh. So, it becomes necessary for food retailers to ensure that the consumers are offered fresh meat and poultry (92). Fortunately, there is a growing demand for frozen and processed foods in major cities in China. So, one expect more prosperous sales in the future. However, there is the active role of the state-owned enterprises in spoiling the market with fake and poor quality products. In fact, most people in china prefer to give attention to price, not to quality. As far as the mentality of the people remain unchanged, it becomes necessary for companies to find ways to offer competent prices without any compromise on quality. Thus, it is a major challenge to access the consumers and make them understand how ones products are better than the state-produced ones. Finally and most importantly, there is the price-sensitivity. That means if the product is not priced according to the Chinese expectations, a company will not be able to develop in China at present (Hsu, Chern, and Gale, 10). A look into the strategies suggested by experts to enter China Now, it is time to see the ways suggested by experts to enter the Chinese food retail industry. According to the Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report named ‘China, People’s Republic of Retail Food Sector’, the total retail sale in China grew 12.1% between 2005 and 2006. Also, the scholars note that though this rise can be attributed to the rise in the disposable income of people, such a great change is visible only in city areas; not in rural areas. One reason behind this, according to the report, is that the retail distribution has not developed to match the number and quality of the retail outlets (GAIN Report 15). That means the nation does not have nationwide truck networks, highways and warehouses with cold storage. Secondly, most of the retailers commit the mistake of spreading nationwide, resulting in a number of isolated stores spread here and there. As there is not enough volume of stores, they are unable to have a single dedicated network. Another important point that forces retailers to depend on the local distributors is the relationships and influence they have. Local distributors often have a wide network of business and governmental contacts. The study points out that though supermarkets are giving way to hypermarkets, the number of supermarkets also grows. (GAIN Report 16). According to Gale, supermarkets still possess the potential to grow because the Chinese shoppers are still not used to purchasing in bulk. In other words, Chinese shoppers are comfortable purchasing in small quantity on a regular basis. Firstly, they have the tendency to look for fresh produces. Secondly, they have fewer cars to take things home. Thirdly, they have less storage capacity at home. Thus, the Chinese people are likely to have smaller shopping trips on a daily basis instead of weekly or monthly shopping, at least for a considerable period of time ahead (Gale, “Regions in China”). It is pointed out by scholars that one reason behind the failure of supermarkets is that they fail to introduce enough fresh and quality produce as the customers expect. As a result, one can see successful wet shops outside many supermarkets. So, it is noted in the report that many supermarkets have decided to change their layout altogether. They want to create an ‘open market’ atmosphere like wet shops with more fresh vegetables and meat and less nonfood items (Ho 92). However, the obstacle at this stage is the need to develop local connections to procure things on a daily basis from local manufacturers. At present, supermarkets in China are highly hostile to imported products and ahead, they are planning to go more local by focusing on fresh and locally produced items. As already seen, the main category of people the supermarkets serve is the middle-market daily shoppers. Unfortunately, they are the most price-sensitive section of the society. On the other hand, the city dwellers that depend on hypermarkets and convenience stores are not as price-sensitive as the middle-layer. Survival in the Chinese food retail sector-using Porter’s competition model According to Porter’s description of the five forces of competition, it is possible for companies to raise their profitability by selecting such activities with less degree of competition. However, as seen in the above review, the retailers want to survive in the highly competitive Chinese food retail sector. So, one has to think about adopting one of the three generic strategies as presented by Porter. 20. (Danny Miller, Relating Porter’s business strategies to environment and structure: analysis and performance implications, p. 294) Admittedly, the local retailers and wet shops survive because what they adopt is the cost leadership strategy. According to the cost leadership strategy, a company must adopt all sources of cost advantage, which can be varied according to the nature of the industry. The strategy may include securing raw materials at competitive prices, introducing better and more efficient technologies, improving manufacturing practices, and so on. As already seen, the local retailers like the wet shops are able to utilise their local connections to secure raw products at a lower cost. However, when it comes to the foreign retailers, the picture is entirely different. For example, they find it difficult to compete with the local retailers in the case of price because already the profit margin is too thin to run on profit. However, by streamlining distribution, it is possible to cut costs. This has been successfully practiced by the hypermarkets, and hence, are successful. However, problem arises when a foreign company tries to reach the inland China. Such areas are almost entirely in the hands of the local retailers, and wet shops are the most favorable form of retailing. There, people are highly price-sensitive and profit margins are already too thin for companies with quality products to survive. The government-owned companies in China produce low-cost low-quality products and the people tend to think only about price. So, it is unwise to adopt the cost leadership strategy to compete with them. So, it seems a wise proposition to adopt differentiation strategy to beat the low-cost ones. Differentiation strategy means to introduce such unique products with such characteristics which are highly valued by the customers. The benefit of this tendency is that such uniqueness can get a higher price (Hill 404). In fact, the wet shops and the traditional family businesses in China survive because they are able to offer the most valuable characteristics for the Chinese people; freshness and an open air atmosphere for shopping. So, it becomes necessary for the supermarkets and hypermarkets to alter their layout and find sufficient space for introducing fresh meat and vegetables in an open atmosphere similar to the wet shops. Similarly in Shanghai and Beijing, it is possible for hypermarkets and supermarkets to offer high quality products which will attract the high-end consumers. As already discussed, the foreign retailers in China are finding it extremely difficult to penetrate into the inland areas because of the hostile attitude of the population. In such a situation, the best strategy is the focus strategy as suggested by Porter. As White points out, the focus strategy focuses entirely on small segments and niches in the industry. Admittedly, it is not possible for such firms to engage in cost focus strategy because they can never offer such prize-advantages as offered by the local poor-quality products. So, the way out for foreign retailers in China is to adopt differentiation focus strategy. In this strategy, the firms can try to differentiate their products and services to meet the needs of niche customers and small target segments. The benefit of this strategy is that the firms will be able to charge reasonably for the products, and as the target segment grows, so will be the business of the retailers. Considering the current political, economic, and cultural situation in Chinese inland, it is difficult for the foreign retailers to procure enough raw products from local producers, and offer fresh meat and vegetables to the consumers at a rate they would like. So, as Fuller Tuan, and Wailes opine, it is wise to allow the local players to win those areas with their cost leadership strategy. On the other hand, the foreign retailers can depend on differentiation focus strategy. Using this strategy, they can address the demands of the city dwellers that are educated and less price-sensitive. Also, as noticed in the review, there is a rise in the demand for frozen and processed food among the busy working people of cities like Beijing (17). At present, it is wise for the foreign retailers to keep their business to the city areas, and as the trend grows along with the increase in the income of people, the retailers too can open new outlets. In other words, it becomes evident that differentiation focus strategy is the only way for foreign retailers in China to succeed. Also, they can offer all the expected features of ‘freshness, quality, openness, and low price’ by adopting the hypermarket structure (Willett). A closer look into the work by Ho will prove that this is the best option available for the foreign retailers. The scholar writes about the changes in the food retail sector visible in Hong Kong over half a century. It is reported that the hypermarkets in Hong Kong started mushrooming during 1970s, posing a serious threat to the traditional food stores (93). According to the scholar, this change was considerably linked to the changing household buying pattern of the city people. In other words, as more and more women started joining the labor force, there was a corresponding decline in shopping and cooking time. Thus, canned food, frozen meat and all other prepackaged food items were gaining momentum (93). This rise in the number and profitability of supermarkets threatened the traditional food stores in city areas. However, the biggest threat to the supermarkets arose in 1990s. During 1990s, world’s second largest retailer the French Carrefour decided to enter Hong Kong in the form of a hypermarket which offers one stop solution to all the shopping needs. The hypermarket was an integration of the supermarket, fresh food, electrical appliances, and household products in a single hyper store. By 1990s, surveys revealed that in cities like Hong Kong, people preferred convenience and quick service to lower prices. That meant a shift from traditional shops to the hypermarket culture as foreign retailers would like. Also, one can see an attempt from the part of retailers like Chain A to combine differentiation and cost at the same time. For example, Chain A introduced ‘superstores’ in Hong Kong. These superstores were a combination of both modern and tradition. For example, there is fresh food section which has the ambience of a traditional wet market. On the other side, there is modern self service supermarket. Thus, what took birth was a ‘supermarket-cum-wet market retail format’ (Pertusa-Orteg, 3). Works Cited Bin, Ying, Ni, Xia & Peng, Du. “Chinese food industry and market report.” Chinese Food Safety Status. (2006): 1-182. Web 27 June 2012. Braeken, Frank. “Outpacing the market.” Unliver China. (2007): 1-19. Web. 27 June 2012. Chung, Kit. “Hong Kong food market trends.” Department of Primary Industries. (2012). Web. 27 June 2012. 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