China's Evolving Culinary Taste to Drive US Exports

Sophisticated food demands of newly affluent consumers in China and other developing nations are likely to ramp up demand for U.S. exports, according to a U.S. Grains Council study.

“Growing affluence in China could change people’s diets and the global food system,” said Thomas C. Dorr, the council’s president and CEO. “Consumers will expect more choice, quality, convenience and safety.”

Dorr offered a preview of Food 2040, a study of emerging food trends in Asia, at the Agriculture Department’s annual Agricultural Outlook forum in Washington. The report forecast that by 2040, 70 percent of consumer food expenditures in Japan will go toward foods prepared outside the home, and that China is likely to follow a similar trend.

“Growth in Asia’s middle classes is a key driver of Asia’s future markets, especially in China, India, Indonesia and the developing countries,” the report said.

Food exports contributed to a 6 percent increase in total U.S. containerized exports last year. Exports in 2011 hit a record 11.9 million 20-foot-equivalent units, according to PIERS.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, exports of refrigerated meat jumped 36 percent to 57,717 TEUs. Poultry exports increased 28 percent to 51,134 TEUs.

Contact Joseph Bonney at jbonney@joc.com.