Andy's CIIE 2020 vlog #3: Eating the import expo out of house and home
Everyone loves to eat and drink, but it’s not often you get to go on a whirlwind taste-tour of the seven seas in just a couple of hours. That’s exactly what I did at the third China International Import Expo on Saturday.
The joy of CIIE’s three food halls is that most of the goods on offer – from beef to bread, milk to mutton, and ice-cream to interesting snacks you don’t recognize – is there for you to try, free of charge. That means it’s best to head there on an empty stomach – you may as well make the most of it!
I started off my tour close to home, kind of, by popping in at the stall for Thelands milk, all the way from New Zealand. I did notice that the milk was much richer and creamier than I remember, but general product manager Roy can den Hurk told me that the fat and protein of his brand is actually much higher than back home. Chinese customers love it that way.
“The natural grasses we have back in New Zealand just enhances the flavor of our milk,” he told me. “They actually get better New Zealand milk here than we drink at home I think!”
Next up I headed to Moulins Bourgeois, a French baked goods company selling traditional French bread using French flour and baking methods. “Our traditional bread is really popular here in China,” one of their staff told me before giving me a piece to try.
You can also buy their branded French flour in dozens of variations depending on your needs. “Professional bakers prefer having a choice.” Wow, it’s more complicated than I thought!
I then sailed across to Thailand to try some low-sugar snacks, including a new variation of dried mango with only a quarter of the sugar of the normal kind. And it tastes just as good. “This is great if you want to watch your health but still want to eat sweets,” the girls behind the counter told me. So I ate some more.
By the end of my taste-tour I was feeling a little bloated, and probably definitely looked like a bit of a glutton, but it was all in the name of research. This year’s offerings of food and drink from around the globe are top-notch, and you’ll definitely have loads of opportunities to taste them all for yourself soon. Next time you’re in the supermarket imported foods area and find something new, it probably came through here.
See you all tomorrow.