Importing Food From China

In recent years the amount of imported products from China has increased dramatically and one area of imports that is also seeing huge growth is with imported food. With a growing population, the US and retailers are looking for places to source food at an affordable price. China is known for its low-cost suppliers, but there are concerns with safety standards and quality control. When it comes to the selling of food that you import from China to US, it is really important you know all the standards and regulations and that you stick to them.

Changes in the last decade

The US is importing billions of dollars worth of food when in 1995 that was only around 800 million. In 2008 FDA opened its first Chinese office and there has been a lot of focus on public safety concerns and developing better food safety regulations specifically with Chinese imports. While it has seen growth what comes from China still just accounts for 1% of the US food supply. Certain things come from there that are successfully retailed in the US. Three of the top food imports are seafood, specifically shrimp and catfish, fruit juices (specifically apple juice) and vegetable preparations (specifically garlic).

The top three food products that retailers are importing from China to US

A closer look at those three top products.

1. Seafood – shrimp and catfish. The top product is seafood and out of that, the highest demand products are shrimp products and catfish. China is actually the largest exporter of seafood to the US. More than 2 billion dollars of seafood comes from China to the US.
2. Fruit, juices and fruit preparations – apple juice. The next category of foods is fruits, different preparations of fruit and fruit juices, with specifically apple juice being the leader. Over 50% of the apple juice in the US comes from China. While it makes some of its own, the US cannot keep up with demand so there is a need to import it.
3. Vegetables and vegetable preparations – garlic. While you can import from China to USA all kinds of vegetables, top of them is garlic. Garlic is in super high demand in the US, as it is also used so much in other products, condiments and flavorings.

Other common Chinese foods imported to the USA

Ranked from most popular to least here are some other food products US retailers import from China to the US.

1. Beverages like soda and processed coffee
2. Food grains and feed
3. Confectionery and bakery items
4. Spices, preparations and tea
5. Nuts and nut preparations
6. Poultry and meat products
7. Food additives and non-agricultural foods

Summary

There are a lot of great business opportunities when it comes to importing from China to US and that is not just in plastic toys or electronics. If you are a retail business and you sell food, there are some great deals you can find in China to buy products at very low prices to sell on at excellent profits. The important thing is to make sure everything is safe and to US food standards.