World meat industry news

At the exhibition in Hong Kong, in just one day, Agroexport organized over 160 closed b2b meetings between Russian and Hong Kong companies.

Hong Kong is one of the key economic centers of the Asia-Pacific region and a promising market for Russian food.

Hong Kong's food retail industry is projected to reach US$17 billion by 2027, with HoReCa sales expected to reach US$23 billion.

These data were presented by the head of the Federal Center “Agroexport” Dmitry Krasnov on October 12 at the round table “Effective distribution channels for food and beverages in Hong Kong” as part of the business mission of Russian companies exporting agricultural products to Hong Kong. The mission was organized by Agroexport and the Russian Ministry of Agriculture.

According to Agroexport, promising categories for supplies to the Hong Kong market are meat, fish and seafood, dairy products, and soft drinks.

Hong Kong has one of the highest levels of meat consumption among countries in the region. Currently, in developing cooperation with Hong Kong, Russia primarily focuses on meat products, the export of which is actively developing. During the period 2018–2022, Russian meat supplies to foreign markets increased almost 3.5 times in value terms and in 2022 reached $1.4 billion. At the same time, mainland China is the key buyer of domestic meat.

Ample opportunities exist to increase the supply of Russian fish products to Hong Kong. “Russia is the number one supplier of frozen fish in the world. Among the key Asian buyers of domestic fish and seafood are China, the Republic of Korea, and Japan. Taking into account the large volumes of imports from Hong Kong, we expect that our companies will be able to find reliable partners here too,” Krasnov added.

Also, the potential for the development of bilateral trade in the beverage category has not yet been realized in many ways. As Roman Medvedev, head of the export committee of the Union of Juice, Water and Beverage Manufacturers, said, Hong Kong's annual imports in this segment reach $1 billion. At the same time, unlike many other countries, the leading category in imports, with a share of about 65%, are sugar-free drinks, which indicates a trend such as health care. “Russian manufacturers already have significant experience in supplying drinks to China. It is important to understand what to pay attention to so that this category is adequately represented in the Hong Kong market,” Medvedev emphasized.

During the discussion, many representatives of Hong Kong business noted that they already have experience of successful cooperation with Russian suppliers and are ready to expand cooperation.

“Hong Kong is home to 8 million people, a small but concentrated market where consumers are constantly trying new things from around the world. At the same time, Hong Kong is a large advertising platform for mainland China, Macau and other regions of Southeast Asia,” noted Max Te, president of the China-Hong Kong Association of International Business.

Among the categories that are especially in demand at the moment, he singled out beef, including premium quality. In addition, Hong Kong is interested in purchasing processed meat products due to the insufficient development of its own processing infrastructure and expensive labor.

According to the head of the department of foreign economic activity of the Agropromkomplektatsiya Group of Companies Stanislav Stolper, the company has been exporting pork to Hong Kong for more than three years, but until now it has worked through intermediaries. “The business mission provided an opportunity to meet our Hong Kong clients directly, which will help strengthen relationships and increase volumes. In addition, we want to find options for the supply of semi-finished meat products and finished products. We have extensive experience in creating new products, including those tailored to the requests of foreign partners, and we are ready to study the tastes and recipes of the local market,” he assured.

The EkoNiva Group is interested in supplying finished dairy products to the Hong Kong market, including UHT milk, cream, and butter. “We are aimed at promoting and increasing awareness of our own brand in foreign markets, primarily due to its natural composition and taste. We plan to involve marketing agencies and opinion leaders in our work,” noted Alexandra Averyanova, export director of the EkoNiva-Products Pitania company.

The meeting was also attended by other leading Russian exporting companies, such as Miratorg, Damate, Cherkizovo, Efko, Molvest, Target Agro, Sinyavinskaya Poultry Farm, Abrau-Durso, "Baltika", Agropolis "Saburovo", "Russian Fishery Company" and others.

The mission took place in Hong Kong from October 11 to 13. In addition to participating in the business program for three days, Russian exporters held individual negotiations with representatives Hong Kong business leaders and discussed in detail the terms of delivery, requirements for packaging and composition, financial, logistics and marketing issues. During October 12 alone, Agroexport organized more than 160 closed b2b meetings between Russian and Hong Kong companies.