Exploring the Value of 2nd and 3rd Tier Cities, Stimulating Exhibitors to Seek New Business Opportunities

The Imported Food and Beverage Exhibition Zone of CFDF Achieved Remarkable Performance

The 96th China Food and Drink Fair (hereinafter referred as CFDF) ended in Chengdu Century City New International Convention and Exhibition Center on March 25, 2017 successfully. The Imported Food and Beverage Exhibition Zone (hereinafter referred as IFB), with its integration of exhibits display, forum activity and business matchmaking, presented the imported food market, new retail commerce modes and other issues.  

Five National Pavilions Showed in CFDF Together Once Again

The consumption concept of Chinese mainstream consumers is increasingly upgrading with a growing demand for products with healthy, convenient and distinctive characteristics in recent years. Meanwhile, the new round of economy globalization has enabled imported food and beverage to be enjoyed by more and more consumers, acting as a culture communication bridge in daily life. Since the establishment of IFB, more and more international exhibitors have come to realize that the sink-channel value brought by CFDF is an obvious distinctive feature different from other fairs of the same class. It is estimated that over 25% professional buyers are from third-tier, fourth-tier and fifth-tier cities, among whom most are special channel distributors and wholesalers. With China’s advancing urbanization, the sink-channel road has been broadened with growing demands. Thanks to the sink-channel advantage of CFDF, more and more international exhibitors have showed their enthusiasm in joining CFDF. For the just past 96th edition, around 150 enterprises were attracted to participate in IFB of CFDF, and the national pavilions like Thailand, Singapore, Australia, Poland as well as South Korea which are all old friends of IFB joined again. It is reflected by exhibitors that they have got fruitful return during the three-day exhibiting, and snack food, sauces and beers have been very popular. It is expected that more Chinese markets could be explored through the CFDF platform.

“Golden Product, New Channel” Forum Stimulating New Retail

The 8th “Golden Product, New Channel” forum of IFB is one of the important concurrent events of CFDF. The forum followed the trend of “double-speed advancing” characteristics of fast-moving consumer goods industry and focused on the theme “Small is Beautiful” of off-line convenience stores and new OTO retail modes. It broke through the limitation of categories and presented industry experts’ deep explanation to the trend and new retail solutions. Senior Experts from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Shanghai Chain Enterprises Association, Nelson, 7-11, Hema Xiansheng, Youzan Platform and Tiantu Capital have been invited to join the forum and shared their recognition to the industry. The forum also won strong support from the Imported Food Branch of China Chamber of Commerce of Foodstuffs and Native Produce, Chengdu Retail Business Association, Chengdu Food Circulation Chamber of Commerce and other organizations. Over 600 people were attracted to attend the forum and their response was overwhelming. It is a universal recognition that the forum is enlightening by following up industry development and staying close to hot topics. 

“One-To-One Business Matchmaking” – Communicating in a Sustainable and Accurate Way

The “One-to-One Business Matchmaking” aims to tailor accurate communication opportunities for exhibitors and professional buyers, which has been held successfully for seven editions and got positive acceptance from both exhibitors and professional buyers. It acts as a bridge by appointing targeted buyers for exhibitors, meanwhile selecting exhibits interested by the channel distributors, as well as making business matchmaking to explore food and beverage with good potential. Complying with the forum theme of “Small is Beautiful”, representatives from over 50 professional buyers like VanGo-China, MINISTOP-Shandong, Well-Rainbow, Homey-Store-BBK, C-STORE-North China, Yijie-Chongqing, CP Fresh Mart-Lotus, Family Mart, MoMo, WoWo, Dongyi Today, sfbest.com, Nanning Weining, Sungiven-Xiamen, Bestore, KOKO, C&U, ANDA, Night&Day, Miaokeduo-Chengdu, and etc. attended the closed one-to-one matchmaking with 109 exhibitors in the zone.

Thanks to the solid work of previous marketing research, communication and preparation, 97.97% professional buyers reached a preliminary procurement intention and 84.29% exhibitors showed their willingness to join. The exclusive agency of IFB- Masterexpo will keep following up the actual deal reaches, help to build cooperative channels for both exhibitors and professional buyers, and do more to increase their return further.