Promoting Nutritious, Delicious U.S. Baking Ingredients in China

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) participated in the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) “Discover U.S. Baking Ingredients and Trends” hybrid virtual promotion in August 2022 in Beijing, Peoples Republic of China.

The purpose of this activity was to raise Chinese bakers’ awareness of the nutrition, health benefits, taste, and versatility of U.S. wheat flour and other baking ingredients. The FAS Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) in Beijing and 10 USDA cooperators with products ranging from wheat, dried fruit and nuts to dairy sponsored the activity partnering with the China Association of Bakery and Confectionery Industry.

ATO Beijing reported the activity reached an audience of over 2.5 million citizens in China through social media platforms and over 200,000 real-time viewers through livestreaming. ATO Beijing reported that consumers “warmly welcomed” the new products with U.S bakery ingredients demonstrated with in-store promotions at leading bakery houses. USW Beijing Technical Specialist Ting Liu and Marketing Specialist Kaiwen Wu played direct roles in those activities, representing the essential quality of flour from U.S. wheat. Additionally, ATO Beijing strengthened connections with baking associations and businesses and generated trade leads with this activity.

In the three full marketing years since the trade war ended, China has imported a total of more about 4.58 million metric tons (MMT) of U.S. hard red winter (HRW), hard red spring (HRS), soft white (SW) and soft red winter (SRW) wheat. Even with much higher U.S. wheat prices from June 2022 to April 2023, China has imported almost 1.1 MMT of HRS, SRW, and SW wheat. That is about 30% more than during the same prior-year period and has an estimated FOB value of more than $400 million.