Now That's What We Call "Take-Out"

Minnesota Foods Go to China

As our state’s trade with China continues to grow, more Minnesota food products can be found on grocery shelves there. In some cases, Minnesota companies have even set up food manufacturing operations in China.

If you took a stroll down the aisles of a big supermarket in China, the chances are pretty good that you’d come across a few famous Minnesota foods tucked here and there on the shelves.

But while you might recognize some homegrown brand names right away, the products might be very different from what you can buy in Minneapolis or Moorhead or International Falls or Worthington.

At one time or another, most Minnesota kids have eaten Bugles®, those crunchy, cone-shaped corn snacks that small children especially love to wear on their fingertips like a witch’s fingernails.

You’ve probably eaten fistfuls of them. But unless you’ve been in China, you’ve never eaten “Seaweed” flavored Bugles.

Why – gulp! – seaweed? Simple. Different people in different parts of the world have different ideas about what tastes good. In the same way that you might find seaweed-flavored snacks a little yucky, a Chinese consumer might find nacho cheese or cool ranch snacks unappealing.

That’s why Minnesota’s food manufacturing companies that do business in China often adjust the flavor of their products – or offer entirely new products. In order to be successful, they must make products that appeal to the Chinese palate.

Here are some well-known Minnesota brand names that you can find in China:

Want that SPAM® Sichuan style?

Hormel Foods is supplying China with a pantry full of brand-name foods that Minnesotans recognize. SPAM, the venerable canned luncheon loaf is available in China. Hotdogs, cooked and smoked ham, turkey drumsticks, cocktail wieners and bacon, all bearing the Hormel brand name are available to Chinese consumers. The Austin-based company also sells its pepperoni, Canadian bacon and pizza toppings to food services industries. In recent years, Hormel has set up pork manufacturing plants in Shanghai and Beijing.

Things are popping up all over

ConAgra Foods Snack Foods Group, formerly known as Golden Valley Microwave Foods, is the largest manufacturer of microwave popcorn in the world. Sold in more than 20 countries, including China, the Edina, MN-based company’s crunchy treats are marketed primarily under the ActII® brand name. Chinese store shelves are stocked with Act II’s natural and butter-flavored popcorns, but also with a unique flavor known as “Cinema Sweet,” a lightly-glazed vanilla-flavored popcorn.

The Green Giant scales the Great Wall

Some foods transcend all boundaries. General Mills’ Häagen-Dazs ® is one example. Ever since the first Häagen-Dazs café opened in Shanghai 1996, the brand’s popularity has been growing.

General Mills has also tailored products familiar to Western palates for its Asian customers. In China, you’ll find Bugles® in flavors like “Spring Onion,” “Tomato Ketchup,” “Seaweed” and “Stew Meat,” all manufactured in China.

In addition to exporting brands, Minnesota Corporations have also formed independent ventures with local Chinese companies. General Mills’ “Wanchai Ferry” is an example, offering dough products across China and Hong Kong for everything from frozen wontons to dumplings.

With so many local companies doing big business in China, there may be another valuable commodity at play: Minnesotans who’ve learned to speak Chinese. Careers like “Bilingual Production Supervisor” and “Export Manager” provide a vital, bottom-line link between here and there.

Factoid:

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty’s trade delegation in November 2005 includes more than 36 people in the food and agricultural-related sector alone.

Still Curious?

Hormel Foods Corporation
www.hormel.com

and

Hormel SPAM
www.spam.com
Check out the deliciously fun “SPAM in Time” timeline

ConAgra Foods
www.conagrafoods.com

www.generalmills.com
Search under “China” on their site

Minnesota Trade Office
www.exportminnesota.com
Resources, statistics and information

Concordia Language Villages
www.concordialanguagevillages.org
A Minnesota-based language immersion program for kids and families