Chinese food preferences

Care for a chicken paw? That may not seem a very appetizing prospect in the States, but across China, chicken feet and paws are considered as irresistible as a beckoning plate of buffalo wings at a Sunday Super Bowl party. If that doesn’t rock the Illinois producer’s world, perhaps it should: Chicken paws plus a Chinese population topping 1.3 billion equals explosive poultry potential, and that potentially means powerful soybean and corn markets for the U.S. That’s the perspective of the U.S. Agricultural Trade Office in Shanghai and the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council, which has partnered with groups including the United Soybean Board, Illinois Soybean Association, and Illinois Corn Growers Association to promote poultry consumption in China. In 2008 alone, the U.S. exported 421,025 million tons of chicken feet and paws, valued at $280.3 million, to China. In total, China imported $716.3 million in U.S. poultry products. As brand recognition and a fast-food generation expand in China’s massive cities, new opportunities for chicken consumption emerge, such as the proliferation of KFC restaurants (2,500 stores to date across China, at a rate of 500 new stores a year). PEEC recognizes the challenges to sustaining such growth: The organization sponsors trade shows and receptions, “reverse” trade missions which invite Chinese importers to visit U.S. poultry operations, and billboard ads and other educational efforts that attempt to reassure consumers of poultry safety despite Asian anxieties about avian influenza while alerting wholesalers and the populace at large at the appeal of poultry. And the good news is not confined to U.S. broiler makers and Midwest corn and soybean producers: China imported 37 million tons of turkey in 2008 to accommodate curious, increasingly health-conscious Chinese consumers who may be drawn by the big bird’s lowfat potential. PEEC is working to develop recipes aimed at having more of China’s poultry-loving populace talking turkey -- Martin Ross

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Agricultural Trade Office in Shanghai and the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council, which has partnered with groups including the United Soybean Board, Illinois Soybean Association, and Illinois Corn Growers Association to promote poultry consumption in China.

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