Dongpo Pickle Is Becoming Popular Around the World

CHENGDU, China, Nov. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 13, the opening ceremony of the 10th China Pickles Food International Exposition was held by the People's Government of Dongpo District, Meishan City, Sichuan Province which is located in western China. It took "healthy food for world share and enjoyment" as the theme. The main role of this exposition -- Dongpo pickle is a kind of food pickled with salt and water in pottery jars. It is necessary for families in western China.

In addition to the opening ceremony, 27 special activities were held here, including the 16th China Food Safety Annual Conference, Pickle Technology and Standardization International Forum, China Food and Produce Production, Marketing and E-commerce Development Conference, the signing ceremony of investment promotion for well-known Chinese food enterprises coming to Sichuan, Pickles Food Industry International Cooperation and Dialogue themed as "China Pickles-Connect the World", Pickle International Standards Seminar, live shows of making art works with pickles and mass cultural activities related to Dongpo pickle.

During the period, delegates from 27 countries and regions attended the conference and more than 300 famous enterprises, business associations and dealers from home and abroad attended the exposition. At the same time, exhibition zones for Chinese pickles, international and Chinese food were set up in the newly-built exhibition center named "China Paocai City". More than 300 domestic and foreign pickle and food enterprises gathered here to display and sell their products.

China Pickles Food International Exposition has been held for ten times successively since 2008. In recent ten years, the processing amount of Dongpo pickle has increased twice and the sales income has increased approximately 4.5 times. It has been sold to over 100 countries and regions. Its scale and development speed are amazing.

To realize a better industrialization of Dongpo pickle, the agricultural department of local government implements the management system of "5 unities" in vegetable bases. Namely, companies and farmers seed, receive technical training, provide agricultural materials, manage fields and sell orders in a unified way. At present, the standardized pickle raw material bases built in Meishan covers an area of 460,000 mu, leading to an increment of over RMB 800 million for 220,000 local peasant households.

Today, there are over 60 pickle condiment food enterprises in Dongpo District of Meishan City. Among them, 36 are above designated scale. In 2017, the pickle food enterprises in this district finished the processing of 1.602 million tons of pickle raw materials, with an output value of RMB 15.76 billion, accounting for one-third of China's total market share and one-half of Sichuan Province's total market share.

There is no lack of famous enterprises among local pickle condiment food enterprises. The production and sales volume of Liji condiments for cooking fish with pickles rank first among similar condiment products in China. Ji Xiang Ju established a joint venture company with CJ Group, the largest food enterprise in South Korea, turning its competitor into a partner.

Min Xixiang, General Manager of Ji Xiang Ju Marketing Company, told that over 100 types of products in 7 categories generated by the company commanded a ready market in Europe, America, Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea and other areas, and its annual production value exceeds RMB 1 billion. The company not only promotes Dongpo pickle around the world but also increases the income of local peasant households. "Recently, Ji Xiang Ju has solved the employment issue for over 1500 people and helped over 5000 people with their employment indirectly."

Behind the "internationalization" is the continuous innovation of Dongpo pickle. In 2013, Sichuan Dongpo Chinese Paocai Industrial Technology Research Institute was established in Dongpo District, Meishan City. It initiated a method of utilizing special automatic control stainless steel fermenter to realize low-salt clean production without emissions, shortening the fermentation time greatly and stabilizing the quality of Dongpo pickle. Additionally, other advanced technologies like "low-salt continuous fermentation" contribute to the safety and delicious taste of Dongpo pickle.

Dongpo pickle, fragrant, crispy and perfect in taste, not only tastes good, but also has wide varieties. Common vegetables such as cabbage, cucumber and turnip, fruits such as apple and peach and even meat can also be used for making pickles. The beneficial elements of the raw materials lose less due to the cold processing. Therefore, Dongpo pickle is rich in nutrition and low in calories, with the function of stimulating appetites and tonifying spleen.

Moreover, Dongpo District of Meishan City has also achieved China's "six onlys" in the process of developing pickle industry: the only Paocai (pickle) city - China Paocai City, the only National Paocai Quality Supervision Center, the only Sichuan Dongpo Chinese Paocai Industrial Technology Research Institute, the only Paocai Museum, the only 4A tourist attraction in Paocai industry and the only Chinese Paocai Industry Standard approved and issued by the Ministry of Commerce.

Meishan City is now cooperating with Japan and South Korea to guide the development of international pickle standard, truly putting Dongpo pickle on the tables in all countries around the world.

SOURCE The People’s Government of Dongpo District, Meishan City