Is the era of huge profits in imported snack agency coming to an end?

When binge-watching dramas late at night, tearing open a pack of Japanese Nama Chocolate; laying out Korean Buldak Chicken Noodles at weekend gatherings; always hiding a few German Haribo Gummy Bears in the office drawer... These irresistible imported small snacks are quietly propping up a blue ocean market with an annual growth rate exceeding 20%. When "snack freedom" evolves into "imported snack freedom", what kind of wealth code lies behind it?

The hundreds-of-billion-yuan track behind a pack of potato chips

According to the data from the General Administration of Customs, in 2023, China's imports of snack foods exceeded US$5.8 billion, among which small packaged foods with a unit price lower than 50 yuan accounted for 67%. The Thai coconut rolls represented by Mr. Zhang sold more than 200,000 boxes per month just through community group-buying channels. "Consumers are buying not just snacks, but novelty and social currency," he concluded.

• Category Dividend: The annual growth rate of niche categories such as Southeast Asian internet-famous biscuits and European organic fruit purees exceeds 35%.
• Channel Transformation: The cross-border e-commerce + community distribution model has reduced the agency threshold by 50%.
• Consumption Upgrade: Generation Z is willing to pay a 3 - 5 times premium for "novelty-seeking".

Agency Pitfall Avoidance Guide: A Practical Manual from Product Selection to Customs Clearance

After stepping on all the "pitfalls" in two years, Ms. Li summed up the Three Dos and Three Don'ts principle:

• Choose factories with SC Certification, don't blindly believe in "overseas OEM".
• Test the Stability of Cold Chain, don't blindly represent short-shelf-life foods.
• Reserve a 15% Tariff Fluctuation Space, don't fix the profit margin too tightly.

It's worth noting that after the entry into force of the RCEP Agreement, the food tariffs of ASEAN countries have generally been reduced to 0 - 5%. The landed cost of a certain Indonesian prawn cracker has been directly reduced by 22%. However, if the customs clearance documents lack the Declaration of Origin, it may still face the risk of being detained in the port for more than 30 days.

The Comeback Formula for Small Agencies: Traffic × Unit Price × Repurchase Rate

Successful cases show that the top 10% of agencies are practicing Scenario-based Operation:

• Position French macarons as "must-haves for girlfriends' tea breaks".
• Package Italian bubble gums as "life-saving artifacts for working overtime".
• Create "Chinese New Year internet-famous New Year goods" with Russian purple-wrapper candies.

A certain Belgian caramel biscuit was recommended in the "office scenario", and its repurchase rate was actually three times that of ordinary snacks. This verifies the golden rule in the food agency industry: What's being sold is never the product, but the lifestyle solution.

Where is the next trend?

When Japanese konjac jelly is still being snapped up in live broadcast rooms, far-sighted agencies have already started to make arrangements:

• Middle Eastern date energy bars (new favorites among fitness enthusiasts).
• Vietnamese coffee freeze-dried powder (a new category benchmarking against Saturnbird Coffee).
• Israeli chickpea crisps (in line with the trend of vegetarianism).

The most fascinating thing about this industry is that there are always new taste experiences waiting to be discovered. What was the last imported snack you saved in your phone's photo album? Perhaps that's the key to the next wealth code.