How Shijiazhuang Food Conquers Foreigners' Tastes

When a German chef conquers diners at a Munich restaurant with a frozen donkey meat burger produced in Shijiazhuang, Mr. Zhang, who is 7,000 kilometers away from the North China Plain, is smiling while staring at the customs declaration form. This city known as "the city pulled by trains" is writing a new business legend with food exports. The data from Shijiazhuang Customs in 2023 shows that the local food export value increased by 23% year-on-year, among which categories such as pet snacks and freeze-dried fruits and vegetables have shown explosive growth.

In a bonded warehouse in Shijiazhuang, Ms. Li's team has just completed the EU-standard transformation of a batch of frozen steamed buns. "The steamed bun that costs 3 yuan domestically can be sold for 15 dirhams in Dubai after being labeled with halal certification", she shows us the packaging stickers of different colors: "Blue is the Russian GOST certification, green is the Kosher symbol, and red is for the North American Costco channel only".

• The Battle for Certification Breakthrough: Experts from Zhongshitong pointed out that Shijiazhuang enterprises hold an average of 2.7 international certifications, far exceeding the average level of the central and western provinces
• The Revolution of Cold Chain Technology: By adopting -35℃ deep-freeze fresh-locking technology, the shelf life of Shijiazhuang freeze-dried strawberries has been extended to 18 months in the Japanese market
• Empowerment of Cross-Border E-commerce: Through the "Market Purchase Trade" pilot, small-batch specialty foods can be directly sent to overseas end consumers

In an unremarkable factory building in Zhengding County, 20 tons of konjac vegetarian tripe are sent to Korean convenience stores every day. Factory Director Mr. Zhang reveals: "South Korean young people regard it as a low-calorie snack, and we adjusted the formula seven times according to their spiciness preferences". Equally unexpected are:

• The jujube processing factory in Xingtang County customizes a sugar-free version for Middle Eastern customers, and the sales volume triples during Ramadan
• The pet chicken jerky produced in Luquan District enters the PetSmart chain after being registered by the US FDA
• After being certified by Halal, the pear juice from Zhaoxian County becomes the designated drink for school lunches in Israel

When asked why they chose service providers like Zhongshitong, Ms. Wang, who has just expanded into the Australian market, calculated an account: "Building an overseas warehouse alone requires a deposit of 200,000 Australian dollars, while professional agencies can provide shared warehouses and 'door-to-door' customs clearance, reducing the first-order cost by 62%". What professional institutions bring is far more than cost optimization:

• Real-time monitoring of food regulations changes in 52 countries
• Using blockchain traceability technology to deal with the EU REACH regulation
• Accurately matching channel partners through overseas tasting events

On the truck at Shijiazhuang Comprehensive Bonded Zone, you can see containers printed with Russian, Arabic, and German waiting to be shipped. Local practitioners have started to layout tracks such as plant-based foods and functional snacks. A certain OEM factory has even developed chocolate with ganoderma lucidum extract for Nordic customers. The world will always need delicious food, and the story of Shijiazhuang food exports may just have just opened its prelude.