Taking the Frozen Food Express
‘Metro’ in Beijing
By JOHN M. SAULNIER, QFFI Chief Editor & Publisher

This Metro Cash & Carry outlet is one of more than 33 operated by the German retail giant in the growing China market.

Xing Nian Kuai Le! That’s Mandarin for Happy New Year, a greeting heard nearly as often as round-the-clock fireworks booming during the third week of February in Beijing, where I was on hand to ring in the Year of the Boar. For well-wishing Cantonese speakers, the exclamation was more like: Gong Hay Fat Choy!

One can’t arrive with only a handful of red envelopes at a traditional New Year’s Eve house party in China. So, intent on chasing away the old year spirits with a choice of my own spirits, a Metro card came in handy – but not the kind that gets you a ride on le subway in Paris. Instead, this indispensable bit of identification allowed entree into the Metro Jingiang Cash & Carry store at Wanquanhe in the capital city.

By the way, forget about taking the metro to get to this Metro store. A car serves the purpose far better for busy shoppers, who are among Metro’s three million professional- and business-registered customers throughout the PRC. Better yet, a mini van is much more practical for hauling the groceries away. And there’s plenty of free parking on the premises.

Chinese consumers can spoon-feed themselves Lutosa Potato Puree with diced tomato, which comes with spoons.

A tour of the booze bins reveals lots of domestic cheer and imported beer, but no Maotai. Not to worry, though, as plenty of that distilled firewater will be poured by others at the big banquet. I was looking for a few bottles of fine wine, of which there was no shortage. Chateau Margaux from France was priced a bit too rich for my blood, though, at a whopping RMB 6,670! Since that’s equivalent to $834, the 750ml container of precious cargo Premier Grand Cru Classe vin would probably end up being purchased by a Beijinger with nouveau riche status. The Penfolds Grange South Australia Shiraz was a bargain by comparison, at only RMB 3,699 ($462).

I settled for a nice Huaxia Great Wall Cabernet Sauvignon, a far more practical buy at RMB 32.42 ($4) a pop. In fact, let’s splurge and grab a case of the stuff for RMB 389 (less than $50). Toss in a case of Felsgold premium beer from Germany at RMB 199.90 ($25), and my shopping for libations is over.

Next it was on to the well stocked frozen food section to find some shrimp to bring to the big bash. A 750-gram bag of imported farm-raised prawns from Thailand was going for RMB 49.90 ( $6.23). The same size bag of 50-70-count domestic shrimp was a slightly better deal at RMB 48.99 ($6.11). Then again, the buy-five-get-one free kilo of 41-50-count prawns offered more value for money at what amounted to RMB 91 each ($11.45).

Metro’ store signage spells out that the Cash & Carry operation delivers “strong market performance”, is a “strong cooperative partner,” and offers customers a “strong price advantage.”

What’s remarkable about the inventory in the freezer cases is that so much of it is imported. For example: Potatoes Puree with Diced Tomato in a 480-gram six-pack from Van den Broeke Lutosa which sells for RMB 21.99 ($2.75). Also available from the Leuze-en-Hainaut, Belgium-based packer were 1,000-gram bags of Potato Duchesse.

Guy Van den Broeke, managing director of Lutosa, told Quick Frozen Foods International that the Potato Puree, or Mashed Potatoes, are bulk-shipped to China in IQF pellet form, where they are repackaged under direction of his Shanghai office. The microwaveable portion control product, which comes complete with spoons, is billed as “a delicacy from Europe, shared with you.”

Tri Cities, Washington-headquartered Lamb Weston is also represented at Metro, with a 350-gram pack of Starz. The formed potato product is produced in the United States, but packaged by Shouguang Van Yu Food Co. Ltd in Shouguang City, Shandong Province.

“Imported U.S. Corn Kernel” (bottom right) is among a wide selection of bargain-priced frozen foods seen in this shopper’s guide distributed at Metro stores in Beijing during February.

From Italy there was Pizza Caprese Linea Oro. The 340-gram offering is one of several supplied by ItalPizza spa, which makes them by hand. The wood-fired stone oven specialty is topped with mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, grana padano cheese, basil and garlic.

There was lots more to choose from, ranging from a 500-gram bag of frozen crab meat balls from Malaysia for RMB 12.99 ($1.62) and a 907-gram bag of “U.S. Corn Kernel” for RMB 11.99 ($1.49), to a one-kilo pack of Alaska Pollock fillets at RMB 39.99 ($5). The last mentioned product was probably processed in China, as the twice-frozen fish business is huge in Qingdao and other port cities where foreign-sourced fish is landed.

Germany-headquartered Metro Group, one of the world’s largest retail chains, is no newcomer to the China market. The company came to the PRC in 1995 and set up its first Cash & Carry business in cooperation with the Jinjiang Group a year later. At last count it was operating a network of 33 wholesale stores nationwide in all of the country’s major cities.

At a time when the parent firm’s growth back home is slowing (sales last year were up by only 1.9% in the price-sensitive German market), Metro is charging forward overseas. More than 55% of its total turnover of EUR 60 billion last year was rung up abroad, where fourth quarter results showed a 11.7% gain.

“Internationalization reduces dependency on economic developments in individual markets,” Metro Group CEO Dr. Hans-Joachim Körber stated during the Anuga kickoff event in Cologne two years ago. “It makes it possible for German retail firms to compensate for the ongoing weakness of their home market by stepping up their activities abroad.”