This new report from Access Asia covers the market for soya-based products in China, and includes coverage of soya milk, fresh bean curd and processed bean curd, including soya bean powdered broth bases.
Soya beans have been consumed in a variety of forms in China for centuries. Bean curd (known as tofu in Japan) was invented in China, and has a strong place in the traditional diet and cuisine. This place in Chinese eating habits was reinforced during the lengthy period where Buddhism was the leading religion in China, bean curd being eaten as a replacement for meat during fast days when meat consumption was not permitted. Soya milk has appeared more recently, but has gained an important place in the Chinese diet. Flavoured soya milk, sold in laminated cartons, has become an important beverage sector, and really deserves to be counted as a soft drink sector. It is especially popular with children and younger generations, but is increasingly being consumed by older people. Plain soya milk is now being consumed by more adults, who use it in the same way as dairy milk, and who often prefer the taste of soya milk to dairy milk. The government in China is also actively promoting more soya consumption, aware of the need to promote healthier eating patterns amongst China’s consumers. Bean curd has suffered from being viewed by many consumers as a “poor man’s meat”. Since average incomes in China have grown, so more people became more able to afford to eat meat more often. However, high consumption of meat has led to health concerns, especially increasing levels of obesity amongst Chinese children. Thus, many consumers are beginning to eat more bean curd as an alternative to meat. This trend has been boosted by the wider availability of more bean curd products through expanding chains of hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores.