Exporters and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) returned to SIAL Shanghai last week for the first time since 2019.
Members of the AHDB export team returned in-person to the event, which was held at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre from May 18-20, 2023, to showcase British pork.
AHDB said the in-person return to the “major” international trade show was welcome, as it provided a platform for exporters’ products to take centre stage in front of existing and new potential clients.
Speaking on the importance of the event, AHDB senior export manager, Susan Stewart said: “SIAL Shanghai is a major event in the international trade calendar, it was exciting for us to be back in person to hold important meetings with both existing and new clients and showcase high-quality British pork.”
British pork in China
According to the AHDB, China remains the UK’s biggest market for pork exports, taking 126,723t worth almost £203 million in 2022.
Latest data from the board shows that pork exports to China were valued at £52 million in the first quarter of 2023 alone.
Although AHDB could not attend the event in-person for the past few years, it applauded its China representative, Holly Chen, for maintaining an “important presence” at the show during the interim period.
Stewart said Chen played a huge part in maintaining AHDB’s presence at the event when UK exporters were unable to travel to SIAL.
“Although this is the first time in four years we have been able to attend the show in person we have maintained an important presence in the interim via Holly Chen, our China representative who works solely for AHDB via the China Britain Business Council,” she said.
“Holly has played a pivotal role in maintaining our presence while the UK-based team and UK exporters were unable to travel to market.
“While the Chinese pigmeat market is in a more challenging position, UK exports to China have remained robust and we can now look forward to building on this to maximise opportunities in this key market.”
