China Recruiting Blog

The Importance of Knowing Chinese Tastes

Chinese tastes- Who can say which sells the best and why?

Chinese tastes may not seem center of strategic thinking for most companies today, but if we think more we may see how valuable it is.

By 2025, it is quite likely that many procurement leaders of Western companies will be physically located in China and will base a much larger share of their sourcing and supplier selection decisions on the needs and tastes of Chinese consumers. Furthermore, the strongest Chinese brands will wield extensive leverage in specific domestic and even international markets, causing Western firms to base many procurement strategies on standards, designs and strategies set by Chinese market leaders.

So if you are sitting in Kalamazoo, decisions on buying your product may be centered on how Chinese tastes rate it.   That is globalization gone wild, and China is center of the field in 2025.  That is not far away.

Chinese Tastes – Imagine That Being Center of the World

Do you know what kind of bed Chinese people like or what drives their food purchases? The questions are endless and procurement professionals more and more want to know who has the answers in each niche. “Can what you make or do as a service play in China?” could be a question in the near future that indicates if you are in the global supply chain.

8 years ago, I had a family B2B parts business ask me to hire a dedicated worker for them that I would oversee locally, but they would manage from Chicago.  That guy is still working for them and is a technology guy. They needed to know what was happening in China.  He is their eyes and ears. He is invaluable to them. At the time I was rather puzzled why they did not want a salesman. They wanted a technology guy to be their eyes and ears.  He has always been invaluable from day one in that role.  This article told why they did that at a deeper level and why they will not let him go.