A Chinese snack company signed a deal with Pakistan pine nut provider worth 300 million yuan ($42 million) during the second China International Import Expo in Shanghai as the company furthers overseas efforts with opportunities brought by the Belt and Road Initiative.
With the new move, Halo Foods, Pakistan's largest pine nut purchase and processing firm will continue to offer pine nuts to the Chinese firm, Bestore following their cooperation for over ten years, according to the Chinese media here on Thursday.
Hand-peeled pine nuts is now one of the most expensive nut products for our company, but both demand and output has grown rapidly with an annual increase of 20 percent, according to Yang Yinfen, CEO and president of Bestore.
"For Halo Foods, such cooperation will help the Pakistan firm to further explore the potential of the Chinese market," said Shahbaz Siddique, financial head of Halo Foods.
"Globalization has been one of our key strengths. Currently, over 25 percent of our raw material comes from overseas," Yang said. Among overseas purchases, Belt and Road economies including Malaysia and the Philippines as well as Turkey are some of the major sources.
"We are also considering and exploring some emerging markets, such as the African market," Yang revealed. An earlier report pointed out that Chinese people consume around two trillion yuan of snack food every year following the country's booming internet wave accelerating the growth.
To date, the Wuhan-based company in Hubei province has adopted 190 types of raw materials from 32 countries and regions. It has developed over 1,000 kinds of snacks so far.
Over 35 Pakistani companies will participate and showcase their products including top textile, leather and sports goods, surgical equipment, home furnishing and other products at the 2nd China International Import Expo (CIIE) scheduled to be held in Shanghai from November 5 to 10.
Copyright Associated Press of Pakistan, 2019
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