Page 26 - FoodFocusThailand No.187 October 2021

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Mr. Tust Thangsombat, President of the Thai Food Processors’ Major obstacles of exporting food to the
Association (TFPA) shared the comments on the direction of ready-to-eat Chinese market
food exports in the second half of 2021 and trends towards 2022. The direction Currently, Thai food exports to China still have obstacles.
depends on the controllable efficiency of the COVID-19 crisis and the According to Announcement of The General Administration of
enforcement of vaccinations for a workforce in the food industry to avoid Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC) No.
affecting the production capacity of exported products. Food factories have 103/2020, regarding the COVID-19 outbreak prevention for
currently implemented COVID-19 prevention measures such as Bubble and consumers’ safety from consuming imported food. The People’s
Seal or Factory Sandbox, which inevitably increases costs and requires full Republic of China Customs Office has issued nucleic acid
government support. Besides, the government’s economic recovery measures testing measures for the Covid-19 virus along with the following
and the problem-solving direction since 2020, such as a high sea freight cost, guidelines;
need to be concerned. If these issues can be resolved, it will absolutely • In the case of 1 and 2 detection, the manufacturer will
st
nd
promote the growing trend of ready-to-eat food products exporting.
have to suspend imports for 1 week at a time.
• In the case of the 3 detection or more, the manufacturer
rd
will have to suspend imports for 4 weeks.
After the suspension period, manufacturers can request to
The current direction of import any items as usual. This measure is effective from 11
September 2020 onwards. From the outbreak of the Covid-19
ready-to-eat food exports virus and Thailand still has a large number of infected people.
The Customs Bureau of the People’s Republic of China has
China has announced monitored this movement and then issued preventive control
measures by strictly inspecting imported goods at the import
checkpoint. In addition, it also requires the exporting countries
strict measures to inform the Chinese government promptly in case a COVID-19
infection is detected in the chilled-frozen products factories
to prevent COVID-19 exported to China. This requirement is to suspend the
importation urgently. The manufacturers will need to take
decisive and effective preventive measures before approaching
the Chinese government for further consideration.
“Ready-to-eat food” is another industry that has the ability
to compete in exports. Even though Thailand has to face The situation of food exports amid the
the Covid-19 crisis, overall exports of the food industry tend COVID-19 crisis
From the COVID-19 outbreak situation since 2020 to the
to recover by considering that countries worldwide have present, the growth rate of global food exports is varies
begun to vaccinate people against COVID-19 gradually. depending on the items and trading partner countries. The
As a result, economic activity began to return and increase growing exported products include canned fresh and processed
fruits, processed seafood, and seasonings. The changes in
food consumption. consumer behavior during the COVID-19 outbreak, the home
quarantine, and the lockdown measures stimulate the growth
of these products. Besides the popularity and longer shelf life,
consumers currently prefer home-cooking. As a result, ready-
to-eat products in the aforementioned groups have been
expanded.

Future Food Trends
Mr. Tust shares his opinion on the future food trends that “the
future food trends have the opportunity to grow steadily due to
the spread of the COVID-19 virus worldwide. Consumers
change their consumption behaviors and emphasize more on
healthy foods. Health-conscious consumers may opt for plant-
based protein alternatives or functional foods to increase their
immune systems to maintain health and prevent diseases.
Therefore, I believe that future food trends will be developed
and meet the increasingly sophisticated demands of a global
market in the future.

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