Best-Selling Cookie in China
Looking back to a post we made in 2009 on Kraft’s mission to sell Oreos in China, we’ve seen some major progress, according to this recent NPR story. In fact, The Oreo has become the best-selling cookie in China.
Kraft initially responded to Chinese taste buds by reducing sugar content in the cookies. For the masses, it was too sweet. They took further steps by looking at other flavors the market craved, resulting in Oreos with green-tea and mango flavored filling. They also changed the shape to resemble a rolled wafer, much easier to eat in the traditional Oreo fashion for a country that isn’t accustomed to “dunking” their cookies in (soy) milk. The imprint Americans have for eating Oreos (“Twist, Lick, Dunk”) doesn’t exist in China. To address this, “Oreo launched a series of TV ads where cute children demonstrate to their parents and other adults how to eat an Oreo cookie in the American style,” says the NPR story, effectively teaching children and adults at the same time.
Lorna Davis, head of the global biscuit division at Kraft, told NPR what she learned:
Any foreign company that comes to China and says, ‘There’s 1 1/2 billion people here, goody goody, and I only need 1 percent of that’ … [is] going to get into trouble. You have to understand how the consumer operates at a really detailed level.
Culture encompasses all the detail to which Davis refers. Culture informs the preferences we develop at a young age, which influences our behaviors for life.
What other foods have you seen undergo this kind of cultural transformation as it migrates from country to country?
Grayson
RW3 CultureWizard
Fastfood in general has had to make radical changes to adapt to France – the country which prides itself on having the original food culture.
I saw a news insert recently where the spokesperson for some body relating to French Sandwiches proudly stated that “French people demand quality – even when they’re buying a sandwich. This makes them different to any other nation.”
The result of the French desire for French food is visible in MacDonalds, where burgers with 4 different French cheeses are a regular part of the menu; but the most interesting is the adaptation of pizza and sushi. Both contain Foie Gras! And not just in the odd fancy fusion restaurants either. Converted-mini-bus-pizza-take-away joints on the side of the road sell Foie Gras pizza.
You have to see it to believe it!
For survival and to penetrate the local market, the companies have to adapt. “One size fits all” would not work. In india McD has to introduce Veg Burgers, since a sizable population is vegeterian and then for penetration they prized these items reasonably, which sadly Pizza Hut did not – though came with Indian variant but they chose to keep prices near to US price-list. Nothing wrong as looking at the Big popultion they’d survive but cannot become integral part of the daily menu, where in US they are.
So along with local food habbits there are other factors as well which decides the success of any product.
In Ecuador KFC serves rice and lentils as side dishes rather than the mashed potatoes and gravy that is standard in the USA.