Chinese state-owned agrifood firm Cofco says it has scored its first-ever international sale of wheat flour — into the Canadian market.
Cofco, which said in June it plans to open a Canadian grain trading office in Winnipeg, recently announced it had loaded a container ship at the northeastern port of Dalian on Nov. 17 with “small-packaged” wheat flour bound for Vancouver.
The products, packaged under Cofco’s Fortune and Xiangxue brands, include Fortune Jindian dumpling flour, multi-purpose flour, Xiangxue dumpling flour and steamed bun flour, the company said in a release.
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The order “mainly caters to the needs of (the) overseas market for China’s quality special purpose flours, enabling local Chinese compatriots to taste the flavour of authentic hometown dishes during the Spring Festival.”
In 2017, Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year, falls on Jan. 28.
Leading up to this shipment, Cofco said, its wheat processing unit “has leveraged the advantages of (a) ‘fully-integrated value chain’ by purchasing unprocessed food grains of good quality and applying international leading milling technology and rigorous quality control.”
On its website, Cofco — short for China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corp. — notes it operates 13 flour mills in several of China’s “best wheat-growing” areas.
Cofco, which in 2015 bought full control of Noble Group’s agribusiness and this year bought full control of Dutch grain trader Nidera, said its staple grain team will continue to “actively engage” in overseas marketing. — AGCanada.com Network
