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A few of us took in the China Agri-Food and Seafood Market Seminar, put on by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the BC Ministry of Agriculture, on February 1.

We go to these types of events in an effort to keep current with the markets that can impact our food clients and to look for new ideas on how people buy, what they buy and how they buy it.

Today's presentation was as intimidating as it was interesting. China is the world's second-largest economy and the developing Chinese middle-class will be larger than the entire population of North America fairly soon. And they're looking for imported goods from countries like Canada. The problem is, if an exporter gets uptake on any scale in China, there is a good chance they won't have anywhere close to enough supply to satisfy the demand they may create.

The highlight of the event was a presentation by Michael Zhu, President, Ja-e Department Store, Shanghai. Sure, a Canadian exporter could supply their 14 stores right now. But will they be able to in 2030 when the company opens store number 4,500?

There was one example of an apple juice producer where the volume requested represented ONE YEAR of the ENTIRE Canadian apple juice production. As in all of it. No apple juice for you!

Daunting, to be sure, but there are certainly ways of getting into the Chinese market without mind-boggling volumes as we learned talking to some of the other attendees. But the underlying message was that if you want to jump into the Chinese market(s), have a plan as well as a product.

There will be a few more presentations presented by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the BC Ministry of Agriculture. Singapore, Mexico and Dubai will be the export markets profiled. Not a bad way to spend a morning, thinking outside of the borders of this continent.