Organic marketing in China: Green & Safe in Shanghai

Green & Safe in Shanghai. Shop and eat at organic in Shanghai. Photo Karin Heinze

The rapidly growing middle class in the mega-cities of China is increasingly health-conscious and can also afford to buy organic food. In Shanghai, the cool thing to do is, for example, to shop at Green & Safe or to eat out there. The store with its big restaurant reminds you in its concept and offer of the US-American Whole Foods Markets, and you find organic brands from the west on the shelves. Western food is in great demand in China. Shanghai has a number of organic delivery services as well.

The gastronomy takes a huge space at Green&Safe. Photo Karin Heinze

If, at the weekend, you would like a late breakfast or go out for lunch at Green & Safe in the Shanghai French Concession, you have to reserve a table or be prepared to wait for quite a long time. This location is the place to be. Tripadvisor recommends the restaraunt with shop and the comments praise Green & Safe lavishly: “It's an oasis where you can enjoy and relax in the midst of hectic city life.“ Mainly young people congregate here to buy vegetables, fruit, meat, drinks, sweets and bakery goods - all fresh and attractively presented is what the Tripadvisor comment tells us, and it's a view I can confirm. The fine foods counter has to be seen to be believed.

Deli-department in the shopping area. Photo Karin Heinze

Meeting place for fans of the western lifestyle

Since Green & Safe is where people come who value the western lifestyle and western food, it's a favourite among expats and worried parents, singles and couples looking for healthy food. The store is also used as a backdrop for fashion photo shoots. You see customers drinking their Latte Macchiato or opting for a generous platter of fine food salad or an organic Burger, and they're busy sending selfies and messages via the Chinese WhatsApp, called Wechat, to all and sundry. In the store you can enjoy tasting sessions. Cambio organic coffee from Bolivia or Zotter chocolate from Austria are presented at  pop-up points. Outside a vegetable stand, like at a farmers´ market, and hand-written blackboards attract people into the store from the street –  with, for example, the slogan “From Farm to Table“. You could just as well be in a Whole Foods Market in San Francisco.

Fruits and veggies are presented outside like at a farmers market. Deli-department in the shopping area. Photo Karin Heinze

Shop and restaurant

Both the shop (ca.100 square metres) with deli department and the restaurant, that can seat about 150 (inside and outside), located in a quiet part of Dongping Lu, have a lot to offer. On the ground floor of the two-storey historic brick building there's a lot going on at the  L-shaped counter: people stand in a long line to place their order. Behind glass are appetising cold salads of all kinds, international snacks, soups, sandwiches, hamburgers, rice dishes, hand-made pizzas, pasta, grilled food, fine food, cakes and desserts. The dishes are labelled for people with food intolerances: “Contains milk, nuts“ or “Vegetarian“. If you're buying drinks the selection is no less wide: coffee specialities, teas, freshly pressed juices yogurt drinks made in-house, international wines and a long list of international beers, from Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale and Belgian Brunhaut Bio Ambrée and German Franziskaner to Kingfisher from India – you can choose from more than 30 varieties.

The restaurant at the 1rst floor offers an international menue too. Photo Karin Heinze

Generation organic

Green& Safe is, of course, not the only organic location in Shanghai. Organic Kitchen is even mentioned in the Marco Polo travel guide. There, under the heading “Generation Organic“, organic is the number one among the five big trends. Organic Kitchen began in 2008 as  a delivery service – the restaurant was launched in 2011. The products come from organic producers in the vicinity of Shanghai and  also from its own certified organic farm. A catering service and the delivery service (with sherpas) complete the offer. The restaurant also occupies a central location near the new concert hall of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

At the selfservice counter there are often many people waiting to order there meal. Photo Karin Heinze

Bio oder all-natural

Organic Kitchen gibt seinen Bio-Anteil mit 70 Prozent an. Green & Safe macht dazu keine Angaben, hat aber ebenfalls eine eigene Bio-Farm. Im Shop dürfte er aufgrund der vielen europäischen Bio-Marken und der Frische aus eigener Erzeugung relativ hoch liegen: Neben Produkten von Mogli, Seeberger (D), Zotter und Verival (Österreich) findet man BioOrganica Nuova und Alce Nero aus Italien. Die frischen Vollkorn-Backwaren machen ebenfalls einen guten Bio-Eindruck. Beim Angebot des Restaurants, der Feinkost-Theke und bei den Getränken liegt der Anteil mit Sicherheit niedriger. Das „Hotpot“-Restaurant Qimin, das den taiwanesischen Betreibern von Green & Safe gehört, bezeichnet sich als „Organic Restaurant“. Der Bio-Anteil hat sich im Vergleich zu vor zehn Jahren definitiv erhöht, da es immer mehr bio-zertifizierte Farmen gibt und sowohl Nachfrage als auch Verfügbarkeit zugenommen haben. 

Organic brands from Europe, among others the German brand Mogli for kids Photo Karin Heinze

Fully on trend: online delivery services

Following the trend and the wishes of consumers who don't want to struggle through the Shanghai traffic, a large number of companies offer organic products in their online shop with delivery service. Fields, founded in 2009  by Steve Liang, was one of the first in this segment. He was born and grew up in America. From small beginnings with three products, that he supplied to expats in Shanghai, he now has a company with 300 employees that supplies other cities on the west coast like Hangzhou and Nanjing. The Fields website “speaks“ five languages (Chinese, English, French, Korean and Japanese). Since May 2015, Fields has belonged to one of the biggest food retailers in China, the Sun Art Retail Group (majority owner).

Greens in a chilled counter. Photo Karin Heinze

Among the biggest organic delivery services is Tony´s Farm. Organic vegetables are produced on two large-scale certified organic farms (each with over 100 ha) in the Shanghai districts of Pudong and Chongming Island. Tony's Farm claims to have become since 2009 the biggest organic delivery service in this city of 35 million inhabitants. (Video of the farm)

Staff from Tony´s Farm at the BioFach in Shanghai. Photo Karin Heinze

Kate and Kimi is the name of another delivery serevice that has specialised in satisfying the needs of expats. However, only some of the offer is organic.

A list of organic retail outlets and restaurants can be accessed at Heathandsafety in Shanghai. 

More articles on organic in China:

China – one of the top 4 organic markets worldwide

Helekang - one of the leading players in online organic retailing in China

Lohao City: Professional Concept - Ambitious Plans (2007)

The ambitious plans of the organic chain were not fulfilled – all its shops in Shanghai were closed and Lohao City now operates shops only in Peking.

In a current study, the market researchers at Ken Research  forecast an organic market volume of 9 million US-dollars by 2020.