Selling Tip Top to China: Making Plans for Not Getting Toasted

Australian fast-moving consumer goods company George Weston Foods launched its iconic bread brand, Tip Top, in a comparatively small market in China. The city of Wuhan has provided a location for learning before the company tackles the Tier 1 urban centres of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Tastes for bread are sweeter in China and sandwiches are not on the menu – although in the presence of global fast food chains, such as McDonald’s, the market is rapidly changing. Companies that are keen to cash in on China’s vast retail markets tend to focus on the differences between Chinese consumers and their Western counterparts. But research shows that growing numbers of urban-dwelling, middle-income Chinese are sophisticated shoppers with some very familiar habits.