Health Guide: The Natural Solution

The 2013-2014 beijingkids Health Guide is the latest resource for Beijing families dedicated to providing information on family health care, maternity, eating and breathing safety, mental health, emergency care and traditional Chinese Medicine. Articles from the guide will be featured twice a week on our website. Find the full version here.

Simon Gauthier says Beijingers are more than willing to chow down on organic food – he’s just not so sure that the scope of such healthier produce has ripened enough for a bigger clientele.

“I feel like this is the moment where not only foreigners, but also Chinese people, are fed up with all the food scandals in this country, with trying to find sources they can trust,” Gauthier, the founder of A Food Affaire Deli and Catering (located in the April Gourmet grocery) says. ”I’ve seen strawberries the size of your fist here, and they don’t rot, they just liquefy. That’s just one of the many things about some foods that can be strange and disturbing here.”

Gauthier has looked into catering organic food, but despite the growing interest, he says the supply is not yet sustainable.

“I discussed it with a few organic food outlets, like LohaoCity. They do a great job, but they are just too small scale. We go through a lot of food, thousands of kilos a month. I’d love to get into the organic food business, but I need a consistent source.”

Klaus Griesbach, who works at the TooToo Organic Farm and delivery company, concurs that while interest has spiked as of late, Beijing hasn’t yet reached its organic food tipping point. 

“Organic food is not mainstream yet in China, less than 0.1 percent of all food consumed in China is organic,” he says, before adding: “I doubt that most grocers or caterers could sell thousands of kilograms of organic food monthly, at least not yet.”

Nancy Song, who works at the LohaoCity health store and organic food provider that Gauthier gave kudos to, agrees that she would like to see organic food become more popular. But she adds that its current status as a niche product does have advantages, especially over mainstream alternatives like supermarkets.

“We don’t see ourselves as a supermarket. Supermarkets specialize in ‘convenient products,’ which end up being unhealthy. Outside of China, people are most worried about whether their food is healthy. In China, most consumers are worried about food safety, which is a trickier problem to solve. We wish not only to have a reputation for selling healthy food, but also to be known for selling safe food products. We want to occupy the same position in China as, for example, Trader Joe’s does in America.”

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