New rail-sea route gets Sichuan specialty foods to Africa fresher and faster

A newly established multimodal transport corridor provides a cost-efficient logistics solution for Sichuan province's specialty foods, including hot pot bases, compound seasoning for mapo tofu, and Sichuan-flavored casual snacks, to enter the African market.

Sichuan in Southwest China is renowned for its spicy hot pot, flavorful cuisine, and diverse street snacks. Classic dishes from Sichuan cuisine — one of China's eight major culinary styles — such as kung pao chicken and mapo tofu, have gained global popularity.

Along the corridor, a freight train loaded with products from the province's well-known food enterprises is currently en route to the Port of Barcelona in Spain from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, said Su Chang, general manager of the Sichuan SRL Supply Chain Management.

The inaugural shipment is expected to arrive at the Port of Tangier in Morocco in early August via sea transport from the Port of Barcelona, he said.

Su added that the entire rail-sea transport route takes about 35 days, with the delivery time expected to be shortened to 25 to 28 days within this year.

"The Sichuan-flavored products will be showcased at a dedicated booth during this September's Morocco Siema Food Expo, opening new market opportunities for Sichuan's food brands," he said.

Su noted that his company has jointly built a foreign trade service platform for Sichuan-flavored food products with its strategic partner, French-based delivery company DPD, which operates last-mile delivery networks across 18 African countries.

He said the platform plans to establish fast-track channels for China-EU geographical indication certification and North African halal certification, significantly reducing approval time to get Sichuan's food products onto local supermarket shelves and e-commerce platforms faster.

Li Jiangyan, sales director of Sichuan Teway Food Group, said her company shipped six types of compound seasoning products worth 50,000 yuan ($6,970) to a Moroccan client via this route.

"That was an urgent order, and the new transport route came just in time to meet our pressing need," Li said. "It cuts transit time by half compared to traditional sea transport, allowing us to deliver relatively fresh products to African consumers, while the costs only increase by 15 to 20 percent."

Li said Teway Food started exploring overseas markets in 2009, and its products are now exported to over 50 countries, mainly in regions such as North America, Southeast Asia, and Europe. Last year, its overseas sales exceeded 40 million yuan.

"Although our market research shows that Africa's seasoning market has grown rapidly in recent years, we didn't enter the continent due to a lack of efficient and stable transport channels," she said.

Li said the order marks Teway Food's first deal in Africa, and the authentic Sichuan-flavored products will be used for a market test at the Morocco Siema Food Expo.

"We'll then make adaptations to meet local customers' tastes and consumption preferences, thus better penetrating the market," she added.

Lai Zhougang, deputy general manager of Chengdu International Railway Port Investment and Development, said the new corridor, which establishes regular freight train services from Sichuan to the Iberian Peninsula, enables seamless connections between the China-Europe Railway Express and Mediterranean shipping services.

"As the third rail-sea intermodal transport channel linking Chengdu and Africa, the corridor is expected to further address challenges such as limited transport options and high shipping costs from Sichuan to African markets," he said.

The corridor is scheduled to operate one train per week, and efforts will be made to continuously optimize transportation arrangements to provide better logistics services for enterprises, Lai added.

pengchao@chinadaily.com.cn