關注社會:速凍餃子佔領中國餐桌

Frozen dumpling sales are growing rapidly in China as rising labour costs and the increasing ranks of working mothers have made it too time-consuming to fill and fold them from scratch.

在中國，速凍餃子銷售額正迅速增長。隨着人工成本不斷攀升，加上職場媽媽的羣體越來越龐大，包餃子已經變成一項時間成本過高的活動。

General Mills, the US food company, is the leading frozen dumpling maker in China, with its popular Wanchai Ferry brand accounting for 44 per cent of the market. Gary Chu, head of General Mills' China business, said dumpling sales were growing at double-digit rates annually and topped $200m last year.

美國食品公司通用磨坊(General Mills)是中國市場上領先的速凍餃子生產商。它的暢銷品牌灣仔碼頭(Wanchai Ferry)佔據了中國市場44%的份額。通用磨坊大中華區總裁朱璽(Gary Chu)表示，該公司去年速凍餃子銷售額增長率爲兩位數，達到2億美元。

"People used to make dumplings at home but now nobody has the time because it's messy," Mr Chu told the Financial Times. "Today's woman doesn't want to cook any more."

"過去大家都自己在家包餃子，但如今沒人有那個時間，因爲包餃子很費事。"朱璽向英國《金融時報》表示，"如今的女性不再願意下廚了。"

Mr Chu said dumpling shops and restaurants are also increasingly switching to frozen fare due to the rising minimum wages across China. Last year most Chinese provinces increased minimum wages by more than 20 per cent.

朱璽說，餃子館和餐館也開始越來越多地採購速凍產品，因爲在中國各地，最低工資標準不斷上調。去年中國大部分省份的最低工資標準調高了20%以上。

"The labour is too expensive," Mr Chu said. "China is not cheap any more and you cannot tell the difference between frozen and fresh."

"人工太貴。"朱璽說，"中國已不再是一個低成本的國家，再說你也分辨不出速凍與新鮮的差別。"

Wanchai Ferry has expanded its frozen dumpling offerings with other frozen dim sum-style items such as wontons and tangyuan, a glutinous rice dessert that is traditionally filled with a sweet paste.

灣仔碼頭已經擴充了速凍產品線，在速凍餃子之外，又推出了餛飩、湯圓等速凍點心。

General Mills acquired Wanchai Ferry in 1997, nearly 20 years after Chong Kin Wo began selling her homemade dumplings from a wooden cart at the Wanchai Ferry pier in Hong Kong. According to a 2010 survey by BrandZ, a consultancy, 28 per cent of Chinese in the top 10 cities prefer Wanchai Ferry dumplings.

30多年前，臧健和在香港灣仔碼頭推起手推車，開始賣自家包的餃子。20年後的1997年，通用磨坊收購了灣仔碼頭。諮詢公司BrandZ在2010年做的一項調查顯示，中國前十大城市中有28%的人喜歡灣仔碼頭的餃子。

Mr Chu said that in spite of the success of Wanchai Ferry, the company is facing stronger competition from local brands that have improved their quality. Meanwhile, he said, the Chinese government has been getting tougher on foreign groups and targeting them over health concerns.

朱璽表示，儘管灣仔碼頭很成功，但一些中國本土品牌提高了產品質量，這使灣仔碼頭面臨更加激烈的競爭。另一方面，朱璽表示，中國政府對待外資集團的態度也變得越來越強硬，緊盯它們的食品衛生狀況。

Last year Wanchai Ferry frozen dumplings were pulled from supermarket shelves in Nanjing after health officials found bacteria in the product that they said could be life-threatening.

去年，南京市衛生官員發現灣仔碼頭速凍餃子中含有致病菌（官員們稱這種病菌可能致命）。隨後，灣仔碼頭速凍餃子在該市各超市下架。

"Foreign brand privilege is going away," Mr Chu said. "The country is getting more and more competitive."

"外國品牌的特權正在一點點消失。"朱璽說，"中國市場的競爭越來越激烈。"

General Mills generated $550m in net sales from China last year and projects that will reach $900m by 2015. Mr Chu said signs of a slowdown in the Chinese economy were a real concern but that the country's one-party system had made it possible for the government to react quickly.

通用磨坊去年在中國實現5.5億美元的淨銷售額，該公司預計到2015年這個數字將達到9億。朱璽表示，中國經濟增長放緩的種種跡象確實令人擔憂，但中國的一黨制使政府能夠迅速做出反應。

"China won't be like Europe," Mr Chu said.

朱璽說："中國不會像歐洲那樣。"

General Mills is also looking beyond frozen food in China.

通用磨坊還打算在中國進軍速凍食品以外的領域。