Pang Niu Food sets up in Hauts-de-France

First move into Europe

Pang Niu Food, a Chinese company specializing in soy-based foods, is investing €2 million to open a French subsidiary in Charmes (Aisne). Pang Niu Food France will produce specialties based on plant-based proteins—tofu, soy milk and fresh Chinese noodles—for sale in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and other European markets. It plans to recruit 50 employees by 2020. The company aims to make this first plant a springboard for European expansion, becoming market leader in its segment over the next few years.

Why Hauts-de-France?

Aiying Zhou, founder and Chairman of the Board of Pang Niu Food, listed six main benefits of setting up in Hauts-de-France:

• -excellent diplomatic relations between France and China dating back many years
• -France’s highly developed economy and consumer purchasing power
• -French consumers’ interest in health and healthy eating, and their passion for Asian foods
• -the region’s unique strategic location, within easy reach of markets throughout Western Europe
• -robust demand for high-end soy-based products among France’s large Asian community
• -Hauts-de-France’s leading position in agrifood and its highly qualified workforce

Fruitful collaboration

Ms Zhou continued, “I was also very impressed at the warm and enthusiastic welcome extended by the French public services during our first contacts and visits. And I would like to thank Business France, Nord France Invest, the Hauts-de-France region, the Chauny-Ternier-La Fère urban community and Charmes town officials for their kind assistance—along with that of Viaduc Chine, the company that helped us settle in.”

About Pang Niu Food

Pang Niu Food is a Chinese food company founded in 2008 in Shanxi province at Changzhi. It has 207 employees and capital of 80 million yuan (around €10.3m), with sales of 86.4 million yuan (around €11 million) in 2016. The company’s business is focused on soy and its derivatives, with three main product families and 60 references: soy sprouts, soybean-based products, and fresh noodles. Pangniu offers more food product references than any other Chinese brand in Shanxi province.