When Nadia Meliani moved to Beijing a decade ago to open a French restaurant, she didn’t expect China to become a global hub for foie gras—let alone that she would work in the industry.
Today, the chef, a native of France, is working long days at a foie gras farm in northeast China trying to nail the perfect, mouthwatering flavor. She and her business partners aim to feed the appetite of affluent Chinese. Someday, she thinks, even French diners might want to try it.
Meliani’s venture is part of an improbable boom unfolding half a world away from the Périgord Noir, the region in southwest France famed for the product. Chinese producers now make up 45% of the global supply of foie gras, according to a June report from state-owned China International Capital—amounting to 11,000 tons a year.
Chinese companies also are making gains in other decadent foods such as caviar and truffles. Exports of Chinese truffles have more than tripled since 2022, while the caviar supply chain, once led by Iran and Russia, is now dominated by China.
“For decades, among Western consumers, ‘Made in China’ was associated with a cheap, lower-quality, simple product,” said Even Pay, a director at consulting firm Trivium China and expert on Chinese agriculture. “In the last decade, what we’ve really seen is a whole bunch of brands made in China where the products” are top quality at a lower price, she said.
Using industrial-scale sturgeon farms to harvest hundreds of tons of the fishy treat, Chinese caviar companies accounted for 40% of the global exports last year, according to data from the International Trade Centre.
A Chinese company that sells caviar under the brand name Kaluga Queen is the world’s largest caviar producer. That company, Hangzhou Qiandaohu Xunlong Sci-tech, raised more than $150 million in a Hong Kong public offering in June, and it sells most of its caviar outside China.
The foie gras frenzy came out of a push by Beijing to find sustainable industries for rural villages left behind when workers flooded into cities. The state has supported the industry’s growth, said Pay, providing government loans and marketing assistance.
Today, producers are concentrated in the eastern provinces of Shandong and Anhui, where farmers churn out thousands of tons of foie gras by force-feeding ducks and geese to enlarge their livers. The liver is then extracted and treated before serving, perhaps pan-seared or smeared cold on bread.
Meliani, the chef-turned-entrepreneur, thinks Chinese foie gras has room for improvement. The texture is good, she said, but the taste doesn’t linger in your mouth as it should.
Though foie gras is hardly a classic Chinese dish, the cuisine includes duck and meat innards such as tripe, helping local foodies embrace the French creation. Industry executives say caterers now clamor for foie gras to add a luxurious touch to weddings and banquets.
Restaurants and producers are hatching creative offerings such as foie gras ice cream, blueberry-flavored foie gras or sushi rolls topped with the delicacy. At one popular chain specializing in Peking duck in China, chefs mold foie gras into the form of a cherry to enjoy alongside the meat.
It is still mostly a treat for the wealthy elite in big cities. Average Chinese aren’t splurging much these days with the economy in the doldrums. But the lower price tag of local foie gras—the French kind can cost nearly twice as much—broadens its appeal.
Ignace Lecleir, founder of the TRB Hospitality Group, which runs eight high-end Beijing restaurants serving Chinese-made foie gras, said there is “definitely a much higher demand than before.” He has been surprised to see it on the menu not only at Western-style eateries but also more casual Chinese establishments.
Export push
Outside of China, the sale of Chinese foie gras is limited for now to a few small markets. Still, some in the industry see foie gras following the familiar pattern in which Chinese exporters, honed by fierce competition at home, undercut global competitors with low prices.
Ma Lijun is the general manager of Shandong Chunguan Food, which employs 500 people and produces more than 3,000 tons of foie gras annually. She said the domestic industry has become hypercompetitive with “endless price wars” in the past five years. Over the next decade, she hopes half of the company’s revenue will come from outside China.
Macau, a gambling hub, could be a harbinger. The former Portuguese colony is governed by Beijing as a special region of China, but it has its own import rules and resembles an overseas market for mainland producers. They are quickly making inroads.
Hugo Ao, a sales manager at food distributor Olivier Pacific, sells Spanish foie gras to restaurants and casinos in Macau. He said the company has lost customers to cheaper Chinese suppliers who sell it for around $17 a pound, compared with $28 for Spanish products. This has forced Olivier Pacific to slash prices to compete, Ao said.
The European Union is getting ready for the onslaught. This year, the EU strengthened regulations on foie gras labeling. The rules prevent foreign producers from trying to make their foie gras sound authentic by using words such as “Périgord-style.”
Alexandre Léon, head of the Périgord foie gras association, said that if Chinese imports arrive, customers might hesitate at first but price would ultimately win out.
“It could change everything,” Léon said.
Write to Katrina Northrop at katrina.northrop@wsj.com
