Earlier this year, Swiss ingredient maker DSM Nutritional Products launched a "premium" Vitamin C. The marketing gambit: It comes from tidy Scotland instead of sprawling China, which provides 80 percent of the world's supply. But it was a tough sell. "We were struggling to get the price we thought was justified by the quality," says communications chief Alex Filz.
No more. Not after contaminated products from China ended up on supermarket shelves. Suddenly, "Not Made in China" has become a major selling point. DSM's Quali-C brand is flying out of its Scottish factory at more than double the price for bulk Vitamin C. "It's a tremendous business opportunity for us," says Filz.
In the midst of the imported food crisis, companies are finding clever ways to cash in. Some, like DSM, are playing the "not from China" card. Upscale New York grocery Fairway reassures consumers that none of its seafood is Chinese. Others see a growing business in making this global supply chain safer. One big player: IBM, which is pushing systems to trace the food supply from source to market.
Source: Business Week, http://www.businessweek.com