Offline threats to consumers like business fraud have long turned up in the online world. So it’s no surprise that long-time safety woes in China’s food industry are also bedeviling a public that increasingly orders meals and snacks by smartphone. Take-out delivery firm Ele.me, invested by the country’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, was fined $18,000 earlier this year for selling food from unlicensed vendors.
That problem for consumers is seen as an opportunity by Simon Vogel, a Swiss national who with his German partner Wolfgang Illing runs salad delivery firm Saucepan in Shanghai. The company currently serves up to 150 meals a day with names such as “Hipster Avocado” salad and “Nomad Power Bowl” at an average price of 55 yuan, or $8.30, in the city. Vogel hopes to reach 400 meals per day by the end of the year. I talked briefly with Vogel at Startup Grind, a startup networking event in Shanghai yesterday at the Glam Bar. Excerpts follow.
Q. How is it that you came to Shanghai to start your business?
A. I was in the Middle East in Qatar and had been working in hospitality. My brother was here for five years, and I came with the mission to open a food and beverage concept in the city. I was 28 at that time, and thought it was the right decision for my career.
It’s a huge market. The health food business is booming: It will reach $70 billion to 2020, and is growing by 20% a year. We are talking about an overall global health food market that will reach $1 trillion in 2017
Q. You set up this business on your own?
A. My expat partner and I set up a WOFE (wholly foreign owned enterprise) in Shanghai, have been operating the business for a year now.
[Source:-Forbes]
