Only a few months after the representatives of the Chinese inspection authority, WIT, visited Denmark, Friland A/S has been certified to sell organic pork in China. The approval means that the Friland - as far as it is known - is the first company in the world that can sell foreign pork with the Chinese eco-label.

Friland has over the past couple of years had a small export of organic pork to Hong Kong, where the rules for organic food are different but with the newly acquired approval, Friland can sell organic pork to all of China - the world's largest market for pork.

"China's strong economic growth, combined with the its very high consumption of pork, make it an attractive market for free-range pig meat. We also have great advantage that Danish Crown already has a sales network in China, so we have relatively good knowledge of the market," commented Friland's CEO, Henrik Biilmann.

In September 2013, Friland's export sales manager, Marc Ridout, and Mr Biilmann signed a letter of intent in Beijing regarding this trade and another trip is planned follow up on the switch and contact new customers.

Efforts to cultivate the Chinese market for organic pork are being made in close collaboration with ESS-Food, which is already firmly established in China.