China's taste for pizza, rich cakes on the rise

Wellington

AT the upmarket Black Swan bakery in Beijing, where well-heeled customers browse rooms of glass cases displaying elaborate layered western-style cakes, Jin Yuchen is buying a birthday cake for his mother.

Mr Jin is one of a rapidly growing number of Chinese consumers with a taste for non-traditional foods such as rich cakes and pizza that is fuelling demand for imported cheese.

Like many others, Mr Jin chooses domestic producers for his daily milk consumption but wants that extra badge of quality for a special occasion. "I drink milk produced domestically," he says as he selects a pink confection. "But for my mother, I insisted on buying a cake that uses high quality ingredients."

The Black Swan bakery imports cream cheese and other dairy products from New Zealand's Fonterra, the world's largest dairy exporter, which is ramping up cheese production to meet the growing Chinese dema…