UK's hard-hit food and drink makers turn their focus to China

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The UK's hospitality industry has been one of the worst hit by the nationwide lockdown restrictions forced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country's food and drinks manufacturers are using this year's China International Import Expo (CIIE) as a platform to explore and attract new business opportunities.

They have taken this step to make up for the financial losses they have had to endure in recent months.

It is usually the big players that participate in such events, but this year smaller British businesses are also looking for opportunities further afield.

Orkney Spirits Limited is a small distillery based in the cliffs of Scotland's remote Orkney islands. It has started putting out adverts with Chinese subtitles in an effort to boost its profile in the country.

It is part of the British line up at the international trade conference that is taking place in Shanghai this week.

"The craft gin culture is something that's very new and we hope that by coming out now, as a high-quality small Scottish brand, by being there as the category grows, we can play a small part in the Chinese market," Stephen Kemp of Orkney Spirits tells CGTN.

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In addition to the biggest British brands such as Diageo, which is among the world's largest producers of spirits and beers, there are several relatively new UK businesses attending this year's trade fair, such as Baijiu Society.

It is a brewery in the northern English city of Sheffield that has products with Chinese flavors, offering more than market-specific branding to win new clients.

"We've taken Baijiu, this revered Chinese spirit and we've somehow melded it with Western craft beer brewing," explains Craig Butler, the brewery's founder.

Butler believes focus is key in such a dauntingly massive market.

"We picked very specific targets where we knew we would win," adds Butler. "Hong Kong is very important for us because it's like our spiritual home. It's where we first showed the beer, it's where we have some of our biggest investors.

"And it's also the place where we enlisted bars, in Hong Kong, to actually list our products, which has almost never happened for any Baijiu before," says Butler.

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The small business owners say the pandemic has shifted their thinking because the domestic market has been far from favorable to keep their businesses running.

It has been an incredibly tough year for the UK hospitality sector and with the latest lockdown restrictions introduced in England this week, it is unlikely to improve in the coming weeks and months.

Meanwhile, China's economy appears to be bouncing back.

So some of the British companies that can access the Chinese market are keen to capitalize on a rare opportunity in the current financial climate.

The UK food and drink exports to China continued to increase slightly in the first half of this year while they experienced a dip in almost every other market.

The China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) says the pandemic may have contributed to this year's event becoming far more accessible to smaller firms.

"The pivot to virtual trade missions has led to quite a significant increase in interest, ultimately when trade shows and missions are physical, it's a lot more handpicked," says Kiran Patel of CBBC.

"This year, CBBC and the UK's Department for International Trade (DIT) worked to build a virtual matchmaking platform," explains Patel.

CIIE is one of the only major trade fairs that has not been cancelled and might bring some relief for Britain's battered hospitality sector.