Wal-Mart American Food Festival Kicks off

Aug 5, 2006

August 5, 2006 – Partnered with American Agriculture Trade Office, Wal-Mart kicks off American Food Festival in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, featuring the theme of “Enjoy the Most ‘America’”. The two-week-long festival will be held in 32 Wal-Mart stores located in 17 cities across China. It is the biggest American Food Festival with most assortments Wal-Mart had ever hosted in China. During the festival, customers will be overwhelmed by strong American atmosphere in the stores and find traditional food alongside the American Food Street such as American Northwest cherry, California wine, US Poultry and Alaskan seafood. Meanwhile, promoters dressed in American style as Indian, Hawaiian or cow-boy will also surprise shoppers by an interactive performance. Customers will find wine tasting, snack tasting and other retailtainment activities in stores. In addition, America chefs will be on site to lead the cooking seminar and demonstrate cooking skill. Please refer to the in-store poster for more details.

According to Mr. Stanley Yu, Vice President & COO of Wal-Mart (China) Investment Co., Ltd., Wal-Mart is exhibiting more than one hundred American food items for this year’s festival, covering various food categories ranging from fresh fruits, sea food, grocery to drinks, spices and snacks, 60% of which is originally imported from America, others are famous products that use American ingredients and manufactured in China. Through the event, Wal-Mart is introducing excellent American farm products and bringing customers more choices and unique shopping experience.

“Farm product trading between US and China is accelerating in recent years, American farm product is well known for its great quality and special flavor, and has become a good choice among many Chinese consumers and restaurants. Through joint cooperation with Wal-Mart, we hope that people can get to know more about American food and American culture,” said Joani Dong, Director of U.S. Agricultural Trade Office in Guangzhou.

Besides Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, American Food Festival will also be held in Dalian, Taiyuan, Dongguan, Shantou, Changsha, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Jinjiang, Guiyang, Wuhan, Kunming, Nanjing and Jinhua. Participants in the festival include Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, California Wine Institute, California Pistachio Commission, California Tree Fruit Agreement, California Table Grape Commission, USA Poultry & Egg Export Council, US Northwest Cherry Growers, Goodwell China, McCORMICK and Guangdong Am-Cham.

About Wal-Mart China

Wal-Mart China opened its first Supercenter in August 1996 in Shenzhen and now operates 60 outlets including Supercenters, SAM’S CLUBs, and Neighborhood Markets in 30 cities with over 30,000 associates. Wal-Mart has brought with it advanced management expertise to China’s retail industry and provided local customers with good merchandise and services. Wal-Mart has also donated over RMB23 million to various charitable and corporate social responsibility projects. For more information about Wal-Mart China, please visit www.wal-martchina.com.