Magdalini Rappou, representative of the International Olive Council (IOC), says she is impressed by the healthy food choices the Chinese make.

"They are very health conscious. People look slim."

Rappou is head of the Promotional Division of IOC, which was set up in 1959 in Madrid, Spain, under the auspices of the United Nations. Its members include leading producers and exporters of olive oil and table olives.

Her recent week-long tour - Rappou's first in China - took her to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen for a series of activities to promote olive oil. Part of IOC's two-year campaign to promote olive oil, it included a trade show in Beijing, media briefing in Beijing and Shenzhen, and three seminars targeted at trade professionals in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Rappou visited restaurants, and Chinese supermarkets both in expat and Chinese neighborhoods.

"I've seen some restaurants use olive oil in their cuisine, and table olives are present on the dining tables of some hotels," she says. "In big hotels, they offer both Chinese and Western breakfasts."

China imported 16,000 tons of olive oil in 2009. In recent years, olive oil imports have grown 40-50 per cent year-on-year, according to Rappou.

China Daily

(China Daily 12/18/2010 page12)