The Chinese unit of French retail giant Carrefour has started to sell snakes in its supermarkets in a bid to meet consumer demand and fight off competition.
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While customers at Carrefour’s European outlets might be shocked at the sight of a supermarket offering snakes, in China Carrefour is simply catering for local tastes.
“Chinese people eat snake and so you have to provide snakes. If you want to succeed in China, you have to survey people about what they like, what they want and what they eat,” Eric Thevenet, manager of a Carrefour hypermarket in Shenzen that also stocks turtles, told Reuters.
With 32 stores, Carrefour currently has a greater presence in China than its US rival Wal-Mart, which has 22 stores in China. Germany’s Metro, US PriceSmart and Hong Kong’s ParknShop are also present in China, while South Korea’s Shinsegae has recently unveiled a US$400m plan to open 40 supermarkets there. With UK supermarket retailer Tesco also looking to expand into China, the competition is fierce.
