Charles Liu, This is the goal for most Chinese companies: create an original product that is loved by everyone, dominate your market, fend off counterfeiters, and export your product overseas to great financial success.
Enter popular Chinese chili paste, Lao Gan Ma. Hugely popular in China, the sauce can now be found for sale on Amazon for anywhere from $4 to $10. What Amazon neglects to mention, however, is that the average cost of Lao Gan Ma in a Chinese supermarket is only about RMB 8, or $1.20. Thus far, foreign fans appear to be oblivious to the astronomical mark-up.
The maker of the infamous paste, Tao Hubai, is very much aware of the international price gouging, justifying it as business decision, and thanking overseas Chinese for promoting the product:
How many countries did you say Lao Gan Ma is sold in? I don’t know either, all I can tell you is that wherever there is an overseas Chinese community, there will be Lao Gan Ma.
Tao then confirmed that Lao Gan Ma is indeed priced higher outside of China, though she wouldn’t provide any specifics. And while she credits overseas Chinese for popularizing her product, it is not overseas Chinese she’s interested in price gouging:
I am a Chinese. I am not trying to make money off of other Chinese. I want to sell my product to a foreign market and make money off of foreigners.I want to sell my product to a foreign market and make money off of foreigners.
The idea of profiting off of foreigners, whether they be overseas Chinese or not, sits very well with Chinese netizens. One person praised Tao by saying, “This is a true entrepreneur who is a patriot and makes money off people outside the country,” while another said, “Here’s wishing Granny Tao health and long life. Keep earning that foreign currency!”
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