Looking to find, feed new food consumers

In Pizhou, endeavors have been made in this area, but fresh garlic in cold storage still makes up most of the exports.

Local garlic producers may go through a tough year because of oversupply of the product and yuan appreciation.

"In China, the output of garlic increased more than 1 million tons from last year but demand from international markets has not climbed. The prospects for this year are not that optimistic," said Du.

"From January to May this year, the export of garlic totaled $100 million, a decrease compared with the same period in 2012," said Du.

Garlic prices for this year are still unclear because the peak season for acquisition and exporting is in July and August, but Du said the increased output has added to a declining price of garlic this year.

Further, the main export countries of Pizhou garlic are Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia nations.

"But India, Pakistan and other countries are imposing import quotas for garlic to protect their domestic production," said Du.

"Chinese garlic producers have made great strides and have achieved some progress. But it will be a long time before local companies developing competitive and sophisticated products can get their feet on the international stage," said Huang.