A glimpse of a goose breeding workshop at Shandong Chunguan Food Co in East China"s Shandong Province Photo: Courtesy of Shandong Chunguan Food Co

　　In a processing workshop in Linqu, East China"s Shandong Province, a piece of foie gras is undergoing transformation from raw material into food. Unlike the traditional perception of a luxury ingredient often appearing on French restaurant menus, the foie gras produced in Linqu is entering a broader international market through industrialized production.

　　Once closely tied to French haute cuisine and long labeled as one of the "world"s three great delicacies," foie gras is now being redefined in China"s county-level industrial hubs.

　　A search by the Global Times at restaurants in Beijing shows that a serving of foie gras is priced between 30 and 100 yuan ($4.2-$14), which is significantly lower than the 15-40 euros ($16-$44) typically charged in French restaurants. In addition, supermarkets in China sell approximately 150-gram portions of foie gras at prices ranging from 40 to 60 yuan.

　　According to previously undisclosed estimates from five Chinese industry analysts cited by Reuters, China"s foie gras output may have reached 14,000 tons last year, up about 30 percent from 2024, and roughly seven times the estimate about a decade ago.

　　Increasing product value

　　"We started out simply with basic raw material exports," Ma Lijun, head of Shandong Chunguan Food Co, told the Global Times. In her view, the industry"s early development path was clear - importing the French Landes goose farming model and replicating the entire system, from force-feeding to foie gras extraction and frozen exports. It was, essentially, a direct "copy" of the European production model.