It may cost just a dollar or two per bottle, but soy sauce is big business in China – possibly bigger than oil. Using soybeans to make sauce dates back around 2,000 years to the Han Dynasty, according to historical records. The seasoning has also enjoyed a permanent place at the table of Chinese households for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Leading Chinese condiment company Foshan Haitian Flavouring and Food Co. Ltd. (603288.SH) is hoping foreign investors will develop a taste for its stock as well, filing earlier this month for a Hong Kong IPO. Its A-list of underwriters, led by CICC, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, hints at big fundraising hopes, as earlier media reports said it was planning to raise a saucy $2 billion.
Like its signature sauce, Haitian has quite a bit of history, dating back over 300 years to the Foshan Sauce Garden in South China’s Guangdong province during the Qing Dynasty. The company set up its public-private Haitian Soy Sauce Factory in 1955 and went public in Shanghai in 2012 with a sauce cabinet that includes soy and oyster sauces, as well as other flavorings.