Volunteers of the second China International Import Expo (CIIE) pass a poster at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 3, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

Vanilla, an ingredient Mexico gives the world, has become essential to making baked goods and beverages.

Now Grupo Tecnaal, a Mexican producer of vanilla extract, is looking to break into the Chinese market.

The company processes the vanilla bean into a variety of presentations under the brand name Pineyro. Its star product, all-natural vanilla bean paste made from finely ground vanilla pods, is going to be showcased at the upcoming China International Import Expo (CIIE), to be held in Shanghai later this month.

"Vanilla bean paste can be used as an end product, but it also serves to make bread and other edible goods, (it's) even used in cosmetics," Grupo Tecnaal's manager of international sales, Araceli Chavez, told Xinhua.

The paste, which is highly nutritious, aromatic and flavorful, is something "they might like in China," said Chavez.

Representatives of the company also attended last year's inaugural edition of the CIIE, said Chavez, describing it as an "important venue" that opens China's market to the world.

"It is a market of opportunity, given its enormous potential," she said.

Crucially, through the expo, the Chinese government is helping foreign exporters interested in selling to Chinese consumers make the necessary contacts with importers, wholesalers and retailers, she said.

Prior to the 2018 expo, a team from Tecnaal traveled to China in 2016 and 2017 to research the market, but it was a challenging undertaking, she said.

Today, thanks to the CIIE and the support of the Chinese government, "there is the possibility that Chinese importers will get to know about us," said Chavez.

That "helps us to continue diversifying our markets -- and to know the market in China better," she added.

The company's offices are located in Zapopan, a tranquil suburb of Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city and capital of the western Jalisco state.

But vanilla is grown in rural southeast Mexico, where the pods are laid out on mats and sun-dried, giving the final product a unique flavor, said Chavez.

"That's why we want to take it to China so they can have a taste of Mexico," she said.

Mexican vanilla enjoys an appellation of origin, since it has qualities that set it apart from the vanilla grown elsewhere, such as Madagascar, currently the world's leading producer. The vanilla grown in Mexico is considered to have a rich, smoky taste.