The market for bamboo is enormous and it is rapidly growing. The spread of environmental awareness coupled with stricter regulations governing the exploitation of timber resources underlie the development of the bamboo market. Bamboo is demanded more than ever before because it is at once a good timber substitute and a rainforest saver. Europe and USA import vast quantities of bamboo products from Asia, including items such as toothpicks, sate sticks, brooms, poles for viniculture and arboriculture, small bamboo sticks for the production of Azalea, Begonia and tomatoes. Products with greater added value such as bamboo parquet, bamboo laminated lumber, paper, textiles, finely crafted furniture, handicraft items and other construction industry products have gradually made their entrance in international retail markets. In the food industry, young bamboo shoots constitute a multimillion-dollar business. Bamboo shoots are produced for export in China, Thailand, China, and Taiwan. They are sold fresh and tinned, sometimes in combination with sauces or spicy foods.