Kiwi companies come together to cash in on China's largest online marketplace

May 27, 2019

New Zealand products will be available to hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers.

Kiwi companies are coming together to cash in on our biggest export market through a special online marketplace.

Tmall, one of the world's biggest shopping sites, is allowing 636 million Chinese shoppers to buy familiar household brands like Vogels, Kapiti ice cream and even a crunchy Kiwi apple at the click of a mouse.

NZ Food Basket chair Nicola O'Rorke said, "The Chinese consumers are increasingly more discerning and are looking for very high-quality brands and high-quality ingredients and a lot of those come from the New Zealand market."

Owned by Alibaba, Tmall is the largest online marketplace in China, with a market share of more than 60 per cent.

Now, together with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), a number of businesses have joined forces to create a Kiwi "food basket".

One product on offer, Nelson-based Pics Peanut Butter, started selling products online in China before it was able to move its products into physical stores.

Pic's Peanut Butter's Pic Picot said, "This is a really good way for companies to introduce their products to Chinese consumers."

Hawke's Bay-based Rockit already sells six per cent of its apples in China.

Rockit Global CEO Austin Mortimer said, "For us, it was a terrific opportunity to get into the homes of a couple of hundred million people in China which we would never have had the opportunity to otherwise."

"The collaborative effort of all the businesses working together has allowed us to cross promote and have other exposure across other brands," Ms O'Rorke said.

Last year, New Zealand exports to China were worth $16 billion.

"Early results have shown significant increases on monthly sales. An example there was one brand that sold 1200 units in two minutes, and they usually sell 200 units in a month," she said.

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