Irish food wholesaler the Musgrave Group announced on Thursday that it will begin exporting SuperValu private label products to China, through a partnership with the Alibaba Group.
The company will inaugurate its presence with a SuperValu e-commerce storefront on Chinese online shopping platform Tmall Global, the first Irish retailer to do so.
The inital offer will include 40 ambient products, including breakfast cereals, coffee, jam, and healthy snacks.
Over time, it will act as a potential route to the Chinese market for Irish producers, the company said.
Alibaba's logistic arm, Cainiao Network, will handle the distribution of online purchases.
Being active in China will allow Musgrave to take advantage of such retail festivals as 'Singles Day', in which Alibaba Group broke its previous record with $15 billion in sales in 2016.
"In the past five years Chinese consumers are increasingly purchasing overseas through online shopping. We expect that the heritage of SuperValu and the provenance of our products will be attractive to Chinese consumers. They are seeking out western foods from trusted sources and as we develop in China we will be working closely with Bord Bia and our Irish suppliers who have a reputation for authenticity and quality," said Chris Martin, Musgrave CEO.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Karen Henderson. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
