Sainsbury’s is to begin selling a number of its private-label goods in China, including milk, tea, coffee, biscuits and baby products, through Alibaba’s Tmall online platform, TheGrocer.co.uk and Retail-Week.com report.
The UK chain, which attempted a tentative entrance into the Chinese market in 2010, is aiming to capitalise on the strengthening demand for organic and gourmet produce in the country.
The supermarket is pushing what it calls 'high-quality ambient products' through an English afternoon-tea image.
Sainsbury's also wants to capitalise on the fallout of a number of supply-chain scandals that have occurred in China in recent times.
It has been forecast that China’s online grocery market will expand to five times its present size, to a value of around $180 billion, in the next five years.
Sainsbury’s said, “We are trialling a small number of ambient products for sale on the Alibaba platform, including So Organic and Taste the Difference lines, for sale through the Chinese online market.”
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
