Finnish retailer K Group has announced that it is entering into a partnership with Alibaba to open an online food store in China.
K Group says that the aim of this cooperation is to export Finnish food brands to the growing Asian market, and to learn from the Chinese e-commerce giant.
"We have strong international trade expertise in the Asian markets and have imported food and non-food products from China for a long time," said Mikko Helander, CEO of K Group. "Thus, exports are a natural next step for us."
"We wish to play our part in promoting the export of Finnish food products to international markets. China has the world's largest and most advanced e-commerce food market, from which we will learn valuable lessons."
Online Expansion
K Group says that it has become the first Finnish grocery retail operator to enter into food e-commerce in China. The delivery of foods has already begun, and customers in China can now order these products from Alibaba.
The range will be expanded in the coming months, and will include products from Valio, Raisio, Finn Spring and Roberts. K Group's private label brand Pirkka will also be available.
"Finnish food stands for first-class quality, purity and safety, attributes that are key to making purchase decisions by Chinese consumers," said David Lloyd, Alibaba's managing director for UK, Ireland and Nordics.
"Products from Finland are getting more and more popular in China and we are pleased that Kesko's Tmall Global store enables the 466 million annual active consumers on our e-marketplaces to access and experience amazing Finnish food."
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
