ABP Food Group has announced that it will extend its range of beef products for online retail in China, where internet purchasing of beef is a “growing trend”.
The group will add seven new product lines, for a total of 10 in the Chinese online market; the announcement was made today (Tuesday, March 26) during a visit by ABP’s distribution partner Hopewise, whose delegates were at ABP Clones.
Hopewise was the first company to import Irish beef to China; it supplies ABP’s products via online consumer platform JD.com, which boasts 301.8 million users, according to ABP.
Feedback and demand from Chinese consumers about our products on JD.com has been extremely positive. The time is now right for us to extend our range further to include another seven products.
“These have been developed following six months of close and successful collaboration between our new products development team here in Ireland, our colleagues in China and our distribution partners Hopewise,” explained Mark Goodman, managing director of ABP’s international division.
Heather Humphreys, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, was also at the announcement, where she said: “Irish beef appeals to the Chinese consumer as it is fully traceable and hormone free so, without a doubt, this is a mutually beneficial development for both the Irish and the Chinese economies.”
On the Chinese side, Sun Yong Li, chairman of Hopewise, said: “Irish beef is proving popular with our customers and with the Chinese consumer. They value the fact that the product is fully traceable, hormone free and is produced in green fields.
Demand has been increasing since we launched ABP products on JD.com in July; I think it is important for Ireland to push for more plant approvals to ensure increased supply as demand grows. The most important thing for JD.com is product availability.
The group’s presence in the Chinese market stems from February 2018, when it agreed contracts with Chinese customers; the group’s arrangement with Hopewise began in July 2018.
ABP exports beef to Hopewise facilities in Shanghai and Beijing, where it is processed into consumer packs and sold online through the JD.com platform.