Are the heady days of “limitless” growth CBEC and Daigou business gone forever?
How does this reconcile with Chinese consumers’ previously seemingly insatiable demand for Australian and New Zealand brands? What happened to this market during the last two years of lockdowns, closed borders, geopolitical upheaval and unhelpful political brinksmanship?
Importantly, what exactly does doing CBEC and in-country China business look like now and where is the business model going? What do brands now need to do to serve Chinese consumers and continue to win in Tier-1, 2 and 3 cities as well as other reference Chinese markets across APAC? Where are the regulations at? Should we be focused on Export Only (vs CBEC)?
Like you, we wanted to know the answers to all of these questions and so many more.
So - we phoned a friend - well, I WeChat messaged him actually. Jeremy Hunt, Chief Executive of The Common Good Company has perhaps Australia’s best pedigree in CBEC. He was a key part of Radek Sali’s Swisse Dream Team and one of the first people on the ground for Swisse in China before spending more than 7 years as Chief Operating Officer at Health More, a market-leading pioneer in CBEC and Daigou trade.
In this noteworthy (like literally, you’ll want to take notes) conversation, Jeremy recounts some of his incredible career to date, and sets out in very clear detail the scope of the new China opportunity and how brands can evolve their strategies to continue to successfully serve Chinese consumers. Without spoilers - the take home message from Jeremy, reinforced in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s address at the 4th CIIE earlier this month - China remains firmly open for business.
