According to the Spanish Federation of Food and Beverage Industries (IFLA), Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, has shown interest in Spain's food and drinks and it has contacts to explore the options to market these products.
The heads of the IFLA met in Madrid with representatives of the Asian company to let them know about the sector's current situation.
The delegation from Alibaba was led by its president, Sophie Wu Minhzi, who, along with the rest of her team, attended a presentation about the Spanish food industry and received first-hand information on some of the most representative companies in the sector.
The Director of Business Development of the Food and Beverage Industry of the FIAB, Ignacio Garamendi, said this had been a first contact and that he expected the talks would be successful and bear fruits soon.
"They know the Spanish high quality products and the ones that are very popular among Chinese consumers very well. They were interested in learning about new products. They have a variety of spaces to sell products and didn't come with a specific idea in mind. They came to meet the sector's potential," he stated.
At the moment, contacts have been limited to the institutional level, after which the FIAB committed to provide all the information needed so that the companies can negotiate their entry into the market Chinese through Alibaba directly.
Alibaba is the largest e-commerce market platform open to third parties in China and one of the largest ones in the world, it has access to a market of more than 420 million active buyers in China.
In this sense, Garamendi said that one of the principles of FIAB was to encourage the sector companies to take advantage of alternative sales channels, including internet, where Alibaba could be a strategic partner.
"We are proud that such an important marketplace is interested in the Spanish industry and of the opportunities generated abroad," the organization that represents the interests of the Spanish food industry stated.
According to their data, 90% of sales made over the Internet in China are made through these platforms, while in Europe it's only 25%..
Source: Efeagro