AU: Rudd to help trade with China
Jessica has spent the past five years living in Beijing and was often frustrated with the lack of availability of certified organic goods from Australia – and she wasn’t alone. Chinese consumers are increasingly drawn to clean, green, safe imports.
With this motivation, and a professional interest in international trade, Jessica joins Australian Organic as a trade ambassador and facilitator between Australian Certified Organic clients and Chinese buyers.
The news comes off the back of a new deal between Australia Post and Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group.
Jessica is one of an increasing number Australians working to launch her own online store on Alibaba’s Tmall Global platform to bring Australian products direct to Chinese consumers.
Now living in Brisbane, she says, “I loved living in Beijing and seeing it go through monumental change. It’s growing at warp speed. It’s impressive. We’d return after a week away and see a new building had sprouted outside our kitchen window, but that pace comes at a price. When you can’t control the air quality outside, you’ll do your best to control the quality of what you’re putting on and into yourself and your kids. As a mum, I looked for organics as much as I could and I missed seeing the high-quality Australian products you see here. The Chinese government is doing a great job of lifting people out of poverty and consumers spend big on their children.
“I’m honoured to be invited to use my China story to help Australian businesses, big and small, taking advantage of the potential for growth into that market. I want to see my Chinese mates gaining access to the fabulous range of high-quality products our country has to offer.”
Australian Organic commercial manager, Joanne Barber, says organics is big business in China: “China has 1.3 billion people. One certified organic home delivery company there has a customer base of over 400,000 families."
The biggest barriers to exporting to China are the language and cultural differences. Jessica has a good grasp of Mandarin, is married to a Chinese-Australian and has spent time living in China, and has some great, practical ideas that will help.
The Australian Certified Organic logo is by far the most recognised organic logo amongst shoppers in Australia and it’s getting the same recognition in China.
Australian Certified Organic already offers certification through China’s most well-known and respected certification company, the Organic Food Development Center (OFDC), and it’s carrying out the first round of audits for Chinese certification in September.
For more information:
Kathy Cogo
Australian Organic
Tel: +61 0466 015 183
Email: kathy.cogo@austorganic.com