Jun 18, 2021|
JD.com Pasture Initiative Kicks with Partnership in New Zealand
by Ling Cao
JD.com kicked off its initiative to bring fresh milk from a pasture in New Zealand to Chinese consumers by partnering with imported milk brand Theland. Announced on Jun. 18, the peak day during JD’s 618 Grand Promotion (June 1-18), both companies aim to bring high-quality New Zealand milk to JD’s over 500 million customers.
“Utilizing JD’s experience in e-commerce and retail, as well as combined insight from industry consumption trends, we’ve seen that more and more customers demand high calcium milk. We believe the partnership will help us deepen our research in milk products, providing customers with a healthy and premium milk consumption lifestyle,” said Xiaojun Wang, general manager of packaged foods at JD FMCG Omni-channel.
“The partnership has not only helped bring local labels to Chinese customers, but also worked as a means of cultural communication with JD.com serving as a bridge to showcase the nature-consciousness of New Zealand. Based on the cooperation, customers are able to enjoy purchasing the best-in-class products from all over the world while at home,” said Roy van den Hurk, general manager of global R&D at Theland.
Su Wang, vice president of e-commerce at Theland (left), and Xiaojun Wang (second from left) speaking onsite at JD headquarters, as Roy van den Hurk makes a speech remotely from New Zealand at the newly opened JD Pasture
Theland has 29 pastures in New Zealand. The customized milk from the JD pasture initiative will be officially sold in September. Consumers will be able to trace every step of the production process, from milking, to manufacturing and transportation.
According to Hurk, the product uses raw milk sourced directly from New Zealand, and its protein content far exceed the EU standards.
As JD’s long-term partner, Theland’s milk products are popular among customers. On the first day of this year’s 618, sales of the high-end diamond series of Theland milk increased 17 times YOY, while another children’s milk series sales increased six times YOY.
Data showed that on June 1, sales on the JD Worldwide (JDW) platform increased over 120% YOY. Nearly 1,500 brands’ sales increased over 100% YOY, respectively. On Jun. 14, the designated promotion day for imports, sales of the online supermarket for imported food increased 240% compared with the previous day, while first party retail grocery sales increased 130% YOY.