Food group behind Newry plant in deal to sell its beef online in China
IRISH beef tycoon Larry Goodman’s ABP Food Group, which operates a large plant in Newry, has entered an agreement with Chinese company Beijing Hopewise to sell Irish beef on a Chinese e-commerce website.
The website, JD.com, is one of the largest business-to-consumer online retailers in China by both transaction volume and revenue.
In the first quarter of this year alone, the site had more than 300 million active users.
“This deal is a further tangible endorsement of the quality beef that Ireland and ABP continues to offer,” said Mark Goodman, managing director of ABP’s international division. “We look forward to building on our relationships in the Chinese market, and working closely with both the Department of Agriculture and An Bord Bia (Irish Food Board) to continue to grow the market share for Irish beef in China.”
While almost unheard of in the Republic, ABP said that the process of purchasing beef products online is one of the fastest growing trends in the Chinese market.
The agreement will see ABP ship a range of premium beef cuts to Hopewise processing facilities in Shanghai and Beijing.
The beef will then be processed into consumer packs, with consumers able to purchase for direct home delivery via the JD.com phones platform.
Earlier this year, ABP secured the first contract to supply Irish beef to China since exports from Ireland to the country were blocked following the BSE crisis in the early 1990s.
ABP signed a €50m deal to supply Chinese restaurant chain Wowprime, which has more than 400 restaurants in China and Taiwan across 18 brands.
The company also extended its range of premium “Irish Nature Organic” steaks with YATA, a Hong Kong based supermarket chain.
The group also exports Irish beef to the Philippines and Japan.