Kiwi cereal maker Smartfoods signs $4.5 million sourcing deal with Alibaba Group

Smartfoods managing director Justin Hall with a container of cereal for export. Photo / Dean Purcell

Kiwi food producer Smartfoods has signed a $4.5 million sourcing deal with Alibaba to supply it with Vogel's cereal to be sold to consumers in China.

Alibaba will sell the product through its various e-commerce channels including through popular online marketplace Tmall over the next 12 months.

Smartfoods has been selling in China for six years, originally through Taobao.

Company managing director Justin Hall said the sourcing deal would further increase the brand's growth and presence in China.

"Partnering with Alibaba and Tmall will provide some enormous benefits for Smartfoods. Chinese consumers are interested in healthy imported foods and are buying more of their food online than ever before," Hall said.

"Working more closely with Alibaba will assure consumers of both greater accessibility to our products and an enhanced shopping experience. Breakfast cereal and muesli is a non-traditional product in China and so consumers are genuinely interested in finding out about the brand."

Smartfoods launched its flagship Tmall store in 2016. Sales on the platform have since surpassed $1 million on the marketplace.

Hall said the company had embraced Alibaba founder and executive chairman Jack Ma's vision of new retail.

"We're filming video content live in New Zealand and streaming it to Chinese shoppers," he said. "You can look at e-commerce channels as a really low-cost way to get your product to market in terms - there are low barriers to entry selling on e-commerce but selling through Alibaba and what's reasonably unique it is a great opportunity to manage our brand story through various forms of digital marketing."

More than 50 per cent of Smartfoods revenue comes from exports.