Date: 12 June 2015
On the 12th of June, 2015, Evergrande Cowala Dairy (the major shareholder of GMP Dairy Ltd), launched its premium infant formula brand Opobaby at the Aotea Centre, Auckland Town Hall.
Economic Development Minister Hon Steven Joyce, MP Jami-Lee Ross, Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in NZ Mr Zhang Fan, along with Evergrande Dairy Chairman Mr Xu Wen officially launched Cowala Superpremium Opobaby Infant Formula.
Evergrande Group is a massive Chinese conglomerate, which started out in real estate and has diversified into a range of other businesses including fast moving consumer goods. In October, Evergrande launched its infant formula brand Cowala in China where it made its first appearance in a Chinese Super League football match when the successful Guangzhou Evergrande team, part-owned by Alibaba boss Jack Ma, wore Cowala baby formula-branded shirts. The team will also officially launch the new Opobaby brand in China after a match later this month.
Managing Director Karl Ye said he hoped to double the company’s current $50 million or so turnover every year for the next three years following Evergrande’s investment which help a big marketing push in China that it couldn’t have done on its own.
Ye said a unique competitive point of difference was the world-first patented traceability technology on the cans that allows consumers to use their smartphones to scan a barcode telling them the milk powder’s history and even an x-ray picture of the contents. Further research and development have added another component to the technology - shipping information on every can which should help streamline the process at the Chinese border. The technology can be used on other products.
“We’re just trying to add value rather than having low value commodity exports. New Zealand has good resources to add value to,” Ye said.
Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce said at today’s launch that what the company was doing was key to New Zealand’s food and beverage sector.
“We have to add more value to our core primary sector products and that means doing things differently,” Joyce said. That included more foreign investment, strategic partnerships, and New Zealand firms embedding themselves in global food chains rather than trying to go it alone overseas, he said.
Opobaby will be sold at a premium price, because it includes the fatty acid ingredient Opo, which closely resembles what happens in mother’s milk. The ingredient is supplied by Advanced Lipids, an Israeli-Swedish company, that also sells it to other infant formula makers, including some in New Zealand. The company’s claimed benefits following clinical trials in China and elsewhere are increased energy and calcium absorption, reduced constipation, increased bone strength, less crying, and enhanced gut flora and intestinal health.
Evergrande Dairy chairman Mr Xu Wen said the group, which had turnover this year of 131.5 billion Chinese Yuan and has 475 billion Chinese Yuan in assets, was attracted to invest in New Zealand because of its strong reputation for food safety. Opobaby was a high end product that should appeal to Chinese consumers.