Dec 20, 2017  -  Pure South lamb from leading food company Alliance Group is to feature at one of China’s major online sales events this week.  The lamb will be showcased in a three-day online sales promotion run through Tmall, a Chinese-language business-to-consumer online retail venture, operated by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group. Tmall is the largest business-to-consumer retail platform in Asia with almost 500 million users annually. Alliance Group has been selected as a strategic partner and New Zealand’s only lamb producer for the promotion, which will run from 20-22 December. The launch of the sales event will feature a video of award-winning Alliance Group farmers Hamish and Annabel Craw of Longridge Agriculture, who farm sheep over 422 hectares of hill country farm on Banks Peninsula. David Surveyor, Alliance Group Chief Executive, said the involvement in the promotion reflects the co-operative’s reputation in China. “We have a reputation for producing high quality meat products, built on meticulous food production techniques, world class systems and a strong focus on consumer needs. We look forward to further co-operation between Alliance Group and Alibaba (Tmall) in the future. “It is also great to see Hamish and Annabel Craw featuring in the promotion. They are committed Alliance Group farmers and will help tell the story of our products. “That’s a story of the highest-quality red meat, raised naturally and grass-fed in the clean lush pastures of New Zealand, a proud farming heritage, and a commitment to the highest level of environmental sustainability and ethical production.” Alliance Group has been working in China since the mid-1990s and is now the country’s largest exporter of New Zealand lamb to the country. It has a long-standing relationship with its in-market Chinese partner Grand Farm, the best-known distributor and marketer of top quality red meat in Northern China. Alliance exports a range of New Zealand-packed product, specially designed for the Chinese market and co-branded Pure South and Grand Farm. “As New Zealand’s only 100 per cent farmer-owned red meat co-operative, we are also committed to further strengthening relationships in Asia to deliver value to our 5,000 farmer shareholders,” said Mr Surveyor. Alliance Group is continuing to invest in new product forms and ranges that will be either produced from source or further processed in the market to meet the growing demands of China’s consumers. In June, Alliance was the first New Zealand company to export chilled lamb to China as part of a chilled trial programme. Alliance also recently purchased Singapore-based sales and marketing company Goldkiwi, which is now known as Alliance Asia.

| An Alliance Group release  ||  December 20, 2017   |||