At 10:00 a.m. on February 27, the “Special Cooperation Exchange on Grains/Oil, Snacks & Coffee”, co-hosted by the Guangdong Imported Food Association and Tmall Global, took place in the Rose Room on the fourth floor of Alibaba Center Guangzhou.
Focusing on imported food market trends and platform resource integration, the event attracted numerous industry elites. Attendees included 25 representatives from importers and distributors, such as the China office of Australia’s Healthy Garden (Hausgaard), Guangzhou Ausyou International Trading Co., Ltd., the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, the Queensland Government of Australia, Phoenix Creative Industry Park Co., Ltd. (Yide Trading Market), as well as commercial offices of the Consulates General of Malaysia and Belgium in Guangzhou. Together with Tmall Global category managers and industry specialists, they engaged in in-depth dialogue to explore golden opportunities in the multi-billion-dollar imported food market.
Global Trend Insight：
Structural Growth in Imported Food Market
Unlocking Platform Resources：
Best Practices & Real-World Experience Sharing
In the second session, Jiang Da, Commercial Director of Fengying Technology (one of Tmall Global’s top service providers), gave a presentation titled “From 0 to 1: Building Cross-Border Best-Sellers”, deconstructing the operating logic behind multiple success cases. He elaborated on how to help overseas brands stand out in China’s competitive market and achieve successful promotion by crafting compelling brand stories, tapping into emotional value, and implementing precise refined operations.
Data-Driven Product Selection: Use platform consumption insights to target high-potential segments such as healthy snacks, children’s nutritional grains & oil, white-collar workers, and Gen Z consumers.
Content Marketing Breakthrough: Combine celebrity and influencer effects with scenario-based livestream showcases to complete the precision reach → interest stimulation → conversion loop.
Omni-Channel Efficiency: Link Tmall Global flagship stores, cross-border offline experience stores, and membership systems to boost repeat purchase rates.
Jiang Da particularly emphasized:
“Importers must focus on two keys — ‘localized adaptation’ and ‘differentiated storytelling’. Take Singapore’s Bee Cheng Hiang as an example: by leveraging a timely Air China incident, the brand amplified its influence, topped the hot search chart, significantly raised brand awareness, and drove notable sales growth.”
Face-to-Face Q&A：
Exploring New Paths for Business Growth
During the open discussion, participating importers exchanged ideas with Tmall Global specialists on pain points such as small and medium brand cold-start strategiesand optimizing bonded warehouse stocking costs. Platform representatives proposed targeted solutions:
•Lightweight Operations: Recommend adopting a cross-border direct mail + direct-operated brand sitemodel to reduce initial investment.
•Policy Benefits: Tmall Global’s economic warehouses cover multiple locations, plus incentives for new merchant incubation and reduced entry fees.
•Ecosystem Synergy: Introduce KOL resource pools and third-party operation service providers to help merchants quickly go live.
This exchange not only provided importers with cutting-edge trend insights and practical methodologies but also built a solid bridge for deeper cooperation between the platform and merchants. As cross-border e-commerce continues to evolve, the Guangdong Imported Food Association will keep working closely with Tmall Global to jointly usher in a golden era for the imported food market.
