Bubs Australia JV secures deal with Chinese retailer Kidswant

Bubs Australia has announced that its joint venture with Beingmate in China has secured a strategic partnership with Chinese retailer Kidswant.

Bubs Organic food products are now on sale in 275 Kidswant stores in 123 Chinese cities. It is estimated that the annual retail sales performance of Bubs products through Kidswant will reach RMB 30 million ($4.4 million) during 2020.

Founded in 2014 in Sydney, Bubs Australia makes a range of infant nutrition products such as infant formula, baby food, cereals and toddler snacks.

Earlier this year, the firm announced the formation of a joint venture with dairy company Beingmate to sell its portfolio of products in China.

Under the deal, Bubs is supplying its products to Beingmate’s distribution network, which covers 30,000 stores throughout China.

“The cooperation with Kidswant is the most important project that has been signed and implemented since the establishment of our joint venture company with Bubs,” said Beingmate CEO Xiufei Bao.

Bubs CEO Kristy Carr added: “We are delighted to establish this strategic partnership with Kidswant.

She added: “Kidswant’s store footprint and full-service integrated membership model provides us with immediate access to our core potential customers in a trusted ecosystem.”

Since its establishment in 2009, Kidswant has grown to 275 large-scale physical stores, reaching nearly 60% of the cities in China with a population of more than 500,000.

The news comes months after Bubs secured a deal to acquire Australia Deloraine Dairy, a Melbourne-based infant formula producer that meets regulatory import conditions into China.

At the time, Kristy Carr said the acquisition “represents an important step” in the firm’s vision to expand in China.

According to Advanced Lipids research, China accounts for almost half of all infant formula sales globally.