Yhd.com brings world's foods to China's doorstep

Yhd.com, a Chinese e-commerce company that is majority-owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc, plans to ride on the wave of the imported food boom by strengthening its cooperation with overseas governments.

On Wednesday, the Shanghai-based business-to-customer firm announced strategic partnerships with trade commissions and agriculture organizations in the United States, Australia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain.

The partnership with the six countries will allow Yhd.com, also called Yihaodian, to gain more firsthand information about those countries' top-quality food brands and products and to set up direct contacts with suppliers there. This will help bring more food products to Chinese customers while circumventing the cumbersome middleman process.

"Imported foods are in increasing demand in China. The potential of the market in China will not only drive our company's growth as a leading imported food e-platform but also help Yihaodian to reach its goal of becoming the largest online marketplace in China for imported products," said Yhd.com Chairman Yu Gang.

Yu said the company plans to establish similar strategic partnerships with other countries in the near future. The cooperation also will expand from food and beverage products to baby and mother care products and cosmetics, he said.

Picking imported food as its first strategic sector, however, was no accident. The company, which began selling imported food through its online marketplace in April 2011, already has seen strong sales.

Yhd.com sells more than 18,000 types of imported products on its website, 78 percent of which are imported foods, ranging from milk to wines and candies.

According to the company, its sales of imported food rose almost fivefold in 2012 over the previous year. Growth of sales in this sector outperformed Yhd.com's overall sales growth in 2012.

Imported foods, until recently a rarity in China, are becoming more commonplace, buoyed by a growing middle class, as well as high-profile food scandals.

According to a survey by international research company Ipsos in 2012, about 61 percent of Chinese consumers reported a loss of confidence in domestic foods the previous year, and 28 percent said they would buy more imported foods or brands to replace domestic products.

China's National Bureau of Statistics said that sales of imported foods reached 63 billion yuan ($10.35 billion) in 2012, with an average annual growth of 15 percent over the previous five years.

The US Association of Food Industries has forecast that by 2018, China will become the largest consumer of imported foods, with a market worth 480 billion yuan.

With shopping online gaining popularity in China, many representatives of foreign trade organizations said they believe Yhd.com can help get their products to Chinese consumers.

Song Yang, an e-commerce senior analyst with Beijing-based research firm Analysys International, used the term "infinitely large" to describe the imported food market in China.

"The competition for e-commerce companies in this sector is not about how many customers you can attract but how many good suppliers you can locate," said Song.