4 | BUSINESS NZ China Business Awards - Comvita In harmony with Chinese markets T T Virginia Wright While the philosophy and values that underpin Comvita may have been articulated more fully in the last couple of years, they have been part of its DNA since the company began in 1974. “Comvita’s purpose is to work in harmony with bees and nature in New Zealand to heal and protect the world,” says Chief Purpose and Transformation Officer Holly Brown. Part of the leadership team Holly has been with Comvita for two and a half years and is responsible for HR, safety and well-being, sustainability and transformation. She works closely with Andy Chen, Regional CEO of Asia who has been with Comvita since June 2020. “We focus on the alignment between Comvita’s individual markets with its purpose, including how that manifests internally, and how it impacts on the outside world.” As well as setting clear targets for sustainability, including the ambitious target of being carbon neutral by 2025 and carbon positive by 2030; ; there is an undertaking to invest in community partnerships and initiatives to improve global communities. It’s the strength the business has shown in China, however, particularly through Covid and the challenges it brought in its wake, that has propelled Comvita into the finals of the 2021 China Business Awards. Where other companies have perhaps struggled, Comvita by any measure has leapt ahead. Andy sums it up well. “In Comvita we refer to a quote from the famous Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, where ‘new beginnings are often disguised as painful endings’”. Andy says when the pressure came on with the global pandemic, Comvita had to make some bold choices in terms of its China strategy. “I saw it as an opportunity to double-down on our primacy of market approach, which means going deeper locally in terms of consumer intimacy and understanding and empowering our team on the ground to lead from this perspective,” Andy says. Unlike its competitors, Comvita’s business model in China is unique in that it’s a fully integrated supply chain, starting with land ownership and Mānuka forestation, and reaching deep into the China market through a talented team of more than 200 local employees spread across multiple cities. “Rather than stepping back, we invested more in our capability, and a localised expression of our premium lifestyle brand. We also saw this as an opportunity to embrace our digital transformation strategy. We’re much more sophisticated and connected to consumer needs as a result.” This is clearly backed up by the data, as Comvita achieved record-breaking results during key selling festivals in China throughout the year. www.pharmapac.co.nz Pharmapac are proudly Toitū Enviromark Diamond Certified Please call us on 09 444 9631 to discuss your projects specific packaging requirements. Email: info@pharmapac.co.nz “China is the largest honey market in the world, and we see there is a lot of potential for even more exciting growth ahead.” It held the number one position for all Honey Sales on the Chinese global platforms T-Mall and Jing Dong, and were sixth overall in the much broader Healthy Foods category (and the only international brand to make the Top Ten). The awards ceremony has been pushed back to April, Covid permitting, but whether they win an award or not won’t change the growing strength of Comvita’s business in China. “It’s so encouraging to have delivered double digit growth year on year through Covid,” says Andy. “China is the largest honey market in the world, and we see there is a lot of potential for even more exciting growth ahead.” Andy Chen: “It’s so encouraging to have delivered double digit growth year on year through Covid.”
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