China’s RT-Mart to stock Keytone Dairy products

RT-Mart is part of the Sun Art Retail Group, a leading hypermarket complex operator in China. As of December 31, 2018, Sun Art holds an approximately 16% market share by retail sales value with a national footprint of 484 hypermarket complexes, covering 233 cities across 29 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China, with a total gross floor area of approximately 13 million square meters.

Sun Art has secured another 55 sites to open hypermarket complexes, 37 of which are under construction. Sun Art is approximately 36% owned by Alibaba Group. For the period ending December 31, 2018, Sun Art recorded $A19.3bn (US$13.4bn) of revenues and $A848.5m (US$589.5m) of EBIT.

Under the agreement, Keytone Dairy will supply its KeyDairy proprietary products, including Whole Milk Powder, Skim Milk Powder, Colostrum Milk Powder and Kiwi Fruit Milk Powder, among others. The agreement is a distribution agreement and does not stipulate specific volumes of production, as is typical for the industry. Rather, it sets out the terms on which the company will supply its proprietary products as these are ordered by the customer. A first order for eight tonnes of Whole Milk Powder and Skim Milk Powder plus further containers of Colostrum Milk Powder and Kiwi Fruit Milk Powder, has been placed by the customer.

This agreement further validates the acquisition of Omniblend Pty Limited, announced on June 17, 2019, as, following the integration of Omniblend within Keytone Dairy, the company will market Omniblend’s proprietary health and wellness products through Keytone Dairy’s China distribution channels, offering its Chinese customers a wider range of products than that currently available.

The acquisition of Omniblend is subject to shareholder approval.