Listen: Anchor celebrates five years in China

Fonterra's President of Greater China Christina Zhu. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Anchor is celebrating five years in China which is something Fonterra farmers can be "very proud of," says Christina Zhu.

Fonterra's President of Greater China, spoke to The Country Early Edition's Rowena Duncum saying Anchor has become a "real success story," and "a well-loved brand," in China.

The brand is so popular in China that Zhu says Anchor has sold the equivalent of one billion glasses of milk in five years.

"That's about 400,000 glasses of milk that each Kiwi person has brought into China over the last five years."

Anchor started off small with "one product - one store," says Zhu. Today there are over 13,000 stores nationwide, but this only represents 45 per cent of sales.

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"The other 55 per cent is actually made online, through all the e-commerce platforms in China."

Although there is no Facebook, Google or Ebay in China, Zhu reports that the online market is still growing rapidly and this has been key to Anchor's success.

The Chinese market is important to Fonterra, as it represents over a quarter of the dairy co-op's volume says Zhu and 36 per cent of dairy imports in China come from Fonterra.

"With nearly one in five people on the planet living in China, we must be in China if we want to achieve our ambitions."

Also in today's interview: Christina Zhu discusses Beingmate and what Fonterra has planned for the future in China.