by Victoria Arguello
BUENOS AIRES, June 23 (Xinhua) -- One Argentine enterprise has decided to market its goods in China in the popular Chinese way -- via online sales.
Argentina's first food and beverages e-commerce site, Pampa-Market.com, now offers Chinese consumers a clickable platform for purchasing premium Argentine food items.
Officially launched on April 16 at the Argentine Embassy in Beijing, the site provides fresh and processed foods from the Latin American country's different regions.
"We have worked for two years to prepare the platform, researching different channels and formats, and we are finally able to realize the idea we were most enthusiastic about, which is selling our products directly to Chinese consumers without the need for a distributor," Pampa Market's chief financial officer Guillermo Ponce told Xinhua.
To ensure quick and efficient product delivery, the company has invested 3.4 million U.S. dollars to establish three distribution centers in China, among other things.
A product will reach a customer within 24 to 48 hours after purchase, said Andres Zazzini, operation director of the Pampa Corporation.
"We are aiming for a small market of 130,000 people, hoping them to spend 150 yuan (some 20 U.S. dollars) weekly. So, we're not focusing on a business of volume, but rather a business of quality," said Zazzini at the company's headquarters in northern Buenos Aires.
Pampa is more interested in individual purchases than bulk sales, Zazzini said.
The site features premium vacuum-packed cuts of beef, whole red shrimp, salmon, roe, spaghetti, yellow corn, Malbec wines, various dried fruits, such as cranberries, strawberries, blueberries and cherries, as well as spices including basil, cumin, chili, parsley, oregano, white pepper, Patagonian salt, and Argentina's signature sauce chimichurri.
"Other products will be incorporated as the project is consolidated," Ponce said.
At least 100 Argentine producers from a range of sectors are cooperating with the platform to provide their goods to Chinese consumers for the first time, the executives said.
"The idea is to help local producers who have no access to selling their goods to China," Zazzini said.
Pampa Market expects annual sales of 140 million dollars.
"The reality is that Argentina and China are two countries that totally complement one another. They have what we need and we have what they need, which is why I believe Argentine companies that go to China should try harder," said Ponce.
"It's not an easy market due to its size," he said. "But it's also not impossible."
