Halo has signed the deal, valued at $40m, which will encompass the development and manufacture of Theland’s milk powder products into China, including whole milk powder, skim milk powder and other formulated nutritional powders across a range of pack formats including bags, cans and PET jars.
The commencement date for the strategic partnership is November 2021 with a two-year term, with initial confirmed orders of $1.5m, which are due to be manufactured by the end of November 2021.
The products will be manufactured at Halo’s New Zealand facilities.
Upon signing the agreement at the 2021 China International Import Expo in Shanghai, Sheng Wenhao, CEO of Theland Asia Pacific Region, said, "We have selected to work with Keytone for this key and strategic partnership, aligning with Theland's strategy and growth priorities in core markets as we continue to build and scale our formulated dairy brands and bring new products to market. Keytone's advanced facilities aligns with Theland's objective to provide high quality products and flexible services from green, clean, pristine New Zealand to Chinese consumers. We look forward to a long and successful relationship with Keytone.”
Halo Food CEO Danny Rotman said, “We are thrilled to have formed a strategic partnership with Theland in China supporting the significant scale they are set to achieve. Theland’s ambitions, strategic priorities and calibre complement our company’s capabilities and first-class facilities in New Zealand and we look forward to a long and prosperous partnership. We will support Theland’s growth ambitions with new product development and the ability to continue to scale across their formulated milk powders as they continue to expand their footprint in China.”
Theland is a Chinese brand distributor with sales capabilities in more than 25 Chinese provinces and one of the largest importers of powdered and UHT milk products into China.
The company is majority owned by the Alibaba Group including Shanghai Yunfeng Xinchuang Investment Management Ltd, backed by Alibaba founder and chairman Jack Ma, and Alibaba China Network Technology Co. The rest of the company is owned by management and the Pengxin Group.