They can't afford to put China on the back burner though, and it would be completely silly to.
Much of the negative experience concerning China you mentioned was because the old management allowed themselves to be taken for a ride by the corporate daigou partners they brought on board here in Australia. Based on what transpired afterwards and the alliance between previous CEO, AZ Global, Peter Nathan etc. it also seems there was a bit of collusion happening.
New management brought the opportunity for a new start, which is why I was interested originally, but seems like they have squandered that due to the myopic focus on USA where domestic competition is brutal and product margins will never be that great even in a best case scenario.
There are plenty of channels that can be had into the China market without a SAMR approval for a China label. They had already built up some brand recognition and goat formula is still a growing niche category. The real kicker is that by deliberately limiting their exposure to China they now stand to miss out on a potential rebound in birth rates and in the formula market there.
They could easily be pulling many millions$ more in China if they could get their proverbial ___ together. It doesn't have to be a either/or choice between USA or China like they are apparently treating it.
(20min delay)